Writers’ Memories of Bird

Times staff writers remember Larry Bird, basketball player, on parquet and elsewhere:

Cold-blooded. That’s the kind of player Larry Bird was. Actually, he probably didn’t have blood, he had Freon.

Bird may have been at his cold-hearted best against the Houston Rockets in the 1986 NBA finals, which ended with the Celtics hanging a 16th championship banner from the cobweb-covered rafters of Boston Garden.

It was a series that once looked as though it would be known mainly for Rocket center Ralph Sampson’s sucker punch to the side of the head of Celtic guard Jerry Sichting in Game 5. But as usual, Bird managed to draw the headlines in the deciding Game 6.

The Rockets were well on their way toward going down in their red glare with 11 minutes left when Bird shot them down for good. With the shot clock winding down, Bird found nowhere to go on a drive, so he calmly stepped behind the three-point line in the corner, right in front of the Houston bench, took aim and fired.

The basketball rained through the hoop as the 24-second clock sounded. Boston’s lead was 26 points--Bird ended with 29 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds, three steals and the finals’ MVP award.

“Larry Bird put together a highlight film of the whole season in one game,” Celtic assistant coach Jimmie Rodgers said.

The last reel: Bird took one look at the Rocket bench, then glanced at the scoreboard and ran downcourt.

Even six years ago, we knew he was headed somewhere.