“If You Were Any Damn Good…”: Rookie Larry Bird ‘Coldly’ Took a Dig at Veteran ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich

5-time NBA All-Star Pete “Pistol Pete” Maravich came to the Boston Celtics for half a season back in 1980. At the age of 32, Maravich started the season with the Utah Jazz but then moved to the Celtics in January. He would call it quits on a legendary career that very year due to consistent knee problems. The Celtics, who had only recently acquired Larry Bird as the 6th overall pick of the 1978 NBA draft, now had two stars to bank on.

However, according to a former teammate of the two, Cedric Maxwell, Bird was not quite happy with Maravich’s performances. Maxwell even seemed to remember one particular incident that saw Maravich initially asking the then 23-year-old Bird to stop forcing difficult shots when double-teamed. However, a rookie Larry Bird ended up roasting his veteran teammate with an acerbic response.

Bird was being double-teamed, and ended up taking multiple contested shots. This led to a simple piece of advice from Pete Maravich. “We come to the timeout and Pete says ‘Larry, they’re double-teaming you. You can’t force up those kind of shots,'” Maxwell revealed, according to Super 70s Sports

However, Bird was already frustrated and had a bold response for the legend. “Larry looks up and goes ‘If you were any damn good, they wouldn’t be double-teaming me,’” Maxwell added. This anecdote shows the kind of trash-talking that Larry Bird is known for. It is really incredible that the three-time NBA Champion was confident enough to call out even the best of players around him as a rookie.

Cedric Maxwell on Pete Maravich and a rookie named Larry Bird:

“We come to the timeout and Pete says ‘Larry, they’re double-teaming you. You can’t force up those kind of shots.’

Larry looks up and goes ‘If you were any damn good, they wouldn’t be double-teaming me.’” pic.twitter.com/S4Q5HABfOm

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) December 30, 2023

Of course, Maravich, in his own right, had already had an illustrious career. However, the 5-time All-Star was unaware of the cockiness that Bird of capable of dishing out.

However, Bird was no newcomer to the American basketball scene. Even after being drafted in 1978 by the Celtics, Bird competed for the NCAA title in the 1978-79 season for the Indiana State Sycamores. The NBA’s CBA rules back then allowed a player to complete their senior year in college even after being drafted. The Sycamores’ game against the Magic Johnson-led Michigan State Spartans recorded the highest viewership numbers in NCAA history. So Bird was certainly a bona fide rockstar when he entered his rookie year in the NBA.

Larry Bird did not hold back even against a Dream Team teammate

Bird was part of the famous 1992 Dream Team that competed for Team USA in the Barcelona Olympics. However, when a teammate talked trash to him during scrimmage, Bird decided to have his revenge. Rodney Rogers had joked about how Bird had not hit a jumper since 1984. This brought forth a flurry of shots in the next scrimmage, courtesy of Magic Johnson. 

“Larry Bird got the ball on Rodney Rogers. Every time he was about to make a move, he told him [Rodney Rogers] what he was going to do. One dribble, pull up, going left. Off glass. Bucket. One dribble going right, spin, shot. Bucket,” revealed Jamal Mashburn, who was also part of the scrimmage.

He went on to reveal that Bird went on to score at least 8 or 9 times in a row, before hitting back verbally as well. 

“He scored nine times or eight times in a row, left the court to go lay down because he couldn’t sit on a bench, he had to lay down because of his back. And said, ‘Young fella, look like ’84, huh?’”  Mashburn claimed, revealing a cold side of Larry Bird, who never wanted to back down.