Every rival of Larry Bird would agree that the Boston Celtics superstar was one of the most brutal trash-talkers in league history.
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Very often we see players get into their opponents’ minds by talking trash. While some stars use it as a psychological advantage, a few even use it to fire themselves up. Over the course of league history, there have been several prominent trash-talkers – Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller, and Kevin Garnett, among a long list of others. However, it is Larry Bird who is considered to be the most brutal trash-talkers ever.
Playing for the Boston Celtics for the entirety of his career, Bird is regarded to be one of the game’s greatest. The 13-year NBA veteran, who is considered to be the most accomplished Celtic of all time, managed to rack up a pretty stellar resume. Highlighted by his 12 All-Star appearances, 3 MVPs, 3 championships, and 2 Finals MVPs, Larry’s trophy cabinet is as distinguished as it could get.
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There were several incredible aspects to the Hall-Of-Famer’s game. At 6-foot-9, Larry Legend could efficiently handle the rock, pass the ball accurately, rebound better than many big men, and even had one of the smoothest jump shots we’ve ever seen. Despite having such a well-structured style of play, the most interesting aspect of his game was his trash-talking.
Magic Johnson’s agent reveals a Larry Bird trash-talking anecdote
Over the years, we have heard numerous anecdotes that give us an idea of how lethal the 10-time All-NBA player’s trash-talking was. Throughout the course of his eminent career, the Cs forward had verbal altercations with almost every player he went up against.
Magic Johnson, who was Larry’s biggest rival, had to hear Bird’s trash talk non-stop for the 37 games they played against each other. And according to Magic’s agent, the Lakers superstar considered Bird the best trash talker ever. Lon Rosen said to “The Athletic”:
“Earvin used to tell me, ‘I’ve never heard anybody talk more trash than Larry.’ Now, Earvin talked a lot of trash, too, but he said there was nobody better than Larry.”
Rosen even narrated a Larry Bird trash-talk incident that had left Magic stunned. According to Lon, as Earvin sat out during a LAL-Boston clash, Bird told him that he was going to be witnessing a show that night. By the end of the night, “The Hick from French Lick” scored 40 points.
“The Lakers were playing the Celtics at home and Magic wasn’t playing that game. Larry came up to Magic before the game and said, ‘Sit back, I’m going to put on a show tonight.’ He scored 40.”
Hearing all these stories, it is pretty understandable why players feared going up against the Boston legend.
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