Larry Bird personified hustle, consistency and execution in all areas of play throughout his 13-year career with the Boston Celtics--as a scorer, distributor, rebounder, defender, and most importantly for the Boston faithful, a clutch performer who wanted the ball with the game on the line. Few played harder than Bird, who would leap into the stands and over press tables for loose balls. Never bashful on the court, he would often tell his opponents exactly what he was going to do and that there was nothing they could do to stop him. "Larry Legend" is arguably the greatest small forward in NBA history.
Featured here is the Bird's game-worn home uniform from one of his best seasons as a pro in 1986-87 when he averaged 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 7.6 assists while becoming the first ever member of the elite 50-40-90 club. Bird shot 52.5% from the field, 40% from 3-point range, and a league-best 91 % from the line. The Celtics were Eastern Conference Champions once again, this time falling to the rival Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals four games to two. The white jersey (size 46) and shorts (size 36) are each properly tagged by MacGregor/Medalist Sand-Knit with the "Designed & Tailored Exclusively for the Boston Celtics" label. The all-original letters and numbers of the No. 33 jersey are stitched in green tackle twill. The NBA logo patch is sewn on the left chest. The shorts have "33" marked in black on the interior tagging. Both articles are signed by Bird in faded black marker and show solid wear throughout, with appropriate pilling and fraying.
This uniform, along with his game-worn warm-up (Lot 73) and Converse shoes Lot 74), were displayed for several years at the Larry Bird Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Martinsville, Indiana, not too far from Bird's early stomping grounds in French Lick and his alma mater, Indiana State, in Terre Haute. A newspaper article promoting the dealership's grand opening in Nov. 1987 describes "a replica of his locker, which contains the shoes and uniform he wore in last year's NBA playoffs." There is even photo evidence of this exact locker set-up in an April '88 Dealer World magazine. As if that wasn't enough, all items come directly from a former employee of the dealership who took possession of them when the Bird partnership ended. He still works at the dealership, now called Hoosier Ford. One of the finest Bird uniforms known, fresh to the market with superb provenance.
Letter of Provenance from dealership employee. Letter from MEARS with perfect A10 grade. Pre-certified by PSA/DNA (autographs).