- Dinah Mattingly is Larry Bird’s Wife of more than three decades
- Through their marriage, they adopted two children, Mariah Bird, and Connor Bird
- Aside from this, she has been beside him from the peak of his career till his retirement in 1992
Dinah Mattingly is the celebrity wife of American NBA legend Larry Bird whom she has been married to for over three decades. Her popularity is linked to Bird who had a successful basketball career playing for the Boston Celtics before his retirement in 1992.
Here is what we have gathered about her.
Early Life and Background of Dinah Mattingly
Dinah Mattingly was born on November 16, 1954, in Indiana, and she is currently 70 years old. Yet, over the years, her decision to live a private life has led to many speculations as to the actual year of her birth. Some sources claim to be 1943.
Aside from this, details about her childhood remain elusive. Regardless of these sketchy details about that phase of her life, Dinah attended Schulte High School, Terra Haute, where she graduated in 1973 before proceeding to Indian State University.
Her Marriage to the Basketball Legend is not His First
As mentioned, Dinah’s popularity is linked to her marriage to the former NBA coach. Yet, their admirable marriage of many decades came after his first marriage to a woman named Janet Condra. Bird first met Condra while they were in High school. Not long after leaving High school, they tied the knot in 1975 while Bird was still a freshman at Indiana State University.
The wedding which took place three years before his NBA drafting in 1978 as the 6th overall by the Boston Celtics had its share of challenges. As a result, they soon parted ways. The pair tried to reconcile, but it proved futile. Despite their inability to make their marriage work, they welcomed their daughter, Corrie in 1977.
While his marriage lasted less than a year, other areas of his life such as his career picked up soon after.
He won the NBA championship three times in 1981, 1984, and 1986. He also became NBA’s most valuable player in three consecutive years between 1984 and 1986.
How Dinah Mattingly Met and Married Larry Bird
As mentioned earlier, Dinah attended Indiana State University where she met Larry who later got the nicknames ‘Larry Legend’ and The Hick from French Lick. Apparently, they were friends for some time before they later became a romantic item.
Dinah and Larry took the relationship to another level when they got married in 1989. Mattingly’s husband continued to enjoy career growth despite the collapse of his first marriage. In 1992, three years after they tied the knot, he represented the country as a member of the US Dream Team at the Summer Olympics. The team which includes legendary players like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan marked the first time the US sent NBA players. Thankfully, they won the gold for the men’s basketball team.
Shortly after, The Hick from the French Lick retired from professional basketball before he launched a coaching career with the Indiana Pacers in 1997.
She is the Mother of Two Adopted children
Mattingly does not have any biological children with her husband. Nonetheless, they adopted two children, Conor and Mariah during their marriage.
Her daughter Mariah Bird is a graduate of Boston University and Indiana University Bloomington. After completing her studies in recreation management, she took a career path in the same line. She works as an event manager for Pacers Sports Entertainment.
Her second adopted child is a son named Connor Bird. Though he keeps away from media attention, in 2013, he made the news after he was arrested for attempting to run over his girlfriend. The case against him was later dropped due to a lack of evidence. Ever since Dinah’s youngest child has managed to keep a low profile while avoiding the media glare.
Away from the children she and Larry Legend adopted, many would wonder if Mattingly has a cordial relationship with her stepdaughter. It turns out that Corrie and her father have an estranged relationship.
Apparently, when his first marriage with her mother collapsed, the then-rising basketball player drew up checks to be paid to her till she turned 18, since then, she has maintained little contact with him. Based on this, it is likely that she may not be close to Dinah.
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How Rich is Larry Bird’s Wife?
Considering the privacy that Dinah has over her personal life and career, not much is known about what she does for a living. As such her net worth and career earnings are not known.
Nevertheless, through her marriage to Larry Bird, she is part of his impressive net worth of $75 million which he made from his career as a basketball player. Also, his earnings as a basketball coach between 1997 and 2000 topped his income.
