“Kevin McHale, you won’t hold the Celtics scoring record for too long”: Magic Johnson recounts Larry Bird besting his teammate in the very next game by scoring 60

Larry Bird, according to Magic Johnson, once told his own teammate, Kevin McHale, that he wouldn’t hold the Celtics scoring record for too long. 

Much has been said about Larry Bird and his otherworldly competitiveness. Magic Johnson went toe to toe with the Boston Celtics icon on the biggest stage on three separate occasions, with numerous encounters in the regular season as well. Safe to say that Magic saw Bird’s competitive vigor up close and personal. 

Larry Bird, though he was a severely underrated passer, was mainly known for his scoring. He was one of the most multifaceted scorers the NBA has seen in its 75 years of existence. He had perfectly everything from shooting middys over defenders, fadeaways (yes, even before Jordan got his hands on it), and of course, 3s.

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Kevin McHale was most certainly no scrub either as the second option to Larry Legend. He is touted as having some of the best footwork in the history of the league while being lauded as one of the greatest post players as well. 

Magic Johnson on Larry Bird breaking Kevin McHale’s record. 

On a particular night in the ‘85 season, Kevin McHale absolutely lit up the Detroit Pistons for 56 points, besting Larry Bird for having the most points scored in a game by a Boston Celtic. He beat out Bird’s previous record from two seasons ago by 3 points.

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With some as automatic as Larry on his team however, McHale should’ve known his record wasn’t going to be safe for long. And well, it wasn’t. Merely 9 days later, Larry Bird went ballistic against the Atlanta Hawks, scoring 37 points in the second half to bring his scoring total to 60 points. 

https://youtu.be/8wTH7ubQKQo

This record of his stills stands to this day with Jayson Tatum tying it against the Spurs a while back. 

Magic Johnson has quite the anecdote when it comes to this moment in NBA history as he claims Bird warned his own teammate about the scoring record eventually being broken by him.