Larry Bird came into the NBA as one of the best players in the league in 1979, winning Rookie of the Year before having one of the greatest careers of all time. Bird came into a predominantly Black league and managed to not only hang in with them but beat many of them. He came into the league with that hype, prompting Cedric Maxwell and other Celtics veterans to try and teach a rookie Bird a lesson.
Maxwell told the story of Bird’s first practice with the Celtics, admitting that Black players were being ‘racist’ because they didn’t think a White player could outplay them. But Bird proved them wrong.
Cedric Maxwell: “I think that you would say most Black players at the time were racists in the sense that we didn’t think you could find any White guys that could play better than a Black guy.”
Larry Bird: “First day of camp, them guys were on the floor stretching and saying, ‘Here comes the White savior’. I sort of enjoyed it because I knew I was going to battle them all day.”
Cedric Maxwell: “I thought he’s slow and can’t get off a shot. He’s not that strong, this is gonna be a layup. Bam, knocks out a jump shot. Maybe that was luck. Gets the ball again. Bam, knocks down another jump shot. Now I’m thinking, ‘Okay, I’m finna D this guy up’. 20 feet away, Bam. 25 feet away, bam. My mind just goes, ‘Damn this white boy can play well!'”
In his rookie season, Larry Bird was already the best player on the Celtics, averaging 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks. He literally proved wrong every Celtics veteran who doubted him when he joined the team.
Bird is still considered the greatest White player to enter the league, though many White European players are coming for his throne with their level of play. Nowadays, it’s considered foolish to discount anyone on the court because of the color of their skin. Getting buckets is all that matters and Bird broke many racial barriers by being one of the greatest ever to touch a basketball.
During his 13-year illustrious career, Larry Bird won 3 NBA championships, 3 NBA MVP awards, 2 Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
He was 12x NBA All-Star, 10x All-NBA Team, 3x NBA Three-Point Contest champion, and he was a two-time member of the 50-40-90 club.
Larry Bird Used To Get Mad When Teams Had A White Player Guard Him
It’s safe to say that the sentiment around race on the court was far different during the 1980s when Bird was in his prime. Even though he was breaking preconceptions about White players being unable to dominate, he still believed in these differences. Bird openly discussed how it bothered him to have white players defend him as a sign of disrespect.
“The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me. I still don’t understand why. A white guy would come out (and) I would always ask him: ‘What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?’ And he’d go, ‘No,’ and I’d say, ‘Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.’ … For some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy… As far as playing, I didn’t care who guarded me — red, yellow, black. I just didn’t want a white guy guarding me. Because it’s disrespect to my game.”
Bird has a couple of stories where he got upset because a White player guarded him. He once chewed out Pat Riley for having a White player defend him and even got mad at the Cavaliers for having Craig Ehlo guard him on a game-winning possession. Regardless of race, Bird gave everyone buckets and carved out an indomitable NBA legacy.
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