Larry Bird is one of the greatest players of all time. The Celtics legend won 3 NBA championships, 3 MVP Awards, and was a 12-time NBA All-Star in an illustrious 13-year career. While fans of the game remember the amazing things Larry Legend did on the court, his contemporaries have always spoken about him being perhaps the greatest trash talker of all time.
Michael Jordan said he was the greatest trash talker ever and who are we to argue with him about that? John Salley was also someone who went up against Bird quite a few times and he was recently on the “Rich Eisen Show”. He spoke about how Bird put fear in him and everyone else and, when asked by Eisen to elaborate on it, Salley remembered an epic exchange with the Hall of Famer:
(starts at 3:54 mark)
“I get in and Chuck Daly has me starting one time and Larry looks around and goes, ‘Oh, what’s up Sal?’ I said, ‘Nothing.’ He goes, ‘You on me?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I got size on you right now I’ve been watching every move.’ He goes, ‘Y’all not double-teaming?’ I go, ‘Nah, it’s just me fella.'”
“He goes, ‘Mouse in the house,’ and they change the play and he catches the ball and does this (jab step) and he shoots it and says, ‘Sal, you better ask for a double team, bruh.'”
Add that to the long list of hilarious Larry Bird stories and his legend as a trash talker seems to grow over time. A lot of players back in the day learned pretty quickly not to talk trash to Bird, as Salley found out in this instance.
Luka Doncic has been heralded by many as the next Larry Bird and it is entirely possible that Luka may eventually one day surpass the Celtics legend. One thing that he might never do, however, is surpass Bird when it comes to trash talk on the court.
