Thomas J. Whalen is an Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Boston University with a passion for basketball in his spare time. In this talk, he reminds us about what was going on in the 1980s -- Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson, school bussing in Boston, and the 1984 Boston Celtics. The NBA was not doing well, attendance was down, and it was generally thought of as a second-rate sports league. In 1984 that all changed. Larry Bird, along with Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson, led the Celtics to the NBA championship in a series that went a full seven games. In doing so they raised the visibility, interest, and support for the NBA to unprecedented heights.