Bird had no intention of tuning down Celts, who of course had plenty of cash. They met his demand. As all parties figured would occur.
But if you have factual evidence that it was ever in doubt, I'd be grateful.
Kid this is close to 40 years ago, but as I recall thefe was considerable talk as the deadline approached, and a fair amount of public negotiations, and considerable relief when he signed shortly before the deadline approached.
And it should be remembered, Bird became a star not when the Celtics drafted him after his junior year, but after his Sycamores went undefeated in his senior year, only to lose to Magic and Mich state, in the NCAA finals. Magic went #1 , Bird might have opted into that draft as a much bigger star, and gotten paid more like a #1 or $2 instead of a #6.
As to your beleif, that the "Celtics had plenty of cash" that is a phrase seldom used about the pre-Bird Celtics. The Celtics were the 4th team in Boston, and owned by a string of owners in the 60s 70s and 80s who generally ran the Celtics on the cheap.
Auerbach ran the team almost by himself, there wa little infra-strucutre it was him, Jan Volk (a lawyer/accountant), and Buddy Le Roux (trainer) that was about it. To say the late 70's Celtic had plenty of cash is simply incorrect.
If Bird wanted to opt out he might have been avialbe to deeper pocket teams like the Lakers owned by Jack Kent Cooke or the Knicks owned by the conglomerate Gulf & Western, both who had far more financial resources than the Celtics.
If you have other specific knowledge of Bird's thinking at the time, and his negotiating strategy, please share.
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