Larry Bird is well known for his quality on the court, but the Boston Celtics legend had a facet on his game that made every rival crazy. He was one of the finest trash talkers in the NBA, something that is still remembered nowadays.
Bird got that game whenever he had to compete, especially in 3-point contests. One of his memorable phrases was said in 1988. As soon as he landed at Chicago Stadium to defend his back-to-back three-point titles in 1988, Bird looked at his competition and asked, “So, who’s coming in second?” In the end, he did win the competition, with Dale Ellis coming in second.
Two years later, he delivered another big phrase when Craig Hodges took advantage of Bird’s absence in the contest to win it. He was bragging, of course, and one reporter asked him if there would be an asterisk in his victory given the fact that he didn’t face Bird, the winner of the last three contests.
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Hodges wasn’t afraid of Bird and said, “He knows where to find me.” Bird later found about those comments, replying, “Yeah, at the end of the Bulls’ bench.”
This is just great. This man wasn’t just a killer with the ball in his hand, he could demoralize you with his mouth even before the start of the game. Bird was one of the greatest to ever do it both for his game and his trash-talking talents.
