Larry Bird's clean-cut, non-tatted image is back ... sorta ... because the artist behind his inked-out mural in Indiana has removed the NBA legends face tats after Larry complained.
Remember, artist Jules Muck (aka Muck Rock) has created a modernized version of Bird's iconic 1977 Sports Illustrated shoot ... complete with tattoos in his face, chest and arms.
The image caught Bird's attention -- and he tapped his attorney to reach out and ask Jules to change it because he's not a "tattooed guy" and felt the mural could hurt his brand image.
We spoke with Jules, who tells us the two sides agreed to a compromise -- she would remove all of the tats ... EXCEPT ONE ... the "Indiana" ink on Bird's forearm.
So, on Thursday, Jules grabbed some spray paint and went to work ... doing her version of laser tattoo removal -- and the end result is still pretty cool.
But, let's get serious ... face-tatted Larry was pretty awesome.