There are plenty of stories about Larry Bird’s incredible personality and competitiveness. The Boston Celtics legend was one of the most savage NBA legends of all time, trash-talking rivals, backing that trash talk with his game, showing he was a bad man on a nightly basis.
We already know the story of him taunting his rivals ahead of a 3-point contest or when he decided to rest his ‘good hand’ before going against Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers. But those aren’t the only ones.
John Stockton learned that Larry was scary in his rookie season with the Utah Jazz. During an appearance on ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ in 2018, the legendary point guard recalled how Larry predicted the exact number of points he would score on the Jazz later. The 3x NBA MVP did it and left the court in the 3rd quarter (0:39).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJUHO37HaLs
“I remember as a rookie Larry Bird walked by our bench and said, ‘I feel like 43 tonight.’ Then he came out and scored 43 points by the 3rd quarter and checked himself out.”
John Stockton says Larry Bird came up to the Jazz bench pre-game:
Bird told them he felt like scoring 43 points that night.
Got to exactly 43 points in the 3rd quarter and then checked himself out of the game.
Legend. pic.twitter.com/sOK3A1ioSx
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 3, 2018
This is just insane. Larry wasn’t the most athletic player of all; he wasn’t the strongest. Yet, he was astute and learned the fundamentals to beat faster, stronger, and more athletic rivals.
He was a fierce competitor, with legends like Stockton, Johnson, Jordan and more suffered against the Boston Celtics icon. Larry Legend made a huge impact on the league and those who watched him play. It doesn’t get better than this. This is world-class trash-talking.
