On this day in Boston Celtics history, the franchise retired Hall of Fame forward Larry Bird’s No. 33 jersey in a special, sold-out ceremony at the TD Garden in 1993.
Larry Legend played his college ball primarily at Indiana State (he briefly played at Indiana under iconic coach Bob Knight before transferring) and was drafted before he graduated via a loophole in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that was exploited by legendary Celtics general manager Red Auerbach in the 1978 NBA draft (and in turn allowed Bird and his agent to extract a record-breaking rookie deal from Boston in the process).
The Hick from French Lick (as the Indiana native was called) signed a historically large rookie contract and began racking up accolades in his inaugural season.