Does Mississippi Love Larry Bird More than New Hampshire?

Larry Bird is a legend in this state, and rightfully so. A 12-time All Star, three-time MVP, and owner of the single-most memorable scoring display in Celtics franchise history, it’s not surprising that Larry Legend has the best selling throwback jersey in Massachusetts, according to 2014 sales data from old school jersey purveyor Mitchell and Ness. But it seems rest of New England doesn’t love Larry as much as the Bay State.

According to Mitchell and Ness, Bird’s jersey is the top selling throwback in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and strangely, Mississippi. Vermont’s top seller, a 1975 Carl Yastrzemski jersey, also showed their local pride. But Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut went a bit off-message. New Hampshire and Connecticut’s top seller was a Vince Carter Toronto Raptors throwback, while Maine’s was a 1978 San Diego Padres jersey.

To be fair, Vince Carter is the greatest dunker of all time (Sorry Michael), and as one coworker put it, Dave Winfield’s 1978 Padres jersey looks “really f***ing cool.” That said, where’s your Celtic pride, half of New England?

Let’s hope the only reason New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine are lagging is that they already bought enough Larry Bird jerseys to last a lifetime, or that buying throwback jerseys is unnecessary when your #33 jersey from 1985 is still good thirty years later.