Janet Condra: Everything We Know About Larry Bird’s Family
Larry Bird stormed to fame in the 1980s as the star player of the Boston Celtics. Even after his retirement from professional basketball, Larry has remained a key figure in the NBA and is one of the most recognizable sports stars in America.
But behind his incredible sports career, what do we actually know about Larry Bird’s personal life? Well, what some fans might not know is that Larry had a very short-lived marriage when he was quite young.
His wife’s name was Janet Condra – but what do we actually know about her and the rest of Larry Bird’s family?
Who is Janet Condra?
Larry Bird started his basketball career as many top players do, with a scholarship. He played for the Indiana Hoosiers team at Indiana University for just one year before dropping out and returning home.
A year later, in 1975, he plucked up the courage to return to college, and he enrolled in Indiana State University in Terre Haute. This was also the year that he finally married his high school sweetheart, Janet Condra.
Larry met Janet Condra at Springs Valley High School, where the future NBA star also impressed his classmates on the basketball court. Could have been his basketball skills that attracted Janet Condra to Larry in the first place?
(Image/ Source: NCAA.com)
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Though their relationship had lasted throughout Larry’s college dropout and his moves to and from home, it was this final move to Terre Haute that caused a rift.
The two were married for just one year, and on 31st October 1976, they got a divorce. However, while the two may have wanted to part ways forever, their relationship got a little more difficult as Janet Condra was pregnant with Larry’s child.
Their daughter, Connie Bird, was born in 1977, as Larry Bird was finding fame with the Sycamores at Indiana State. However, Connie spent all of her childhood with her mother Janet Condra, rarely seeing her father.
In fact, there is some speculation that despite Connie’s attempts to communicate with her father and her desire to meet him, Larry Bird stayed permanently out of Connie’s life.
Larry Bird’s Children
Larry and Connie did reconcile much later, however. She attended an Indiana Pacers game with Larry, saying: “I was really happy to go to the game. Dad seemed interested in what I had to say. He walked me to my car, and he hugged me.”
But the NBA star also has two other children, though they aren’t biological.
After his split with Janet Condra, Larry Bird focused solely on his basketball career. He took the Sycamores to their first NCAA finals in 1979, and shortly after joined the Boston Celtics on a huge $3.25 million contract.
During this time, or perhaps while he was still at Indiana State University, he met Dinah Mattingly. She also attended ISU, however, they did not start their relationship until much later.
(Image/ Source: playersbio.com)
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Ten years after his entrance to the NBA, during one of his final seasons with the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird married Dinah Mattingly.
Though the couple did not have any children of their own, they did adopt two children: Connor Bird and Mariah Bird.
The two children benefited from far more attention from their father than Connie Bird. They were adopted right around the time of Larry’s retirement from professional basketball in 1993.
A Bad Apple
In February 2013, 21-year-old Connor Bird was arrested at Indiana University for allegedly trying to run his then-girlfriend over with his car.
According to police reports, Connor and his girlfriend got into an argument at Connor’s apartment in Bloomington. Things got pretty heated, and Connor reportedly threw his phone at the poor girl!
A little later on, Connor went to his girlfriend’s apartment to pick her up. However, things didn’t go exactly how Connor expected them to go – they got into yet another heated argument.
His girlfriend got out of Connor’s car to walk back home, and this is when Connor tried to hit her with his car.
(Image/ Source: bleacherreport.com)
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Thankfully, another Indiana University student witnessed this and took the girl to the Indiana University Police Department.
Connor was then charged with various things including battery, criminal mischief, intimidation with a deadly weapon, and possession of marijuana.
But this wasn’t the first time that Connor got in trouble with the law. He was also arrested in 2011 for “underage drinking and disorderly conduct.”