There are infinite stories of Larry Bird’s trash-talking. However, this one incident cements his position as the greatest trash talker.
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Larry Bird is a name that needs no introduction, his resume speaks for itself. A career comprising of 3x Mvp, 3x NBA champion, 12x NBA all-star, NBA’s Greatest 50& hall of fame inductee, and the list goes on. It barely feels like a tale of one man.
Hidden behind the glorious career of Larry Bird is his trash talking. He often got bored of his competition and resorted to trash talk to keep himself entertained and motivated. The legend of Larry’s trash-talking lies in the percentage at which he backed his words.
One such instance happened on March 12, 1985, when the Celtics matched up against the Hawks. Bird said “Rainbow, in the trainer’s lap” coming down the court, which meant it was going to be a three and it was going to from deep. Bird further added, “Who wants it?”
To no one’s surprise that is exactly what followed. With 54 points to his name already, Bird received the ball close to the Hawks bench. Bird dribble the ball a couple of times and hit a fade-away 3-pointer falling into the trainer’s lap on the Hawks bench.
The Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Fratello reveals the players were fined for their behavior
Doc Rivers had this to say about that night – “So it was exactly what he said, it was an accident but it was almost fate. They show a shot of our bench, Cliff Levingston and Eddie Johnson are standing up giving each other high fives. It was pretty awesome”.
Mike Fratello added – “We’re trying to beat these people. We’re not going to the movies to enjoy a show. This is our competitor. I didn’t appreciate the way they handled it.”
Scott Hastings added – “Mike was so mad I think he fined each of those guys 500 bucks.” Scot Wedman a teammate of Bird added – “I understood why they did it. It might not be funny or cool if you’re on the same team, but if you know the game or play the game, you can’t help but marvel at what Larry was doing.”
To summarize, Larry Bird played a game within the game, and he was good at it. Anytime a player backs up trash-talk with game, it adds injury to insult.
