Larry Bird was the first 3-point shooting specialist in the NBA since the league introduced the 3-point line, the same year he entered the grandest stages of basketball in 1979.
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Reggie Miller who came in 8 years later started competing for that spot as soon as he came in in 1987. Both of them would have developed a rivalry because of their inclination toward 3-pointers and trash-talking.
And even though Miller turned out to be a better 3-point shooter after the end of their careers, Bird had won the 3-point contest thrice to assert his greatness at it.
Years later, ‘Larry Legend’ told Reggie on his face that he would win a 3-point contest against him as well.
Larry Bird told Reggie Miller he could only win the 3-point contest if Bird were his coach
In an episode of the Dan Patrick Show from back in the day, Miller, who was guest hosting the show, asked his former rival and coach who would be winning a three-point contest between himself and Larry.
“Here’s how I’ll put it, Reggie,” Bird replied. “If you were my teammate in the pros, I would win, hands down. If I have the opportunity to coach you, I’d say you win.”
Typical Larry. Although Reggie had not won a 3-point contest despite participating in it 5-times, he (39.5) had a better career shooting percentage as compared to Bird (37.6) from beyond the arc.
Bird and Miller’s roller-coaster relationship
They started knowing each other, or we can say started hating on each other when a rookie Miller tried trash-talking Bird in all his consciousness.
And after years of great battles between them, Bird became Pacers coach and led Miller and Co to an NBA Finals which they would lose against Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s Lakers.
That was the closest the 5x All-Star would ever go to a championship. The 3-year stint of Larry in Indiana as the Head Coach was enough for the duo to forget the bitterness they had for each other.
