Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics cold-hearted sharpshooter and Class of 1998 Hall of Famer, was coming off of a streak of winning three consecutive NBA MVP awards, a nearly unprecedented achievement, and continued to perform at his silky peak. He was only denied a fourth MVP nod only by the transcendent point guard play of his archrival Magic Johnson. The Indiana native was unstoppable in 1986-87, averaging 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game and recording the first 50/40/90 season in NBA history by shooting over 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point line, and 90% from the charity stripe.

Bird, an All-Star in 1986-87, led the Celtics to the NBA Finals, defeating the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, and Detroit Pistons to set up a matchup with Magic and the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers on the NBA’s grandest stage. The Celtics, ravaged by injuries to Bill Walton, Danny Ainge, and Robert Parish, put up a valiant fight, but fell in six games to one of the best teams in NBA history. This offered home uniform with jersey and shorts is one of the finest Larry Bird game used collection ever offered.

This jersey is now off-white and has “CELTICS” and Bird’s number “33” sewn on the front of the jersey in green tackle twill. “BIRD” and a second “33” are sewn on the back of the jersey in green tackle twill. A NBA logo patch is sewn on the left shoulder, and Sand-Knit size “46” and Celtics tags are sewn on the front left tail of the jersey. The sleeves and collar are accented with a green and white pattern. This jersey shows moderate use. Also included in this lot are the matching Sand-Knit size 36 game shorts worn by Bird. These shorts have a thick green waist band and green/white/green stripes running vertically down the sides and around the ends. Like the jersey, they are now toned giving them a cream-colored look. The white draw-string is still intact and “33” is hand written in black marker on the “Sand-Knit” tag. The shorts also display moderate use. Bird had signed both the jersey and shorts in black marker. His distinctive signature is to the left his number “33” on the front of the jersey and on the left thigh of the shorts. This jersey and shorts set are accompanied by a LOA from MEARS, who have assigned these items a perfect A10 grade. There is also a letter of provenance from Kenny Beaver, who attests that this uniform was donated to the then-called Larry Bird Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Martinsville, Indiana. This uniform was put up for display for promotional purposes. A corresponding printout of the November 18th, 1987 The Lewiston Journal article featuring the then new car dealership accompanies this item as well. There is a LOA from PSA/DNA for the signatures. As a point of reference on value, this item last sold at auction (in August 2016) and commanded nearly $27,000.

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