The 1992 Dream Team gave basketball fans lots of memorable moments, that still intrigue posterity. Former NCAA star Jamal Mashburn’s Dream Team memory is still as fresh as ever, but not just because he had a great time with the team. During his recent appearance on the Run It Back show, Mashburn talked about an encounter with the great Larry Bird.
Advertisement
Apart from being one of the all-time greats, Bird is also known as one of the greatest trash talkers of all time. Mashburn and his teammates got to experience Bird’s trash-talking skills first-hand in 1992.
Mashburn was part of the college team that was assigned the task of practicing with the Dream Team before their Olympics stint. He was accompanied by the likes of Chris Webber, Allan Houston, and Rodney Rogers. But before they could get their foot on the court, the youngsters witnessed a teaser of what waited for them after they saw Bird in the hotel hallway.
Mashburn said that the first thing he noticed about Bird was his height. As youngsters who probably looked up to the NBA legend, they wondered if it is really him. Sure enough, it was the great Larry Bird in their hallway.
Mashburn revealed during the show, “[Larry Bird] comes by and says, ‘Are you those college guys that we’re playing against?’ and [Chris Webb] is like, ‘Yeah, Mr. Bird’, and he says, ‘Well, get some f****** rest, it’s going to be a long week.” Caught off guard by the unprovoked trash talk, Mashburn was at a loss of words and couldn’t say anything in response. While he learned his lesson on the spot, Rogers didn’t take notes as he decided to go at Bird during a practice session.
Larry Bird schooled Rodney Rogers
During his appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast in 2021, Mashburn talked about his teammate Rodney Rogers’ failed attempt to trash talk Bird. To his credit, the college team handed the Dream Team their only loss, so they were on cloud nine and maybe that made Rogers a little confident. Mashburn recalled, “Rodney Rogers says something to a group of Dream Team members like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Everybody’s shooting their s***, and Rodney Rogers said, ‘Hey Larry, you ain’t hit a jumper since ’84!'”
Unfortunately, this didn’t go well for Rogers as the next day Bird decided to show him his place. Mashburn said, “Larry Bird got the ball on Rodney Rogers, and every time he was about to make a move, he told him what he was going to do. One dribble pull-up going left, glass – bucket. One dribble going right, spin, shot – bucket.” Trash talking against Larry Bird was never a good idea, most NBA veterans will vouch for that. Sadly, Rogers got to know about it the hard way.
