A New Era With Bird and Fitch

After a year of waiting, in 1979 Red Auerbach finally persuaded Larry Bird to sign with the Boston Celtics and new coach Bill Fitch. While some Celtics players didn’t have the best relationship with Fitch, that was never the case with Bird. “Coach Fitch is the best coach in the league,” Bird explained after Fitch left to lead the Houston Rockets. Fitch was similarly impressed with Bird, saying just weeks into his rookie season, “God must be really pleased with Larry Bird.”