If we win that many, they’ll lose their minds. – Larry Bird remembers that during his rookie year, he underestimated his contribution to the Celtics’ victory.

If we win that many, they’ll lose their minds. – Larry Bird remembers that during his rookie year, he underestimated his contribution to the Celtics’ victory.

Coach Fitch didn’t believe Bird’s win prediction for his rookie year.

As a rookie in the NBA, Larry Bird faced an intriguing scenario, having led the Sycamores to the 1979 Championship Game and entering the league with much hype.

In addition to underestimating his own impact, Larry’s prediction of the Boston Celtics’ win total for the 1979–80 season met with skepticism from head coach Bill Fitch, who doubted a significant turnaround for a team that had finished with a disappointing 29–53 record.

Bill Fitch following Bird’s victory forecast
As an Indiana native entering his debut season, he was keen to establish a good rapport with his squad, so picturing a 47-win season made sense.

In his autobiography Drive: The Story of My Life, the three-time MVP also acknowledged that the team and its supporters may be impressed if it wins 18 more games in a single season.

He approached me one day during training camp and asked, ‘Write down on this piece of paper how many games you believe we are going to win this year.’ I wrote 47 down. They won 29 the year prior, I reasoned. “If we win that many, they’ll go crazy,” Bird remarked. Fitch remarked, ‘That’s really quite high. You have to be really convinced that something is going to happen in this area.”

It’s possible to argue that Bird had the greatest impact of any rookie ever.
In retrospect, Bird salvaged a squad that had finished outside of the playoffs the previous two years. In addition to leading them to a league-best record of 61-21, the 1980 ROY also led them to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost in a five-game series to the Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s safe to conclude that although if Larry didn’t win a title in his first year, his presence gave the Celtics hope that they could compete to be the best team in the NBA as long as he was on the club, with few roster changes needed.