Larry Bird is Getting a Statue in Indiana

Pacers GM Larry Bird will be honored by the Indiana Hoosiers with a statue. Bird is naturally embarrassed by the whole thing. Per the Indy Star: “Larry Bird enjoyed taking a jab at longtime rival Magic Johnson on Tuesday night. Bird said it’s only right that the statue Indiana State will unveil of him next weekend at Terre Haute’s Hulman Center is taller than Johnson’s statue outside Michigan State’s arena in East Lansing, Mich. ‘It should be,’ Bird said with a laugh. Bird was serious about everything else surrounding the Nov. 9 unveiling of the 15-foot statue. He said he’s ‘sort of embarrassed’ by the honor, even asking ‘why me?’ Of course, Bird knows why given the Sycamores’ dramatic undefeated run to the NCAA championship game against Johnson’s Spartans in 1979. That season not only changed Bird’s life; it changed college basketball. The game, won by Michigan State, remains the highest-rated game in the sport’s television history. ‘It was really the start of March Madness, and we played against a great team that night,’ Bird said. Bird will be honored the night before the statue unveiling at a scholarship-funding dinner at ISU. More than the accolades, Bird said he is looking forward to seeing many of his former teammates. ‘It will be a good night,’ he said. ‘(It was) definitely a special time. I remember almost every game. We had a lot of success there, especially my senior year. (I) had a lot of fun in Terre Haute. I always love to go back there, so it’s going to be special.’ Bird doesn’t expect to get emotional, in part because the retirement of his uniform is the ultimate honor for a basketball player. Besides, his career is already represented in a pair of sneakers near the statue of legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach outside Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall.”