Solving the Bird of Basketball Crossword Clue Once and For All

You're staring at your phone or the Sunday paper, and there it is: bird of basketball crossword. It’s usually three or four letters. Your brain immediately goes to the Atlanta Hawks or maybe some obscure mascot you saw on a mid-90s trading card. But then you realize the grid doesn't fit. You've got an "L" or maybe an "R" hanging out in the middle of the word, and suddenly, "Hawk" or "Falcon" is off the table.

Crosswords are tricky like that. They play with double meanings. Sometimes a "bird" isn't a feathered creature with wings, and "basketball" isn't the sport itself, but a person who redefined how the game is played.

Why Larry Bird is the King of This Clue

Most of the time, when you see a bird of basketball crossword hint, the answer is LARRY.

It seems too simple, right? But that’s how the New York Times or the LA Times editors get you. They want you to look for a literal bird. Instead, they’re talking about Larry Legend. Larry Bird, the Hall of Famer who led the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships, is a staple of crossword puzzles because his name is short, vowel-heavy, and instantly recognizable to anyone who lived through the 80s.

Honestly, the man is a walking trivia fact. He’s the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Regular Season MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. That’s a lot of titles for a guy from French Lick, Indiana. When a constructor needs a five-letter word to bridge a difficult corner of the map, "Larry" is their best friend.

Sometimes, they’ll shorten it. If the clue asks for a three-letter answer, you're looking for DAN. Wait, Dan? Yeah, Dan Bird was a collegiate standout, but that’s rare. Usually, a three-letter answer for a basketball bird is actually NET, referring to the "swish" of the net which some old-school players called a "bird's nest" in very specific regional slang, though that’s a deep cut.

More likely? If it's three letters and mentions a "Bird of basketball," the answer is ERA. As in, the "Bird-Magic era." Crossword editors love those "blank of blank" structures where the answer is a temporal period rather than a physical object.

The Sue Bird Connection

Don't let the NBA bias fool you. If the clue is four letters long, the answer is almost certainly BIRD itself, but the hint might be "WNBA legend Sue" or "____ of basketball."

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Sue Bird is arguably the most successful "Bird" to ever pick up a ball. Five Olympic gold medals. Four WNBA championships. The all-time assists leader. She retired in 2022, but her name has become even more frequent in crosswords lately because it’s a perfect four-letter word with two high-frequency vowels.

If you see a clue like "Hoops legend Sue," just type in BIRD and move on with your day.

When the Bird is Actually a Mascot

Okay, so what if the answer is a literal bird? It happens.

Crossword constructors often use "Basketball bird" to refer to team names. If you have five letters, try HAWKS. The Atlanta Hawks have been around since the 40s (starting as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks). They are a crossword favorite because of that "K" and "S" ending, which helps link up vertical clues.

If it's seven letters? PELICAN. The New Orleans Pelicans are a newer addition to the NBA lexicon, but they’ve been showing up in the USA Today puzzles quite a bit.

Then there’s the collegiate level.

• JAYHAWK: Kansas fans know this one. It's a seven-letter beast.
• CARDINAL: Stanford or Louisville.
• TERP: Short for Terrapin, which is a turtle, not a bird, but sometimes people get confused. Stick to the feathered ones.

The "Larry" vs. "Bird" Debate

Look at the grid. If the clue is "Bird of basketball" and the space is five letters:

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1. Check for an L. If it's there, it's LARRY.
2. Check for an S. If it's at the end, it might be HAWKS.
3. Check for an A. If it's the second letter, you're probably looking at LARRY again.

If the space is four letters:

1. It's almost always BIRD.
2. It could be PELO, which is a weirdly specific Spanish crossword term for "fuzz" (like on a tennis ball), but that’s a stretch for hoops.
3. Maybe CELT? Larry was a Celtic. It fits the "Bird" theme without being his name.

Tricky Variations You'll See in 2026

Crosswords are evolving. In the 2025 and 2026 puzzle cycles, we've seen a rise in "rebus" puzzles where multiple letters fit into one square. If you can't make "Larry Bird" fit, check if there's a square where you’re supposed to draw a tiny picture of a bird or fit the whole word "BIRD" into one block.

Also, keep an eye out for "Bird's home." You might think NEST, but in a basketball crossword, the answer could be BOSTON or GARDEN (referring to the Boston Garden where Larry played).

Constructors like Will Shortz or the newer editors at The New Yorker love these lateral jumps. They want you to think biology when you should be thinking geography or history.

Solving the Mental Block

If you're stuck, honestly, just take a break. The "Bird of basketball" clue is usually a "gimme" for sports fans, but if you don't follow the NBA or WNBA, it feels like a brick wall.

Remember that Larry Bird and Sue Bird are the two most common "non-avian" birds in the dictionary. If you've ruled them out, look at the Atlanta Hawks or the New Orleans Pelicans.

If it's a "cryptic" crossword, the rules change entirely. A cryptic clue might be something like "Hoops star is a swallow?" The answer would be GULP or something equally frustrating that has nothing to do with Larry Bird. But for your standard Monday-through-Sunday puzzle, stick to the legends.

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Quick Reference for Your Grid

Since you're likely in the middle of a puzzle right now, here is the quick-fire logic to apply to your blank spaces:

Three Letters

• DAN: Rare, but refers to Dan Bird.
• NET: A reach, but possible if the clue is "Bird's nest?"

Four Letters

• BIRD: The most common answer for "Basketball legend Sue" or "Larry's last name."
• HAWK: If the clue is "Atlanta hoopster."

Five Letters

• LARRY: The gold standard for "Bird of basketball" clues.
• HAWKS: Plural version of the Atlanta team.

Six Letters

• CELTIC: Larry Bird's team. It’s a common "related" answer.

Seven Letters

• PELICAN: The New Orleans mascot.

How to Get Better at Sports Crossword Clues

The best way to stop getting stumped by these is to memorize the "Crossword Hall of Fame." These are athletes whose names are used constantly because they have helpful letter combinations:

• OTTO Graham (lots of O's)
• AL OERTER (vowel city)
• BO JACKSON (short and punchy)
• LARRY BIRD (high-frequency letters)
• SUE BIRD (perfect four-letter filler)

When you see "Bird" in a clue, don't look at the sky. Look at the court. Larry's trash-talking legacy and Sue's pick-and-roll mastery have given them a second life in the world of black-and-white squares.

Actionable Tips for Your Next Puzzle

1. Count the squares immediately. Five squares almost always means LARRY.
2. Look at the cross-clues. If the vertical clue starts with an "L," you've got your answer.
3. Check the era. If the puzzle mentions the 1980s, it's Larry. If it mentions the 2000s or 2010s, it's Sue.
4. Ignore the feathers. Unless the clue specifically mentions "Atlanta" or "New Orleans," the answer is a human being.
5. Keep a "Crossword Cheat Sheet" for common sports names like ORR (Bobby Orr), ERE (as in "before"), and BIRD.

Next time you see this clue, you won't even have to think. You'll just scribble in the letters and move on to that impossible clue about 17th-century French poetry.