He’s one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived: three NBA championships, three MVP awards, an Olympic gold medal, and a spot on practically every “best ever” list. But Larry Bird—the man they called “Larry Legend”—almost walked away from it all… because he genuinely loved being a garbage man.
In his own words:
“I never worried about college in high school, and I never worried about the pros in college. When the Celtics drafted me, I could’ve cared less.”
While millions of kids were dreaming of the bright lights of the NBA, young Larry Bird was perfectly content riding the back of a garbage truck in French Lick, Indiana.
“I loved that job,” Bird said. “It was outdoors, you were around your friends, picking up brush, cleaning up… I felt like I was really accomplishing something.
”Think about that for a second. The same hands that drained clutch threes at the Boston Garden and tormented Michael Jordan in playoff battles were once gripping the back of a trash truck, tossing bags and clearing brush with his buddies at dawn. To Larry, that work felt just as meaningful—maybe even more—than any game-winning jumper.
He only returned to Indiana State for his senior year (and led them to the 1979 NCAA championship game against Magic Johnson) because the people in his small town convinced him to give basketball one more shot. Even after the Celtics took him sixth overall in the 1978 draft, Bird seriously considered staying home and keeping his sanitation department job.
From small-town trash routes to the rafters of the NBA, Larry Bird never forgot where he came from—or the pride he took in keeping his community clean.
So the next time you see a waste and recycling crew out there before sunrise, busting their backs to make your neighborhood better, remember this: one of the coldest shooters in basketball history once stood right where they stand… and he loved every minute of it.
Happy Waste and Recycling Workers Week to every hardworking man and woman who keeps America running—one route at a time. Larry Bird salutes you.