Top 5 Rookie playoff debuts in NBA history

#2 Larry Bird, 1980

The spring of 1980 was the season when the NBA really came together with the entrance of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson

Stats: 9 Games, 21.3 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 4.7 APG

The spring of 1980 was the season when the NBA really came together with the entrance of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. These phenomenal athletes initiated a great rivalry and even better spirit of competition back in the game.

Bird was a shooter like no other and was so special that for his rookie season, the cash-strapped Celtics had to work into the loophole of a law to get him to complete their team.

Though Magic had a better campaign, Bird had a better season and was named rookie of the year. Basketball Jesus as he was called, helped bring the Celtics to the no.1 seed going into the playoffs.

In the playoffs, Bird was integral to sweeping out Houston on the road to facing the league's no.1 at the time, Julius Irving.

Though the Celtics lost against the Sixers in five games, games two and three were where Bird showed his full potential with 30 points in game two and 22 in game three. Later on, this became a mere footnote to what a beast Bird would become in postseasons.