The NBA has been very lucky in terms of having great superstar talent, regardless of the era. Back in the 1980s, the Boston Celtics had unarguably one of the most talented players of all time on their roster, Larry Bird.
Larry Bird is widely respected for his rivalry with Magic Johnson and for saving the NBA during its darkest days. Despite being responsible for that, Bird never even wanted his Celtics teammates to give him star treatment. Apparently, Bird asked his teammates to do that, and he loved it.
Either way, there’s no denying the fact that Bird earned the respect of a lot of players in the league. Be it his former teammate Kevin McHale or his rival Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Once Heaped Huge Praise On Larry Bird
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics had an intense rivalry during the 1980s. Considering Kareem and Bird faced off against each other several times, one would think that the two players hate each other.
However, when Kareem was asked in an interview about his true thoughts on Larry Bird as a player, the Lakers legend had nothing but praise for his rival.
(Starts at 2:58)
“I remember the game he played against the Lakers, the first year that his Celtics won the world championship with him on the team, and he was ridiculous. Our sportscaster played the Superman theme when he was talking about him that night after the game because he did everything. The points, rebounds, assists, steals, you name it. Larry had such a great mind for the game and a great touch, I had a lot of respect for him as a competitor.”
As we mentioned earlier, having one of your biggest rivals praise you is the kind of respect that Larry Bird earned during his playing days. Keeping his achievements in mind, he will forever remain one of the greatest players to ever play in the history of the NBA.
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