2015-16 BOSTON CELTICS YEARS LATER, BIRD REFLECTS ON Legendary ‘86 SeaSON By Peter Stringer 30 Special to Parquet Magazine While countless basketball observers, fans and historians The ’86 team was stacked, and that season, Bird was at the have called the 1985-86 Celtics “arguably the greatest NBA absolute height of his formidable basketball powers. Bird won team ever assembled,” you’ll get no argument from Larry Bird, his third consecutive MVP award that season, and the Celtics this magazine, or any other members of that team. captured their 16th NBA Championship, overwhelming the Sure, we’re biased, but the case is very strong. The Celtics Houston Rockets in six games in the NBA Finals. won 67 games that season, losing only once on their home In the process, Bird became the franchise’s most iconic court, going 50-1 at the Boston Garden throughout the regular player, and his emergence alongside Magic Johnson elevated season and playoffs. They championed unselfish basketball, the NBA to new heights, and established the Celtics as Boston’s winning with incredible ball movement and team play. most popular team and international brand during the 1980s. At the time, Bird led a group that included four other Hall In early November, as the Celtics were set to face the Indiana of Famers including Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Bill Walton Pacers, Parquet Magazine sat down with Bird at Conseco and Dennis Johnson. And we haven’t even mentioned NBA All- Fieldhouse for a rare, wide-ranging interview about the 1985- Stars Danny Ainge or Scott Wedman. 86 season. 65 2015-16 BOSTON CELTICS Celtics.com: You won the title in 1984, you lost to the Lakers ’87 I felt as good as I had felt in a long time, but my back was in ’85 and you made some changes heading into the ’86 season. always a problem and I think it was well chronicled throughout What was the feeling with the team going into that season? Boston that if my back felt good I played good; if it didn’t I was going to struggle at times. But my concerns were just trying to Bird: Well, we picked up Bill Walton, Jerry Sichting and some stay healthy as a team, not just individually, because we had other players, and going in we always felt that if we stayed enough firepower that if somebody went down, we’d continue healthy in any season that we had a good chance to get to the to win. But as far as my back, it was just part of the daily grind. Finals. I don’t know about winning the championship – you had You just go out and play, you have treatment and you prepare to get to the Finals first before you could win – but with Bill’s yourself to win basketball games. [injury] history, we had no clue. We got off to a pretty good start in training camp, he was pretty healthy and we were trying Celtics.com: There’s always been so much talk about the to ride the wave. The good thing about it was Robert Parish Green versus the White team in practice. What were those and Bill were such good friends and got along, so the transition practices like? was very easy. We always said that Robert’s the one that had Bird: I was talking to someone the other day and they were to give the most for us to be successful on the offensive end, asking if I played with the second unit much, and I can’t ever then when Bill came, Bill was all about winning, so he made the remember putting the green jersey on going out to practice. transition very easy. And going through camp knowing that we We were always on the same team. It was always me and and had an extra guard in Jerry from a shooting standpoint, and Robert, or it was me and Kevin McHale and Robert. But Bill had being very active with the point guards, we felt we had a good his own identity, his own team in practice, and they put up good chance to make a hell of a run. battles everyday. It was a test because you gotta remember, Celtics.com: You had hurt your back in the summertime Scotty Wedman was on that team and they had a heck of a coming into that season. How long did it take you to feel like bench and a competitive bench, so every day in practice was a yourself again going into that year? tough go because a lot of those guys didn’t play a lot of minutes. We’d come off playing 38, 40 minutes a game and have to go in Bird: Well, my back was bothering me in ’84 and the summer and face these guys. It was demanding, but it made us all better. of ’83, but actually I had a pretty good year that year. I think in 66 2015-16 BOSTON CELTICS Celtics.com: You guys only lost one game the entire year at embarrassing moment, I know that. I think we were up 18 in the Boston Garden. Why was the team so good at home? third quarter and they make a run and they win it in overtime, if my memory is correct. But I can remember somebody coming Bird: We came to play and we came to win, and it’s a lot to the locker room and saying, ‘No more beer or alcohol the easier to do at home than it is on the road. On the road there are rest of the year.’ I like to drink my beer and I wasn’t very happy all kinds of different things going on. There are friends that want about it, but we did it and we won a championship. So I can’t to come out for tickets and go out after games and different say that’s why we won it, but it was embarrassing enough for things. At home you just felt more comfortable. I don’t know us to have to make some changes. why we went 40-1 (during the regular season), but I do know why Portland beat us (on Dec. 6): Because they were better that Celtics.com: When you look back, was it a missed opportunity day. We played a good game, but they were just better. that you didn’t set the 70-win record? (Editor’s Note: The 95-96 Chicago Bulls went on to win an NBA record 72 games. The Celtics.com: What stands out to you about that loss? 1972 Lakers had set the previous record that stood at the time, Bird: We were playing hard, playing good and they got on winning 69 games.) a run and they just ran it down our throats. I mean they were Bird: I don’t think that was a real goal for us. I think it was just attacking us and the speed that they had in their backcourt was staying healthy. We lost our first game to New Jersey, we lost to really too much for us because they had us on our heels all day. Sacramento… there are a lot of teams that we probably could Celtics.com: When you think about the Christmas Day game have beat. It’s not that we took off and said we were going – the loss in New York – was that a pivotal moment in the to take the night off, but in Sacramento we were coming off season? the All-Star break, we didn’t really get in a good practice the Bird: I don’t think so. We like to say that it was. It was an day before the game and I missed two free throws down the 67 2015-16 BOSTON CELTICS 68 2015-16 BOSTON CELTICS stretch, so anything can happen in any game. But you’ve gotta Celtics.com: Back to that left-handed game in Portland on give the other teams some credit sometimes. Maybe they were Feb. 14, the idea that you could not only just decide to play left- just better that night. handed, but you put up a triple-double that night too… Celtics.com: When the team is that good and you’re walking Bird: Well left-handed is one thing, but when the game got into gyms expecting to beat teams, do you have to do other close I had to go back to the right one. I think it went right down things to keep the competitive juices to the wire and we might’ve won by flowing or challenge yourself in different one point. But you do things out ways? “We came to play there… I mean Danny Ainge one night, Bird: Sure you do. You have to play and we came I can remember K.C. Jones was talking games left-handed or you have to do to us about shooting too many 3-point different things to keep your interest in to win.” shots, and everybody agreed we had the game. But we just didn’t think we to cut down. I think it was against New were going to lose, though we lost some York that right off the tip, the ball goes games throughout the year. I can remember one in particular to Danny, he pulls up from about 35 feet and makes a 3, and I where I was mad at Kevin and Bill – before the game they were guess all that talk went right out the window.