Trash-talking is one of the finest arts in sports. Some would say that, given the penalties for taunting, it’s a dying art as well.
But back in the day, players were just ruthless. They went the extra mile to get in their rivals’ heads even if that meant getting physical on the court. Whatever it took to get an edge and win, they’d do it.
And not many players mastered the fine art of trash-talking as well as the great Larry Bird did.
Larry Bird was one of the best players in the world and a guy with unmatched talent at the time. And he knew it, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to remind his rivals that he was just too good for them.
As a matter of fact, even Michael Jordan -a ruthless trash-talker himself- admitted that Bird trained him in this millenary art:
“Larry Bird is the greatest trash-talker and mind-game player of all time. He taught me everything I know about getting in folks’ heads,” Jordan said, as quoted by The Athletic.
Larry Legend was the kind of player so petty that he’d stop shooting if he scored 50 just because he said he was going to score 50 that night.
He was so petty and such a master of mind games that he once started shooting left-handed because he was ‘saving his right hand for the Lakers.’ The best part is that he still scored 47 with his left hand.
Some people say that Larry Bird could’ve dominated in every single era of basketball and I won’t be the one to disagree. His combination of size, handles, playmaking, and shooting was tailor-made for today’s game.
But maybe, just maybe, some folks -and certainly referees- in this era wouldn’t be able to withstand his trash-talking repertoire.
