NBA Finals 1981: Larry Bird’s 1st championship, 1st Victory Parade in Boston. Despite the legend in the making averaging 15 and 15 in NBA Finals vs Houston Rockets, Bird was not named MVP of the series.
As the 2021 NBA Finals last stop was the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, CLNS History Channel has decided to chin-up and remember happier years, when the Finals were an annual occurrence in Boston.
Our spotlight has been to celebrate the 1981 Boston Celtics title as May 2021 marked the 40th anniversary of the oft neglected Banner 14.
1981 was the year of firsts for current NBA Legends and those players that would soon reach legendary status.
First time champions on any level:
- Larry Bird
- Robert Parish
- Tiny Archibald
- ML Carr
- Chris Ford
- Kevin McHale
- Cedric Maxwell
- Gerald Henderson
- Coach Bill Fitch
- Terry Duerod
The 1981 Celtics tipped off the first of five Finals appearances and 3 titles during the Larry Bird era.
This news report can also be found on CLNS History Channel as a pop up short here – https://youtu.be/i8wWVtYpBtE
Past segments can be found here
Welcome to CLNS’ NBA History Channel.