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The Legend From French Lick
Date: June 7, 1979
Red Auerbach took a big chance when he drafted Larry Bird No. 6 overall in 1978, not because there was any question about Bird’s talent, but because he made a promise to his mother to play his senior season at Indiana State University. The negotiations to bring Bird to Boston went on for months before Bird signed a record contract for a rookie in any sport just a couple of weeks before the 1979 NBA Draft, when the Celtics would have lost the rights to him. Said Bird at the press conference, somewhat tongue-in-cheek: “I should have told Mr. Auerbach I would have played for nothing.”
( C ) NBA/Celtics