#40: He Worked as a Janitor at Indiana State

Long before the accolades, Larry Bird scrubbed toilets at Indiana State. As a student-athlete, he took on janitorial work to make ends meet. He didn’t complain. He didn’t boast. He just showed up and did the job. His humility wasn’t performative—it was woven into his daily life.

Cleaning classrooms and mopping floors daily, then dropping double-doubles by night, Bird became a walking contradiction to fame-driven sports culture. His focus was always on the work—on doing what needed to be done, on and off the court.