Larry Bird is one of the greatest players in NBA history. His games are the stuff of legends; this is the reason why they call him “Larry Legend.”
- Larry Bird Played Left-Handed On Purpose And Scored 47 Points
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In his career, Bird won three NBA titles, three MVPs, all in a row, two Finals MVPs, and the Rookie of the Year Award in the 1979-80 season. Bird was more than just a great player who won titles and awards. He also was known as arguably the greatest trash-talker the game has ever seen.
Larry Bird Played Left-Handed On Purpose And Scored 47 Points
Larry Bird’s trash-talking was truly on another level, like the time he asked who was going to come in second before the 1988 three-point contest. He went on to win, of course.
Bird also famously said he didn’t like being guarded by a white defender, as it disrespected his game. He once dove deeper into that comment in a 2004 interview with ESPN:
“Well, I think so. You know, when I played, you had me and Kevin [McHale] and some others throughout the league. I think it’s good for a fan base because, as we all know, the majority of the fans are white America. And if you just had a couple of white guys in there, you might get them a little excited. But it is a black man’s game, and it will be forever. I mean, the greatest athletes in the world are African-American.
“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 disrespectful to my game.”
The one thing you didn’t do to Larry Bird was disrespect him. Now, Bird, on the other hand, didn’t mind disrespecting you and your whole team.
This is what Bird did to the Portland Trail Blazers on February 14, 1986. Boston was coming off a season where they lost to their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the Finals.
The game after their matchup with Portland, two days later, was against the Lakers. Because of this, Larry stated that he wanted to “save his right hand for the Lakers” and use his left against the Trail Blazers.
Of course, this is the ultimate slap in the face to the Trail Blazers, and Portland surely wouldn’t allow Bird to embarrass them, right? Wrong, that’s exactly what Bird did while playing left-handed.
The game was a tight one, and it ended up going into overtime. The Celtics squeezed out the 120-119 victory thanks to a clutch shot made by Bird with three seconds remaining in overtime.
Bird’s stat line for this game was insane. He scored 47 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. The thing was, Bird did not take every shot with his left hand, despite what the legend says.
Bird shot 21-34 from the field, 3-3 from three, and 2-3 from the free throw line. Out of his 21 made field goals, 10 were made with his left hand.
Bird would save his right hand for the Lakers, as in the next game against LA, Bird scored 22 points on 7-17 shooting… Maybe he should have used his left hand, as his shooting was a little off. Still, Bird had a great game as he grabbed 18 rebounds and handed out 7 assists.
The most important outcome of the Lakers game was that the Celtics won 105-99, sending a big message. Boston would go on to win the championship in six games over the Houston Rockets.
Larry Bird’s left-handed performance against the Portland Trail Blazers is a reminder to fans that he is a top 10 player of all time and maybe top 5. Bird was that good, and let’s not forget it.
