Collecting dust on a magazine-sized easel in my bedroom is a Nov. 1977 edition of Sports Illustrated. Larry Bird is on the cover. You’ve probably seen it before (it’s the one pictured above) or at least seen Doug McDermott’s rendition of it from 2014. Two cheerleaders pose on both sides of Bird, shushing the camera with their fingers pointed up while Bird goofily stares at the camera. It reads College Basketball’s Secret Weapon on the cover. Bird averaged 30.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game for Indiana State that season, a year before his rivalry with Magic Johnson would change the world of basketball.
What Sports Illustrated said about Kentucky MBB in Nov. 1977
