How Larry Bird And Twitter Are Connected

Ever wondered what the official name of the “Twitter Bird” is?

Well, the little birdie has a name, and it’s Larry. Larry the Bird. As in the Boston Celtics star, NBA Hall of Famer, and current sports commentator Larry Bird.

Ryan Sarver, a Twitter platform and API manager, tweeted this fun fact a few days ago with a picture of Twitter’s creative director Doug Bowman. Bowman had been explaining how the company’s logo has evolved over the years, and Sarver tweeted about the “evolution of the Larry the Bird logo.”

Twitter’s co-founder is Biz Stone, who graduated from Wellesley High School, just outside of Boston. Stone was born in 1974, which means that he was a kid while Larry Bird was in his glory days with the Boston Celtics. Bird led the Celtics to two NBA championships, winning three consecutive NBA league “Most Valuable Player” titles from 1984-1986.

Actually, this is not the first time that Twitter’s “Larry the Bird” was mentioned publicly. Back in August 2011, Peter Stringer, the director of the Boston Celtics’ Interactive Media, sent a tweet to Biz Stone – “Hey @biz, is the @Twitter bird icon named after @Celtics legend Larry Bird?,” to which Stone replied “Yes it is!”

Larry Bird was born December 7, 1957, and grew up in French Lick, Indiana. After a successful high school basketball career, he played college basketball at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. When he left Indiana State, he was the third highest scoring player in NCAA history. The Boston Celtics drafted Larry Bird in the 1979 NBA draft, and he was the highest-paid rookie in NBA history to date and was named Rookie of the Year. He was one of the biggest stars of the NBA through the 1980′s, but was plagued by back problems that led to his retirement. He played on the USA Olympic “Dream Team” in 1992, and announced his retirement from the NBA soon after. Since then, he has spent time coaching and acting as a sports commentator.