Larry Bird Has a Heart Condition
The blog Lex Nihil Novi has posted about an article in this week’s Sports Illustrated where Larry Bird talks about his atrial fibrillation - a heart condition that he reportedly kept secret from the Celtics at the end of his playing career:
The disease is not life-threatening and not as serious as ventricular fibrillation, which doctors believed caused the death of former Celtics teammate Reggie Lewis. But on March 17, 1998, while coaching Indiana in a tight game against the Chicago Bulls, Bird almost passed out.
“I was standing on the sideline and hoping for a television timeout because I felt like I was gonna pass out,” Bird wrote. “Finally, the ref whistled time. Whenever we have a timeout, they always put a chair on the court for me so I can sit down and talk to the guys. This time I fell into that chair because I was going out.”At one point earlier, Pacers cardiologist King Yee used defibrillator paddles to jolt Bird’s heart back to a normal rhythm. Yee told Bird to be more serious about his condition and medication.
Source: Lex Nihil Novi via CelticsBlog
August 27th, 2008 at 11:48 am
that's whats up says:
If only more NBA players had as much heart as him….
godspeed larry legend
August 27th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
me says:
LB was that dude 4real.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
sans says:
so that’s why he quit coaching so quick
August 27th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Octopus Jonny says:
My step-grandfather is one of Larry Bird’s cousins. No joke!
Crazy ish, right!?
August 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Celts Fan says:
The man may have a heart condition, but he still walks on water…
August 27th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
GEE...Make my funk the p-funk says:
don’t know about walking on water Celts lol perhaps a low puddle but yea he was so awesome and just amazing.
Dude had me in awe even when I was rooting against him. This just adds to his legend. Always wishin him the best.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Gangsta of Love says:
If Larry Bird was black, he would have been Reggie Miller. An all-star sure, but one of the best ever? Please. The most overrated player in NBA history!
August 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
doc says:
@Gangsta of Love-If Reggie Miller had 3 chips as THE MAN and 3 straight regular season MVPs you would have a argument,but he dont and neither do you.As soon as I read that crazy statement I thought about when Bird was old as shit and couldnt even sit on the bench because of his back,AND broke his jaw,came back,then went on to destroy Reggie and them in the 1rst round.The man was to old to compete with Zeke and MJ anymore but he could still beat Reggie.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Amar says:
LMAO @ the idiots who even tried to suggest that Lewis died of atrial fibrillation. It was Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy . . . fucking read a book, idiots. That’s like saying that “person x died because they lost a lot of blood after getting shot”. So lame . . . they died because they were shot. the Fibrillation was an accute issue that only made a fatal difference because of his congenital condition of HCM.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
doc says:
Get em Amar!
August 27th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
BxBaller says:
Man thats not cool. Why do dudes stay playing with their health? The heart is something you do not wanna f’ with.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
ENEW says:
Can we have “Gangsta of Love” banned at least until 2009 if not permanently for that post? Seriously, lets start cracking down on the idiots because there are too many smart people that both work at Dime and post on here.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Andy says:
so many ballers with heart problems
Maravich, Bird, Duckworth, Vince Carter (VC’s heart problems are of a different kind though)
August 28th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Gina says:
Good call Gangsta of Love you moron, 3 straight MVPs and 3 titles without the help of the all-time leading scorer like Magic had……….if Barack Obama were white he would still be in the Illinois Senate