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Larry Bird was the first player in the NBA to win the three-point contest thrice. He won the first three contests in event history from 1986 to 1988. During his third consecutive appearance in 1988, he walked into the arena and asked the other contestants who amongst them was coming second in the competition.
Displaying supreme confidence, he scored 17 of his 30 possible points to edge out his challengers all whilst wearing his warm-up jacket.
The candidates could only score 30 total points in the three-point contest in 1988. The possible total was increased to 34 in 2014 and then to 40 in 2020. Larry Bird scored 23/30 points in the final round of his first contested appearance in 1986 in Dallas. In his second straight appearance in 1987, he scored 16/30 but still went on to win the contest.
Larry Bird was the face of the Boston Celtics franchise in the 1980s. He led the Celtics to the NBA Finals five times, winning titles in 1981, 1984, and 1986, bagging Finals MVP for the latter two. He is the last player in NBA history to win the MVP award three times consecutively.
He was a 12-time All-Star and was named to nine straight All-NBA First Teams. Bird was also named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team and his number 33 jersey hangs in the TD Garden rafters.
Larry Bird credits Jerry Sichting for his role during the 1986 NBA championship run
Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics fell short in the 1985 NBA Finals against Magic Johnson's LA Lakers. Bird returned the following season with an improved squad, specifically Jerry Sichting, who was traded by the Indiana Pacers for two second-round draft picks. He was a 6-foot-1 guard who shot 57% from the field that season.
Larry Bird credited Jerry Sichting's shooting efficiency and energy off the bench. In 2020, the Boston Celtics put out a video commemorating their 1986 championship banner and Bird spoke highly about Sichting.
"Jerry was great the two years we had him, especially in ’86...Jerry shot like 56 percent from the field. He’s a dead-eye shooter. He’s the one kid that we could get up and put pressure, full court, on other point guards. Isiah [Thomas] hated to play against him, so it was great for me to see it. He was scrappy. Jerry was a good little player."
Jerry Sichting averaged 5.9 points, 2.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds per game while shooting 53% from the field and 30% from three-point range. Sichting is famous for hitting the game-winning shot in the double-overtime showdown against Michael Jordan and the Bulls when the latter dropped an NBA playoff record 63 points.
He also played a big role during Game 2 of the 1986 NBA Finals against Houston, dropping 10 points in 23 minutes off the bench on 5-8 shooting (62%).
Guess the Lakers players!
