Larry Bird Reveals That a Piece of His Legendary Trash Talk Was a ‘Joke’

While Larry Bird was an all-time nice participant, his talent set wasn’t restricted to heroics on the hardwood. The Boston Celtics legend was additionally recognized for his trash discuss, which displayed loads of understated confidence. Take, for instance, one of many ahead’s most well-known moments, which took place through the 1986 NBA All-Star break.

As the story goes, Larry Legend walked into the locker room, seemed round and requested his fellow rivals which one in every of them was coming in second place. He then went out and took home the title, proving that he may discuss the discuss and walk the walk.

And whereas that story has entered the realm of legend—profitable ensures are remembered favorably, as they mix bravado and success—the generally held narrative is not solely correct.

Allow Bird to clarify.

Bird’s Three-Point Question Was a Joke

Although Bird looms massive in NBA historical past, we do not hear from the well-known ahead that continuously. Ahead of the NBA’s Indianapolis All-Star Weekend, although, he did step again into the general public eye.

At the NBA All-Tech Summit, for instance, Bird spoke with Bob Costas. And, primarily based on a clip shared on X, previously Twitter, we all know that the 1986 Three-Point Contest was a subject of dialogue.

Bird shared his perspective on his well-known quip, however he additionally stated that it began out as an harmless joke.

“Who’s coming in second? That was my first [Three-Point Contest] in Dallas, and I walk within the locker room. And, you understand, no person’s speaking to one another, no person’s saying something,” Bird recalled. “They’re all sitting there, they usually form of put their heads down, and I stated, ‘Hey, I’m simply seeking to see who’s coming in second.’ I simply did it for a joke, however they did not like that very effectively, Bob.”

And, as you may count on, the collective angle modified after Bird took home the title.

“Then, after I win it, they’re all rooting in opposition to me,” he added. “‘Somebody beat him.'”

Newsweek on Tuesday reached out to Prince Marketing Group, which lists Bird as a shopper, through electronic mail and the contact web page of their web site searching for extra touch upon that well-known one-liner.

But that wasn’t Bird’s solely interview. He additionally sat down for a bigger dialog with Reggie Miller and Isiah Thomas, which aired on TNT. And in that dialogue, he informed an analogous model of the identical trash-talking story when requested to set the report straight on what really occurred.

“When I walked within the locker room and the fellows had been sitting there and, you understand, they’re nervous,” No. 33 recalled. “Now you gotta perceive, plenty of these guys got here off the bench. And, hastily, they’re gonna go on the market in entrance of 20,000 individuals, 40 units of eyes on them, shoot the basketball. That’s gotta be intimidating. For me, I favored that as a result of I knew the strain was on them greater than me. I, imply, I simply seemed, I used to be actually simply teasing. I seemed round … I am going, ‘Who’s coming in second?’ And no person stated a phrase. I assumed possibly they thought I used to be joking, however possibly they thought I used to be severe.”

And whereas that may sound a bit ambiguous—”Maybe they thought I used to be joking” is not often one thing you say if you really are joking—Larry Legend circled again round to make issues abundantly clear.

“It was actually a joke,” he concluded. “Well, then I needed to exit and win it.”

Does the truth that he was joking somewhat than attempting to plant a seed of doubt in his rivals’ minds make the story that a lot much less spectacular? Or is the one factor that issues is that Bird stated he would win (even jokingly) after which adopted by?

You might be the decide of that.