“If You Weren’t Ready He Took Your Heart”: Dominique Wilkins On Larry Bird And His Intense Trash Talk

Dominique Wilkins played in one of the most brutal eras of basketball in the 80s and early 90s. It was an era defined by defense, rivalries, and, most importantly, trash talk. Dom recently took to a Hawks pod with Atlanta native DC YoungFly and spoke on who he thought were the best trash talkers that he ever played against.

Wilkins played against some ferocious trash talkers during his career. Michael Jordan, Isaiah Thomas, and Gary Payton, to name a few. But the best of them all? Wilkins says it was Chuck Person on the Indiana Pacers.

“Chuck Person on the Indiana Pacers, oh my god, it was almost like we fought every game,” Wilkins recalled. “We had a fist fight, or a shoving match. Something. Every game.”

He may go overlooked, but some said that Person had the art of trash-talking down to a science. He was a confident player with an ability to fire up his teammates by riling up the opponent. It’s no wonder a great like Wilkins found him to be a thorn in his side.

But then Dom transitioned to another iconic Celtic great.

“And then you got Larry Bird. Larry Bird, if you weren’t ready, he took your heart. You know, Larry was great. There were quite a few guys that talked like that. But Larry and Chuck were some of the best. Larry was number one because everything he said, he did it. He backed it up.”

When you look up some of the best trash talkers of all time, Bird’s name is one of the first that pops up. Even though he wasn’t an imposing presence, he would get into the minds of his opponents through simple verbal jabs. Of course, he backed those jabs up with every single thing he did on the court.

Several other NBA players have also said that Bird was a very intense trash talker. So, this sounds right on the money coming from Wilkins.

Bird’s 60 Point Game on Wilkins

Wilkins should know better than anyone that Bird was one of the best trash talkers of all time. He got a healthy dose of firsthand experience when the Celtic great scored 60 points on him and his Hawks back in March of 1985. It was an incredible display of shot-making that was spurred by Wilkins and other Atlanta players trash-talking Bird. 

But the game was close coming down the stretch, and the Celtics needed a clutch bucket. So, Bird let Wilkins know how things were going to play out pre-play.

“Next play, when we come out, I’m going to win the game on this spot, and I’m going to bust you right in your face,” Wilkins said, recalling Bird’s remarks at the time.

“He comes out, in that spot, shoots, game over.”

The shot-making display was so amazing that even Wilkins’ Hawk teammates were high-fiving each other on the bench after each Bird bucket. They were just as excited to be witnessing history as anyone else in the arena that night. 

It just goes to show that you should never poke the bear. Bird and other trash talkers thrived off other players’ words, fueling them. You had to be extra-skilled to really get through to them.