Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird spoke trash and “schooled” Dennis Rodman in their first-ever matchup in the league.
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Long before the league was dominated by LeBron James in the 2010s or Kobe Bryant in the 2000s or Michael Jordan in the 1990s, it was Larry Bird who was one of the deadliest players in the league, back in the 1980s.
Long-time Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird is one of the most gifted offensive players the league has ever witnessed. However, apart from being an elite scorer, Larry Legend was also known for his superb trash-talking skills. Bird was so gifted that he would often tell his defenders exactly how he planned on scoring and would end up pulling that exact same move.
On various instances, the 6-foot-9 forward would take his trash-talking skills to a greater level altogether. Like the time he recorded an insane 47-point triple-double using his left hand throughout the game or the time when he was so confident he was winning the three-point contest that he entered the locker room and asked “So, who’s coming in second?” And obviously backed it up.
There are just several savage trash-talking moments in Leary’s career to name. However, amongst the popular ones was the time when Bird, coming off his third-consecutive MVP season, decided to put on a show during the Pistons-Celtics rivalry, while giving a rookie Dennis Rodman a warm welcome to the league.
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Larry Bird schooled Dennis Rodman in their first-ever matchup
Of course, we all know Dennis Rodman one of the toughest defenders in the league whose job was to do all the dirty work of the team. And the majority of the time The Worm did it with ease.
However, during his rookie season, he faced a huge difficulty when the Pistons played the Celtics. During their encounter, Larry not only had a great offensive outing but also decided to belittle a young 25-year-old Rodman by taunting and trash-talking him.
During an appearance on the “Basketball Time Machine” podcast, Dennis revealed an anecdote from his first battle with Larry:
“I didn’t know the rivalry was like that until I got to participate in the first game in 1986-87, and I tried to do my best to go on Larry Bird – it didn’t work too well, he kind of schooled me a little bit. The whole game — every game — he plays it [by saying], ‘Dennis, are you guarding me? Take that for you.’ ‘Alright, I’ll take that, Larry. I’ll take that. I’ll take that.’ He’ll shoot a jump shot and say, ‘Dennis, you like that?’ I said, ‘You know what man, the hell with you.”
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Larry Bird is one of the greatest trash-talkers in league history and also had the skill-set to back up his smack talking. Even in this battle against the Dennis the Menace, Bird got the last laugh, torching the Pistons with a great 23-point game defeating Detroit by a score of 112-102.
