Danny Ainge, in an episode of the Knuckleheads Podcast, recounted the infamous incident where Larry Bird’s legendary trash talk led to an on-court brawl between Bird and Julius Erving. Bird is known to be one of the greatest trash talkers in the history of the NBA and so it makes sense as to how he was embroiled in one of the most devastating brawls the league had ever seen.
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Ainge’s recollection of the brawl painted a vivid picture of the intense emotions that fueled their Eastern Conference Rivalry. The iconic photo of Dr. J and Bird choking one another out was from this game on November 9th, 1984 where Bird claimed he was up to 35 points while Erving had only scored 6 up until that point
Ainge’s quote from the podcast described exactly what Bird told the high flying 76er that led to the infamous brawl . Here is what he had to say about the legendary brawl,
“Larry scored thirty-five on him, it was the third quarter and he was jogging down back the court, he looked at him and said ‘Man, you need to retire!’”
Larry would end the game with 42 points on the night and a Celtics victory. The two would however get ejected from the game and would get fined a whopping $7500. Moses Malone and Charles Barkley were also heavily involved in the tussle with many claiming Chuck held Larry in place for Dr. J to get a few clean licks in. Moses and Barkley were fined $3500 and $1000, respectively, for their roles in the fight.
Ainge later explained on the podcast saying it was highly uncharacteristic for Larry Bird to talk trash to the likes of Magic Johnson and Julius Erving as he respected them. Unfortunately for him, the incident that took place during the height of the heated Celtics-76ers rivalry cemented Bird’s reputation as one of the most legendary trash talkers in NBA history.
