Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are often credited as the key figures who helped the NBA regain its popularity during the 1980s—a legacy further solidified by Michael Jordan in the years that followed. The Boston Celtics forward, who was among the league’s biggest stars for years, saw his career end prematurely due to physical challenges, something he reflected on years later.

“I always felt that I had to do more, more, more. That’s why I broke down,” Bird stated during an interview with ESPN’s True Hoop in 2016. “I had to run my 3 miles to warm up. I had to ride my bike 12½ miles. I had to sprint,” he explained. “The one thing I would’ve liked to have had was core strength… That core strength, I think, would’ve taken care of most of that, other than the conditioning.”

From his NBA debut in 1979, Larry Bird made an immediate impact with the Boston Celtics, and by the following year, he was already voted to the All-Star team and the All-NBA First Team. He secured his first NBA Championship in 1981.

To reach that elite level of competition, the Indiana-born forward pushed his body through rigorous physical demands that ultimately became unsustainable. “I had that thing in my body that told me to get up and go, that clock. When it’s time to run, you go run. That’s just the way I was,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to last long. I knew I was breaking down. It was just the way it is. I had this desire to win every game and the only way I felt, in my mind, that I could do that was to be in the best condition.”

Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics shoots the ball as Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers watches him.

Larry Bird’s winning mentality

Bird was a three-time NBA champion in 1981, 1984, and 1986, as well as a three-time consecutive league MVP. That legacy was not only built on his immense talent but also on his relentless competitive mindset. “One game. My thoughts were always that that night was the most important game in the world. Everybody in the world was watching that one game. And I had to be the best player on the court and win that game that night,” he said.

“That was my mentality, and it stuck with me all the way through my career,” Larry added. “But knowing that, I knew that I was going to pay for it in a hard way. That’s probably why, when I retired, after the press conference, I probably felt relief.”

The end of Bird’s career

After nearly a decade of dominating the NBA, Larry Bird’s physical issues began to take their toll in 1988. He missed almost the entire 1988-89 season after undergoing surgery to have bone spurs removed from both of his heels.

When he returned the following season, Bird no longer displayed the same form he had prior to the surgery, as back problems began to hinder his performance. Ultimately, those injuries led to the end of his career. Larry Bird announced his retirement in August 1992, just weeks after winning the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics as part of the Dream Team.

“It’s funny. When I retired, I thought I’d really miss it. But I really feel like there was a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Bird recalled. “I couldn’t believe it. When I got done with that press conference, I walked out of there and I go, ‘Well, now I’m just a normal citizen. My career is over and it feels good.’”