Indiana State University to Construct Statue of Larry Bird

Indiana State University will construct a 15-foot bronze statue of NBA legend Larry Bird to commemorate his playing days with the Sycamores. The statue is expected to be erected in the fall of 2013, at the school’s Hulman Center Arena. Via Boston.com: “Sculptor Bill Wolfe said he wants to make sure Bird’s statue is taller than those of Magic Johnson, whose Michigan State team beat Bird’s Indiana State team in the 1979 NCAA championship game. ‘I don’t have anything against Magic,’ Wolfe said. ‘Larry is just better,’ Wolfe then said in unison with Jack Fox, director of development for the Indiana State University Foundation. Bird, who grew up in the southern Indiana town of French Lick, stepped down this summer as the Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations after winning last season’s NBA Executive of the Year award. Fox said he expects the Bird statue to be an icon for the city. Work on the statue started in 2007 with The Larry Legend Foundation, a student organization that sought to promote honoring Bird with a statute at Hulman Center. The project stalled last year after a donor came forward to complete the statue but sought a different artist than Wolfe.”