There weren’t many who could match the Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird when it came to talking trash to his opponents.
Apart from NBA players, coaches weren’t safe from Bird’s trash-talk. According to former NBA player Dee Brown, Miami Heat president Pat Riley experienced that when he was a head coach in the league.
“I’ll tell you the funny one, and I’m sure you heard this before. I think we were playing the Lakers, and I think they had Kurt Rambis on them, and he was killing him. He went over to the bench, he said, ‘Hey Pat Riley, you know you can’t put another white boy on me because I’m the coldest white boy in the league. You better put a brother on me!’”
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Larry Bird was primarily active in the NBA during the 1980s, at the time, the most dominant players in the league were African-Americans. With that being said, Bird was one of the few white players who was considered one of the best players in the league.
Evidently, Bird took pride in that and made sure that Riley didn’t make the mistake of putting a white boy on him.
Larry Bird Once Revealed Getting Guarded By White Players Was Disrespectful To His Game
During his NBA career, Larry Bird was a nightmare to guard. The Celtics legend has an amazing resume to prove his talent.
Evidently, he is a highly respected figure in the NBA community. When Bird was still an active player in the league, he gained the respect of his peers with his sensational skills. But whenever he was guarded by white players, Bird felt it was a disrespect to his game.
“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.”
Looking at Bird’s response, it’s obvious how disrespected he felt when being guarded by white players. Keeping that in mind, it’s no surprise that John Salley labeled Larry Bird as the blackest white dude he’s ever met.
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