A Great Place to Play, Once in a While

Ode to Larry Bird.

He leaves behind countless memories, but also takes many of his own into retirement. Some of those are of NBA cities and arenas, as recalled in his 1989 autobiography, including the Forum.

“No crowd has changed more in my time in the league,” he says in “Drive,” co-written by Bob Ryan. “When I first came in, the fans were really laid-back. You wondered why they even came. Here they had Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and this great team--and no real enthusiasm.

“That’s all changed now, especially during the playoffs. They get into it as much as anybody. They’re really high on their team now. When you take the floor, they’re playing Randy Newman’s ‘I Love L.A.!’ on the loudspeaker and people are really getting charged up. Magic is there and nobody gets me up to play more than he does. And speaking as a Celtic, I can tell you what a great rivalry is all about.

“But as much as I like to visit there, I honestly don’t think I’d like to play for L.A.--or for Phoenix. Why? The climate’s too nice.

“Basketball weather, to me, is cold weather. I would have a hard time going to work every day in the constant heat. You play basketball when it’s cold outside. (I know, I know. What about the playoffs?) If I woke up every day and it was 75 or 80 degrees, I don’t know if I could get into it. I admire the Lakers for overcoming this and winning all those championships.”

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Add Bird: “The Los Angeles Sports Arena is completely different from the Forum. I don’t like shooting there at all. To me, it doesn’t even seem like L.A. in there. You’re only six miles away from the Forum, but you know you’re on the other side of town when you play the Clippers.

“I guess the fans who can’t get tickets to the Laker games go to Clippers games and they’re not very passionate. There’s just nothing very inspiring about playing there.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only person to play with both Bird and Bill Russell?

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Ouch: From Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, after hearing that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) thinks Boston could host the Summer Olympics: “The senator probably also thinks he can cash that campaign contribution from Jack Clark.”

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Ginseng and tonic: China’s Olympic medal-winning swimmers, accused by some of using banned drugs to build a world-class program in a short time, instead reportedly had a secret weapon that aided their success--a medicinal tonic made from an ancient recipe.

The medicine, made from a witches’ brew of toad skin, birds’ nests and other arcane ingredients, passed doping tests administered by the International Olympic Committee in Barcelona, the Guangming Daily said.

“It increases their achievements by 100%,” the report said. Chinese swimmers collected three gold medals and a silver at the Summer Olympics, which ended earlier this month.

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Trivia answer: Don Chaney.

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Quotebook: Orlando center Greg Kite, whose trade to Houston was nullified after he failed a Rockets’ physical because of an atrial fibrillation: “I’ve always been one of those guys that have had to play his heart out to fare well in this league, but I guess I’ve gone a little bit too far the past two seasons.”