Now you know where MJ got it from.  MJ said he told his teammates to never, ever talk to Bird and that's why - he would get into their heads.  Savage.  Forget the GOATs, Bird was THE LEGEND.

"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game, I’d choose Michael Jordan.  If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life, I’d take Larry Bird." - Legendary Lakers Coach Pat Riley

"Larry can't run or jump cause that was God's way of making things fair."
- Sir Charles Barkley.

Larry Bird was the best small forward of all time.

Bird was not a gambler. Money meant ALOT to him. He grew up poor as bad dirt.

The word you're looking for is "reverence".

That's what players had for Bird and Jordan.

Larry Bird was not a gambler , he was the Master

Larry Legend, MJ and Kobe had that killer instinct 😊

Jordan may be the only player who didn't fear Larry, but he told his guys, even at the end of Larry's career, do not talk at Bird. Period!  Pat Riley said, it wasn't just the players who were afraid of Larry, the coaches were too!

My Grandfather was a Celtics fan, I remember watching them play from 82' on, Larry has been my favorite player, ever.  I appreciate your commentary and your understanding of the greatness of Larry Legend.  Your video brought me back to the times I shared with my Grandfather.  I appreciate you and thank you for the honest dialog.

Exactly, his court vision and bball IQ were off the charts. He was so skilled.

If you haven’t yet seen Courtship of Rivals, drop what you’re doing and watch it now. It’s one of the best sport documentaries ever, and when you see Bird’s life story (and Magic’s as well) your appreciation for him will go through the roof.

He was a fierce competitor but he made people laugh. Even after retirement he told a lot of great jokes, and inspired people to tell their own jokes about their playing days. That's really an underrated ability. Not many egos can do that.

While attending college Larry's team was playing mine and we heard they had a future all American on their team.  So during warm ups we tried to guess which black player he was! Well we were wrong and he beat our league champion team and set our arena scoring record. Peace from Northern Michigan!

No Larry was never a gambler. I was a freshman in College at Indiana State University and followed his entire career. He was a home body. Mowed his own lawn.

As a Lakers fan at this time, I know the Lakers may not have won as many championships if Bird never existed. He was a huge motivation.

Larry was his most dangerous with seconds left on the clock, you knew it was over. 😢

Bird was our rocky for us white kids

One of the best follow ups to the 3 point contest is the year following Bird's 3 straight wins, he wasn't there due to injury. Craig Hodges, who had finished 2nd to Bird twice previously won it.
Reporters asked him if he only won because if Bird's absence. Craig responded "Larry knows where to find me."
Of course they went straight to Bird and told him, Bird responded "Yeah, I know where, at the end of the Bulls bench."
Savage lol

This is my favorite reaction to Bird's trash talk for this simple reason: "He put the work in." No other reactor came to that conclusion. He recognized that his greatness (and confidence in his skills) was achieved through thousands of hours of work on his craft.