Larry Bird excelled in an age when African American athletes dominated the NBA. Yet, that didn’t stop him from bringing the Boston Celtics three NBA championships with numerous individual accolades to his name. However, as good as Bird was, there aren’t a lot of stories about his aggressive nature. But Mike Epps had a different take on him and his aggressiveness.
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Mike Epps, an Indiana native, appeared on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and talked about hanging out with NBA players and legends, including Shaquille O’Neal and Larry Legend.
Epps shared a few insights on spending time with Bird during this year’s All-Star weekend in Indiana. He mentioned spending time with Bird behind the scenes when Kimmel brought up a picture of the two.
“Me and Larry Bird was back there kicking it and Larry is actually a white guy that’ll punch you in the eye. Most white people are like ‘Hey, I’m going to give you a chance to leave me alone.’ Larry Bird’s like, ‘Whaaaat?’,” as Epps followed that by imitating how a punch sounds across a face.
Mike Epps talked about how white people are more patient before finally throwing hands at someone but that was not the case with Larry Bird. After hanging out with him for only a couple of hours, Epps could tell how aggressive he was and it wasn’t a good idea to make jokes about him.
Epps mentioned how NBA players did not like it when you talked about them. He brought up Shaq as an exception to this rule as he would love to hear jokes about him but that was it. Bird fell into the former category of NBA players and legends who did not appreciate jokes being made about them.
Larry Bird had a knack for trash-talking
Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, and went to Indiana State before being drafted by the Boston Celtics. After his career as a player was over, Bird took over as the head coach for the Indiana Pacers in the late 90s. He later became the president of the Pacers’ basketball operations and was awarded Executive of the Year almost a decade later. No wonder why the Hick from French Lick is such a big influence on the basketball culture in Indiana.
Regarding Bird’s aggressiveness as a player, some might be unaware, he was one of the best trash-talkers in NBA history. He had a different way of displaying his aggressiveness on the court.
He would not back down from a fight but rather believe in defeating and humiliating his opponent on the court. Bird would come down on offense and tell defending players where and how he would get his points from and would go on to do exactly what he told his opponents. During a podcast with Draymond Green, Gary Payton revealed,
“Bird used to tell me, “Look here man, I am gonna go shoot this motherfu*kin jumper in your face right there in that corner and it’s gonna be your Christmas present.””
Shooting with his left hand in an NBA game just for kicks could be considered one of the coldest Larry Bird moments from his time in the league. Also, if Gary Payton claims Larry Bird was “one of the coldest I ever seen with that”, it may be safe to take his word for it. Bird’s aggressiveness was more evident in his calm and collected ways of playing the game rather than physical altercations.
