For Hammer, Larry Bird was his idol ... Then he saw the photo of Bird's childhood basketball hoop. "It was nothing more than a rusty rim and wood backboard," he said, "hanging on a dilapidated ...

More: Blown away by Larry Bird's childhood hoop, he traveled 200,000 miles in search of more That's what most people know about Bird's high school years, those ridiculous stats as a senior ...

All his life, Larry Bird has always represented his humble ... There were no luxuries in his childhood — only the basics and sometimes not even that. That perspective never faded.

"Professional mushroom hunter. [Laughs]," another French Lick resident replied when asked what Bird would've been if he hadn't been a professional basketball player. "'Cause he co ...