$75 million Boston Celtics legend gets jumped by Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, and Dr. J! 

Jeet Pukhrambam | 18/08/2022
$75 million Boston Celtics legend gets jumped by Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, and Dr. J! 

Larry Bird and the Celtics hated Charles Barkley and the Philadelphia 76ers, So much so that they were brawling, even in pre-season!

NBA in the 80s and early 90s was ferocious. It was a time when the league had started televising almost every single game, every single incident too.

While the rough nature of the league was quite prominent from the start; it wasn’t in the public eye nor was its visibility enhanced by high-resolution TV cameras. The 80s were a time when both happened.

Viewers at home got to see the brutal and physical nature of the games live on the screens. Soon enough the NBA would start clamping down. But before that happened we got to witness violence on violence.

Even the pre-season games were rough, just take a look at this clip between the Celtics and the 76ers. See if you can recognize any players.

Also read: Shaquille O’Neal won $100,000 off Charles Barkley but still has one of the most egregious golf swings

$75 million NBA legend Larry Bird gets jumped by a gang of 76ers players including Charles Barkley!

Back in the day, the hate was real. So much so that a simple play could incite a riot. The aforementioned clip is from a game between the Celtics and the 76ers and you can see how violent the players got.

Today, Charles Barkley might be a broadcaster extraordinaire, and Larry Bird is worth a cool $75 million. But back then, the two were just players on a court squaring off because they simply hated each other.

Charles Barkley in particular was one to get all crazy. The rivalry between the two was fierce at the time and for a long while, the violence continued.

The NBA did eventually come around to stifle the altercations on the court and stricter fines and rules were imposed to get rid of it. These days the game is far less physical, as the old heads say “the league’s gone soft”.

Also read: Charles Barkley calls $200 million Kevin Durant “a cadaver” on national television as The Slim Reaper hands off his jersey to Drake

Post Edited By: Jeet Pukhrambam
Charles Barkley Larry Bird NBA

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

Don’t miss these