Bird Watching »

Jackie MacMullan is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated covering the NBA. She is also a regular contributor to CNN/SI, the 24-hour sports news network.

"On August 18, 1992, I announced my retirement from the Boston Celtics. It was one of the happiest days of my life." Just as he stunned opponents with over-the-shoulder passes, killer steals, and jaw-dropping long-range jumpers on the court, Larry Bird now offers one startling revelation after another as he candidly recounts his rise to become one of the most respected NBA coaches in the game today. In between some knock-down, drag-out practice sessions, thrilling games, locker-room scenes, and coaching and playing philosophy, Larry Bird takes us through his unique world. He tells us for the first time what really happened in "Celtics Land" after he retired and why he chose Indiana for his first coaching job. He shares a last look back at the Celtics dynasty, at Robert Parish and Bill Walton, at Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson. He describes his last duels with Magic Johnson and with Michael Jordan, as well as his experience playing on the great 1992 Olympic team...knowing that it was the last time he would be sharing a court with them. Bird reveals what it was like to start a new coaching career, from his first meetings with Pacers president Donnie Walsh to his first look at his new players. Amazingly, we see a man who entered coaching against all the advice of his friends and peers-and a former superstar with a blue-collar attitude who feels that he needs his players and his assistants more than they need him. But Bird Watching is more than a book about basketball. Recalling his own painful shyness, battles with the press, and the demands of stardom, Bird also talks about the world he never left behind: drinking a beer at Jubil's bar in French Lick, doing his own yard work, and remembering the lessons he learned from his hardworking mother. Here Larry Bird proves to be the rarest of birds: a human being who knows himself, knows the game, and knows how to win on and off the court.

Publishers Weekly

Fans expecting the literary highlight reel of the NBA legend's championship years with the Boston Celtics may be initially put off by this loosely organized collection of opinions and reminiscences. They should stick with it, however, because ultimately the book is an endearingly honest self-portrait of a humble man who has made the most of his opportunities. Celtic fans will be titillated by the frank reports of just how Larry Legend wound up leaving Boston. Being a give-it-to-me-straight kind of guy, he was disgusted with the disingenuous ways of the Celtic front office, where he briefly worked after his playing days. Bird, now the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, also explains, quite briskly, how his relationship with fellow Celtic Kevin McHale went sour: as their careers wound down, McHale and another teammate went behind Bird's back to reporters with complaints that his play had become selfish. But Bird's refusal to pull punches doesn't hit only his adversaries: he admits that he was lucky that his good friend Rick Robey was traded away from the Celtics, because the good times they had together got in the way of Bird's career. He also writes that not he, but Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz should have been named Coach of the Year in 1998. The Hick from French Lick solidifies his reputation as a straight-talker unimpressed with his own legend. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.