Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird was a master at getting under his opponents’ skins. Bird was an excellent trash talker, and what separated him from so many was that he could back up all the smack. While Bird’s Celtics teammates enjoyed his exceptional play and trash talk, one nearly got hit in the face because of them.
A clip from Podcast P of former Celtic Brian Shaw recounting how he nearly got punched by Karl Malone recently resurfaced and went viral on Instagram.
“We were playing Utah,” Shaw said, via Celtics Hoop. “And back then, you score on a play, you just keep running it again and again until they stop. So I would go through, set a cross screen for Larry, and Karl Malone was guarding. Larry was killing him. Kevin McHale was locking Karl Malone up on the other end, and Larry was talking about, ‘Yeah, we two bad White boys ain’t we?’
“So I remember going across, setting a screen on Karl the first time,” Shaw stated. “Larry came off, caught it, scored. As we were running back down the court, Karl Malone said, ‘Young fella, you set a screen on me again like that, I’mma knock your head off your shoulders.’ The whole time I’m running down court, I’m like, damn, is he really going to do this s***?
“And I know we’re about to run the play again, because we just scored on it,” Shaw continued. “So I go across to set the pick. I’m standing in the middle of the lane, Larry cuts off, and I see Karl rear his forearm back like this. And so I’m standing in, I’m like, is this motherf***er really going to try to do it? And then he came through, and at the last second, I jumped out of the way.
“I was like, damn, he really [was going to punch me],” Shaw added. “And he was taking it out on me because Larry…was busting his a** and talking s***.”
That could have ended really badly for Shaw. Malone was no stranger to hitting people. He infamously elbowed Isiah Thomas in the face in 1991, and the Detroit Pistons icon needed 47 stitches afterward. Malone claimed it was accidental, but he wasn’t getting the benefit of the doubt. The basketball world had seen one too many instances of Malome elbowing players. He was a dirty player.
This game that Shaw was referring to might have been the one between the Celtics and the Utah Jazz on Nov. 16, 1990. Malone had 17 points (3-10 FG), nine rebounds, six assists, and one steal that night as the Jazz lost 114-89.
As for Bird, he put up 23 points (10-22 FG), six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks on the night. Shaw, whom the Celtics had selected with the 24th pick in the 1988 NBA Draft, impressed too, as he chipped in with eight points (2-6 FG), three rebounds, 14 assists, and four steals.
Unfortunately, these two wouldn’t be together for too long for us to get more stories. Shaw was traded to the Miami Heat in January 1992, and Bird retired later that year in August. He didn’t stop talking trash even after his career ended, though.
Former NBA head coach David Fizdale recounted Bird’s hilarious trash talk when he was an executive. He sure had a talent for it.
