Larry Bird Adds Executive Of The Year To His Collection Of Awards

Larry Bird’s hall-of-fame career with the Boston Celtics began in the ’79/80 NBA season, when he was voted Rookie of the Year.  It would be fair to say the award set the tone for the next 13 seasons, as Larry won just about every honor available to an individual.  By the time his playing days came to an end, Larry Legend had racked up three league MVPs, two Finals MVPs, and one All-Star MVP.  Throw in 9 first team All-NBA selections, 3 titles, and 12 All-Star appearances and you’ve got one of the most celebrated careers in league history.

Larry’s prominence in the world of NBA basketball didn’t stop when he hung up his high tops, either.  In 1998, Bird was anointed Coach of the Year after leading the Pacers to a 58-24 record, a then franchise best.  Now Bird has been named the league’s Executive of the Year for his moves that have helped the team advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2005.  Via the Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers president of Basketball Operations [Larry Bird] has been chosen [for] the NBA Executive of the Year award, the league announced today.Bird totaled 88 points and received 12 first-place votes from a panel of his fellow team executives throughout the NBA.

He becomes the first person to win Executive of the Year, coach of the year and Most Valuable Player.

The Pacers, who are tied 1-1 with Miami in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, went 42-24 in the regular season and earned the No. 3 seed in the conference.

“This is an honor for the Indiana Pacers, not an award for Larry Bird,” said Bird. “Everyone in this franchise put in a lot of work and showed a lot of patience as we have tried to get this team to a level on and off the court the fans in Indiana can be proud of. You always believe, and hope, the players you get will fit into a plan and I’m very proud of what our guys and our coaches have accomplished so far this year.”

First of all, let’s just take a moment to appreciate Bird’s resume.  As the article above states, Bird has just become the first person ever to win MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.  To say that not all great players make great coaches and/or executives (cough…MJ…cough) would be an understatement, and Larry’s success in all of these roles really speaks volumes about his basketball brilliance.

As for his most recent award, Executive of the Year, I wouldn’t argue that there’s anyone more deserving.  The signing of David West to a two-year deal was an excellent move as it brought in a coveted player on a favorable contract.  The deadline-day trade that landed Leandro Barbosa was another good move, and although Kawhi Leonard has shown a great deal of promise in San Antonio, George Hill has played a significant role for the Pacers this season.  Just yesterday he scored 10 points in the first half to keep Indiana afloat as they struggled mightily to manufacture buckets.

Congratulations to Larry Bird, whose trophy case is probably larger than my house.

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