Bird Will Fly Again

It was a cold autumn evening. My roommates and I were huddled around the television, watching the thrilling second game of the Boston Celtics' 1987-88 season.

With two seconds left in regulation, the Bullets scored to take a one-point lead. The Celtics called timeout.

"Oh no!" moaned one of my roomies. "The Celtics lost! There's no way they can come back!"

"Look," I said calmly, "you're from the backwoods of Connecticut. This is your first semester in the Boston area. What's more, you're not a Celtics fan. We have Larry. I remember once the Celts only had one second, not two, and were down by two points, not one. And Larry nailed a three. We can still do it."

"This time you're wrong," insisted the non-believer. "There's no way they can win."

"Just you watch."

Needless to say, Larry swished one, and my roommate was choking on his words so badly we had to administer the Heimlich maneuver.

That was over a year ago. Today the captain of the Boston Celtics can hardly walk. He is recovering from surgery to remove bone spurs from his Achilles tendons.

It figures to be a long winter for the Celtics and their fans. The team is only 8-9, its worst start of the Bird era. And the Garden faithful have no Bird heroics to look forward to until March.

So as the Green Machine sputters through the dark days of December and January, memories are going to have to supply the fuel. Here are some real high-octane Bird highlights to keep Celtic Pride going through the winter.

There are his shots. How about Bird's stake-in-the-heart three-pointer in Game 6 against Houston that sealed the 1981 NBA championship? Or that stop-and-pop bank shot that completed the stirring comeback in the Philly series the same year?

And his athleticism. Athleticism? Yeah, that's not Larry's forte, but there's that unforgettable play in the '81 Championship Series against the Rockets when he threw up a shot, ran to grab the rebound along the baseline, then shot the ball lefty to avoid hitting the backboard as he fell out of bounds--all in one motion. "Greatest play I ever saw," Red Auerbach said.

As for defense, there's the steal Bird made in the waning seconds of Game 5 of the 1987 series against Detroit. The Pistons had the game won, but Bird picked off the inbound pass and hit Dennis Johnson for the winning layup.

Shooter's touch? There's the shot that made those NBA "Fantastic" commercials. The one where he's on the baseline and shoots it over the top of the backboard. All net.

And what about that infamous Bird confidence? Or is it arrogance? For that, there's my personal favorite. In an NBA All-Star Game three-point shooting contest, he needed to make his last shot to win. After he released it, he raised his arms in victory and walked away. Before the ball ripped through the cords.

Yes, we're going to have to live in the past for the next few months. But is Bird's wizardry history?

Today Bird cannot jump (not that he ever could), but he'll be back. How many times have skeptics counted Bird and the Celtics out, only to see Larry stage a miraculous comeback?

The skeptics do remain. Like my roommate, who didn't think Larry could pull out that game against Washington. Just a few days ago he said, "The Celtics are finished. They suck this year. And Larry Bird is done for."

Recalling my words from a year ago, I smiled knowingly and said to him and all those of you who have yet to see the Bird fly, "Just you watch."