A Larry Bird mural in downtown Indiana has become quite controversial of late. The artwork portrays the NBA legend as a young and tattooed athlete, which Bird himself apparently did not take a liking to.
Below is a snap of the mural in question, courtesy of Dana Hunsinger Benbow and David Lindquist of the Indianapolis Star:
Larry Bird's own attorney, Gary Sallee, spoke on behalf of the former Pacers president, and shared how his client is not exactly a fan of how he was portrayed in the mural:
“Larry's position is he has elevated himself from where he began to where he is now through a lot of hard work. He has developed a brand that is marketable and he needs to protect that brand,” Sallee told IndyStar. “The mural, as originally painted, was a departure from that brand.”
Sallee went on to explain, however, that Bird has nothing against tattoos in general. It's just that the three-time NBA champ does not want them on his own person:
“All of his friends and 98% of his players are tattooed. He doesn't have any problem with tattoos,” Sallee said. “He just doesn’t want to be seen as a tattooed guy.”
In this light, there were some rumors that emerged pertaining to Bird's camp demanding to have the mural taken down, which is something Sallee denies.
This is a pretty weird narrative, to be honest, but what we are sure of is that this mural will be getting much more time in the limelight than originally anticipated. As they say, publicity — be it good or bad — is still publicity.
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