Team Player Bird Inducted Into Hall of Fame

With three NBA championships, almost universal respect as one of the game’s greatest players, and now a place in basketball’s pantheon, Larry Bird still won’t take a full bow.

About 7,000 players, coaches, basketball officials, many home state fans and others set off throaty chants of “Lah-ree, Lah-ree, Lah-ree” for two minutes to celebrate Bird’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday night.

Earlier in the day, Bird said, “It’s not about me playing. It’s about me and my team.”

The Boston Celtic great enters the shrine with two other players--Marques Haynes of the Harlem Globetrotters and Arnie Risen, also of the Celtics.

Other inductees are coaches Alex Hannum of the 1967 NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers, Jody Conradt of the University of Texas and Aleksandar Nikolic of Yugoslavia.

Atlanta Hawks Coach Lenny Wilkens, inducted as a player in 1989, was honored again, this time as the NBA’s winningest coach. He has an NBA coaching record of 1,120-908, including a 1979 championship with Seattle.

“Everywhere I go, people ask me about my playing days. It seems like it’s getting worse, not better,” said Bird, now 41 and coach of the Indiana Pacers. “Once this is over, I think I can close the book on my career and look forward.”

From his entry in the NBA in 1979 to his retirement in 1992, Bird, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 24.3 points, 10 rebounds and 6.3 assists a game.

He led Boston to NBA championships against Houston in 1981 and 1986 and the Lakers in 1984. He was a three-time NBA Most Valuable Player and twice a championship series MVP.