I was around back then. Cornbread was a little jealous of Bird. It usually wasn't Bird's fault when they lost. Yes, Bird was glorified over the other players but it was pretty deserved.
WWWHHHAAATTT IN THE HHHEEELLL DO UUU MEAN,.. DO UUU THINK??? LOOK YOUNGIN,.. EVERYBODY FEARED LARRY LEGEND JOE BIRD!!! WASN'T NOBODY LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING BIRD,.. ARE UUU SLOW???
My favorite Bird stories actually come from his teammates. Your teammates see you at your best and your worst. All of them talk about Larry like he was on another level from them and they were just grateful to be there. You rarely see a player who's teammates appreciated them the way the rest of the Celts did Larry.
The "intangibles" are what made Larry Bird great. If he faked a shot, they had to go for it, because he was so good of a shot. If they jumped, he take it to the floor. If they didn't, he'd just shoot it anyways and most likely make it. His passing was top level. His stats would be so much higher, if he didn't pass it off so much. Good reaction. Thanks for sharing. P.S. I'm an old guy and I had the opportunity to see Bird play in real time. It was great.
8:07 Bird was slower over long distances such as running down the court, but he was as quick as anyone over short distances such as in the paint. 16:47 Michael Cooper was one of the few defenders who knew not to ever take his eyes off Bird, even when he didn’t have the ball. Bird couldn’t shake him as easily as others.
I LOVE Larry but that’s just silly. Curry is an amazing shooter and you obviously haven’t watched enough of him if you think all his shots are uncontested. Doesn’t hold a candle??? C’mon now. I’m from the Bird-Magic era and even I have to admit that Curry is ridiculous!! Don’t be a get off my lawn hater
Curry has a quicker shot so he doesn’t need a ton of space. Larry took longer to wind his up. But Larry could get more fakes off your reactions and embarrass you that way. Since Larry could do anything (including hit reliably from well past three range), therefore anything Larry did could be a respectable fake. And he took a lot of advantage of that fact. There are quite a few clips of Larry making some guys look like amateurs with his nonsense fakes.
What made Cooper such a great defender against Bird is that Cooper understood that the best way to guard Larry was by staying on him the entire time, and deny him getting the ball. Once Larry gets the ball, it was impossible to deal with. So Cooper understood this, and with his freakishly long limbs, could make the passer hesitate from passing the ball to Larry
Yes, Coop was very smart, and quick, defensively. He was considerably smaller than Bird and knew his only hope was, as you said, to stick to Bird like glue, and try to deny him the ball. He also would try to stay in his way and make it more difficult for Bird to get where he wanted to go on the court. He could also do better than most at face up defense, when he had to, but there you go, with Bird.
I was in my 20s during the 80s. I think I watched all the Celtic and Laker games on TV. I agree with comments below. Cooper was very quick and long arms. He denied the Larry the ball the best he good and would try to touch/steal the ball before Larry could get the ball up. Larry was taller, so if he got the ball above Coop's reach then usually he made the shot. I always routed for both the Celtics and Lakers to get the finals. That was great drama. I keep reading Larry was slow. The last few years he had slowed because of his back but before that, he was not slow. He blew by a lot of players in the early and mid 80s. Nice vid!
Terrell Brandon tells the last story about Bird complaining about being guarded by a white guy. Michael Cooper always gave 100% when guarding Bird. He never backed down and although he knew how good Bird was he always gave it his best and that is what Bird wanted when he played. He needed a challenge and Coop was more than happy to oblige him every time they played. Remember, during the regular season the Celtics and Lakers only played each other twice a year, once in Boson and once in LA. The only other time they played against each other was in the NBA finals. One of my favorite Bird stories is told by Jamal Mashburn when the Dream Team was practicing against the college guys and Rodney Rogers disrespected Bird. The next practice Bird with the help of Magic humiliated Rogers. Why anyone would think of talking trash to Bird is beyond me.
16:54 Yeah Michael Cooper was insanely athletic very fast with a very high IQ, especially defensively. Coop was a hell of a shooter too to be honest. But the point was coop's theory was deny Larry the ball. of course you're not gonna stop him but there was times when he slowed him down.
I read somewhere that Cooper and Magic early in Magic's rookie year talked about Cooper concentrating on defense to help LA and get more playing time. Cooper I believe won the DPOY in 1987 and Cooper studied tapes of Bird more than any other player = meaning Cooper watched film of Bird at his home and even on vacations. I loved the Shawn Kemp interview where Bird knew all about Kemp!! "You broke my records and you used to dunk on my little brother" = hilarious!!! And the comment back to Danny Ainge = "your guy is on me or Kevin so you are playing all by yourself"
Bird was sneaky -quick, had fast hands, amazing eye-hand coordination and was anticipating plays faster than others. He also knew how to get the best position for rebounding, defense and offensive moves.
Cedric Maxwell was the finals MVP but that was because the media didn't want to give Bird the credit because it was only his second year in the league. Yes Cedric averaged more points but it was the rest of Bird's game that made the difference in the finals that year. Now that said, Cedric did get too much of the blame sometimes but that was less an aspect of play than anything else. No one wanted to blame Bird, not because he didn't have off days, he did, however how could you fault him when he was always giving you everything he had even on those days? Cedric was getting older and so he became an easy target of the Media rather than some of the other subpar play similarly like Russell Westbrook in LA. People forget how good a defender Cooper was. Unlike Rodman who was very talented but lost focus from time to time, Cooper was tenacious as well as talented and had a feel for when picks were coming and could side around so quickly before it could be set correctly. Cooper also understood where passing would develop so closed down the easy passes. Sure Bird got creative and got his share but Cooper was a magnificent defender.
I grew up in this era ,in Boston,as a young teenager and ML Carr was respected all around in all the neighborhoods I played B-Ball in,nobody ever said a bad thing about him.I think he may have read a few bad sport columns about him(Name one pro,any sport,who hasn't had that happen.) at the time and took it just a little more too close to heart than he should have. He's forever loved in Boston.
The Celtics replaced Chris Ford with ML Carr as head coach once they went into the toilet. IMO, It seemed pretty obvious that they did that to let the season tank so they could get a good lottery pick. ML Carr, being a good soldier, would seem to be the kind of guy to go along with it if it would help the team in the long run. Again, just my opinion. Anyway, after two dreadful seasons, his image may have tarnished in some people's eyes. The Celtics, though, respected him enough to name him Director of Basketball Operations, and still held that job down while coaching. He's a very capable man.
I think is not "the psychic trash talking" the problem for these players but the fact Bird back it up every single time. Because every player on this planet talk trash but very few people makes the play really, especially in the clucth moment. Bird was simply the best in this aspect and and you knew exactly that he was about to make the play with no way to stop it.
You came a long way from where you discovered Larry and I've heard you rate Larry over LeBron. You know basketball so I feel comfort in understanding that I know the game just like you... RESPECT!
Bird is definitely in my top 5. #1 small forward. Craig Hodges won the 3 pt contest the year after Bird won 3 straight and missed the contest with an injury the 4th year. So the reporters ask him if he thinks he would have won if Bird had been there since he was second to Bird the year before. Hodges gets a little huffy and says if Bird wants to challenge him to a contest he knows where to find him. So word gets back to Bird and he says, yeah, I know where to find him. Sitting on the end of the Bulls bench. That story still cracks me up.
People remember him after his back problems, he wasn't slow and unathletic when he was younger. Go look at his highlights early in his career and you'll see. He's pretty damn quick and he can get up when he wants to. I watched him block someone and he got up to the top of the square so, yeah.
I am 80 I went many games, watched Chamberlain, West, Harvick, teams that were brutal Detroit, Chicago all the great that played in that era, the 90s and 2000s the teams that played from the 80s and back to 60s got better by time and there is a lot of praise to the Glob Trotters their plays, passing, and how dominated the court was ahead of the NBA. From what I have watched, Magic, Bird, Jordan, were the complete player, and James is so close that the 4 should on the same level.. We should never forget that it was team that made the game and playoffs.
Coop never took his attention off of Larry no matter what was happening on the rest of the court. He tried to stay in between Bird and the ball so his teammates wouldn't pass to Bird.
I was a Patrick Ewing fan and rooted for the Knicks in the 80's and 90's. The game was far more physical then than today. There was a lot of great competitors, and team players then, but there are too many primadonnas today. It seems they are more concerned about the highlights reel than the team.
What up dawg? Bird and Russell tie for #1 with me with Magic just slightly behind them. Bottom line, I consider Russell the best center, Larry the best forward, and Magic the best guard. It's not because of their stats, but because of the degree to which all three made their teams better by making their teammates better players. Bottom line, if you want a winning team, who would you build it around? You couldn't lose with any of those three. Kareem and MJ round out my top 5.
Great, astute comment. Yes, the team play is a bit difficult to put stats to, except with number of assists, which is not the whole story. All three players knew how to win with that team first attitude and great, selfless, play and were great fun to watch play the game.
Isiah Thomas tells a story that prior to the tipoff Bird came to him and asked who was going to guard him. Thomas named the center and forwards, all white guys. Bird looked at him and said,"You aint got no brothers?"
You the man Hen!! Love that you show respect to the old heads!! Bird was a beast. Young bucks don’t know how great Larry was. Contrary to popular opinion Larry was also an excellent defender. He made 2nd team all league defense 4 times and his defensive win share (for the youngins who love sabermetrics) ranks him in the top 50 ALL TIME!
Michael Cooper had good Court Sense. He was the intangible for the Lakers. Like Bird, Cooper had a good ability to see things materialize before most players could. That is why Cooper defended Bird well. But Larry of course always loved a challenge and burned Michael many times. Chess game between those two players.
I grew up in a crazy Irish/Anglo-American family (in Mass), but the one thing that united us was the Celtics - love seeing your interpretation of the happiest moments of my life - ha!
Top 5 shooter ? Bird is the greatest Shooter of all time ! ( 2 ) 50 40 90 Club ( 3 ) 3 Point contest 90% lifetime free throw Who’s better than Bird ? Don’t say Curry , because without the three pointer , he’d have to buy a ticket to the NBA !
It's understandable that Cedric Maxwell felt picked on in the press. There was a 2 year stretch back then when Boston lost like 4 whole games at home, including the playoffs.(There's still an NBA record in there) The press didn't have many opportunities to blame ANYONE for a loss, but you wouldn't expect the hometown press to blame the star unless they had a terrible game. Larry had some bad games like anyone. He just didn't have them in losses, or didn't play as bad as someone else. CM did happen to run hot and cold, so it made him an easy target if he didn't hit his averages. Those Celtics-Lakers finals were great.
Salley's quote... It's made to look like he's talking about Larry, but it was him talking about Luka and how he would be scared of Luka like he was about Larry.
C’mon , hendawg ! Bird is the biggest trash talker in NBA ! How many trash talking videos have you seen with Payton compared to birds ! And Bird is the greatest shooter in the NBA ! How many 50 40 90 memberships and 3 point contests does Curry have ? Not as many as Bird ! …… When you gonna just admit Bird is the real GOAT 🐐 !
Larry was amazing with the deak. He'd do a flinch to one direction and go the other. Sometimes it was hard to see. He created space where there wan none.
I think Bird liked Cooper because he was a small guy that played with a lot of heart and kept going, Bird probably would have said the same thing about Rodman if Rodman didn’t make his stupid comment about Bird.
Birds presence in the building made even the hot dog vender shit his pants & run. Larry intimidated *everybody* . But he loved to terrorize some smart mouth rookies~!
I don't know how much truth there is about what Maxwell said (that people always blamed him when they lost), but there is truth in the reality of what he did. Maxwell was sometimes a no-show, and actually deserved the blame. Even when Bird didn't have a great game, he always played balls to the wall and left it all out there. Maxwell didn't always.
JJ Redick had a torn jersey damn near every game he played at Duke from people grabbing him while he ran around smoking teams for 30+ a game. Can't understand why in the world he would say anything about the Bird era being soft or whatever. To be fair, Bird wasn't running around and weaving in and out of screens all game like Redick or Curry did/do. He simply jogged down the court and gave people the BUSINESS
The reason his trash talking scared people is that he backs it up. If he starts telling you what he's going to do and where he's going to shoot it from then does it, you already know it's over.
I did a job for the athletic director of IU but was retired. He told me he and booby knight would go to see larry play in french lick games. He said what mostly impressed him and bobby was that this kid was all over the court. He never stood still. Bobby told him, I want him. After that they went to pick up larry after he was approved for IU. He said that on there way back to campas, larry told booby this be the last time i ride in the backseat of a car. bobby was offended!! very true story. bobby and larry never did recover after larry statement
Depending on whether an old school top 5 or a modern top 5 ... the total composition might be different between the two eras, but Larry Bird makes top 5 in both eras. Best story was the Valentine's Day game against Portland ... almost all of his shots were lefthanded and he scored 47 points.
The Shawn Kemp thing happened about 5 miles from where I live in Tacoma. Crazy part, he owns two dispensaries & he tracks his stolen phone to the mall. Then pulls a gun out of his backpack & fires 3 times.
There’s a lot of armed robberies & even murders in dispensaries in WA. It’s a cash business. Cars back into them and they go in & rob the dispensary. The owners are now arming employees, armed security. So the assumption or they “rumor” is he had all of his codes in it.
I also wouldn’t say Bird was feared. That’s a pretty loaded statement. I would say he caused anxiety & they knew he was hard to contain & you never knew what he was going to do. Those who played basketball know you don’t have fear. We always had that one player you know is great & you hoped they had a bad night lol
BIRD GANG IM BACK!!! Do you guys honestly think NBA players FEARED Larry Bird in the 80's?
I was around back then. Cornbread was a little jealous of Bird. It usually wasn't Bird's fault when they lost. Yes, Bird was glorified over the other players but it was pretty deserved.
WWWHHHAAATTT IN THE HHHEEELLL DO UUU MEAN,.. DO UUU THINK???
LOOK YOUNGIN,.. EVERYBODY FEARED LARRY LEGEND JOE BIRD!!!
WASN'T NOBODY LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING BIRD,.. ARE UUU SLOW???
@@marykuettner752 Agreed, I also don't think Max was neglected as a Celtic either. Wasn't Max the only one left after camp?
Well, yes. Magic Johnson actually came right out and said he was afraid of Bird.
Please. You’ve heard of the Bird Flu right?
My favorite Bird stories actually come from his teammates. Your teammates see you at your best and your worst.
All of them talk about Larry like he was on another level from them and they were just grateful to be there.
You rarely see a player who's teammates appreciated them the way the rest of the Celts did Larry.
Trueeee
Robert Parish speaks about playing with Larry and Michael on a video with Cedric Maxwell.
FYI, in the clip with Bird bending over and picked "something" up, he was mimicking a golfer clearing debris from in front of his put😊.
Larry was number one because he was the best all around basketball player ever
The "intangibles" are what made Larry Bird great. If he faked a shot, they had to go for it, because he was so good of a shot. If they jumped, he take it to the floor. If they didn't, he'd just shoot it anyways and most likely make it. His passing was top level. His stats would be so much higher, if he didn't pass it off so much. Good reaction. Thanks for sharing. P.S. I'm an old guy and I had the opportunity to see Bird play in real time. It was great.
I wish I'd seen him play in person...just once! Points weren't the ultimate goal.... Bird knew that! Lol.
8:07 Bird was slower over long distances such as running down the court, but he was as quick as anyone over short distances such as in the paint.
16:47 Michael Cooper was one of the few defenders who knew not to ever take his eyes off Bird, even when he didn’t have the ball. Bird couldn’t shake him as easily as others.
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But Larry still lit him up. You need to go back and watch some games. Nobody in the world could stop Larry.
The reason why Cooper was such a good defender of Larry Bird is he understood how dangerous Larry was without the ball.
Larry is the best shooter ever. Curry doesn't hold a candle because he needs to be uncontested to make great shots. Larry did it contested.
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I LOVE Larry but that’s just silly. Curry is an amazing shooter and you obviously haven’t watched enough of him if you think all his shots are uncontested. Doesn’t hold a candle??? C’mon now. I’m from the Bird-Magic era and even I have to admit that Curry is ridiculous!! Don’t be a get off my lawn hater
Curry has a quicker shot so he doesn’t need a ton of space. Larry took longer to wind his up. But Larry could get more fakes off your reactions and embarrass you that way. Since Larry could do anything (including hit reliably from well past three range), therefore anything Larry did could be a respectable fake. And he took a lot of advantage of that fact. There are quite a few clips of Larry making some guys look like amateurs with his nonsense fakes.
What made Cooper such a great defender against Bird is that Cooper understood that the best way to guard Larry was by staying on him the entire time, and deny him getting the ball. Once Larry gets the ball, it was impossible to deal with. So Cooper understood this, and with his freakishly long limbs, could make the passer hesitate from passing the ball to Larry
Yeah just like Schrempf said, deny him the ball as much as you can.
Yes, Coop was very smart, and quick, defensively. He was considerably smaller than Bird and knew his only hope was, as you said, to stick to Bird like glue, and try to deny him the ball. He also would try to stay in his way and make it more difficult for Bird to get where he wanted to go on the court. He could also do better than most at face up defense, when he had to, but there you go, with Bird.
Coop was pretty nimble on his feet as well.
I was in my 20s during the 80s. I think I watched all the Celtic and Laker games on TV. I agree with comments below. Cooper was very quick and long arms. He denied the Larry the ball the best he good and would try to touch/steal the ball before Larry could get the ball up. Larry was taller, so if he got the ball above Coop's reach then usually he made the shot. I always routed for both the Celtics and Lakers to get the finals. That was great drama. I keep reading Larry was slow. The last few years he had slowed because of his back but before that, he was not slow. He blew by a lot of players in the early and mid 80s. Nice vid!
@@dlangston2020 Great comment. I was in my 30s and did the same thing by way of satellite.
Terrell Brandon tells the last story about Bird complaining about being guarded by a white guy.
Michael Cooper always gave 100% when guarding Bird. He never backed down and although he knew how good Bird was he always gave it his best and that is what Bird wanted when he played. He needed a challenge and Coop was more than happy to oblige him every time they played.
Remember, during the regular season the Celtics and Lakers only played each other twice a year, once in Boson and once in LA. The only other time they played against each other was in the NBA finals.
One of my favorite Bird stories is told by Jamal Mashburn when the Dream Team was practicing against the college guys and Rodney Rogers disrespected Bird. The next practice Bird with the help of Magic humiliated Rogers. Why anyone would think of talking trash to Bird is beyond me.
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Bird needs to be a forever top 5 player ever he is just player that is timeless and historic he shouldn’t be removed ever from the top 7 player ever!
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Bird is the word! And the true GOAT 🐐 🎉
He is to those who know he's the True GOAT
He’s definitely in my top 5
I miss the 80s games. I didn't watch a lot of them, but they were great to watch.
Worthy put Larry in perspective perfectly. "Micheal made you look slow. Larry made you look stupid".
The player you were asking about was Detlef Schrempf, a tremendous small forward from Germany.
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16:54 Yeah Michael Cooper was insanely athletic very fast with a very high IQ, especially defensively. Coop was a hell of a shooter too to be honest.
But the point was coop's theory was deny Larry the ball.
of course you're not gonna stop him but there was times when he slowed him down.
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I hated Larry Bird because he was too damn good. But much respect to his game. Definitely in my top five!!
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Bird was the greatest team player. Court awareness basketball IQ off the charts
I read somewhere that Cooper and Magic early in Magic's rookie year talked about Cooper concentrating on defense to help LA and get more playing time. Cooper I believe won the DPOY in 1987 and Cooper studied tapes of Bird more than any other player = meaning Cooper watched film of Bird at his home and even on vacations. I loved the Shawn Kemp interview where Bird knew all about Kemp!! "You broke my records and you used to dunk on my little brother" = hilarious!!! And the comment back to Danny Ainge = "your guy is on me or Kevin so you are playing all by yourself"
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Larry Legend... just received my Celtics jersey with Bird shooting a jumper on the front. I'm 54 so I seen him play. My favorite player ever
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Bird was sneaky -quick, had fast hands, amazing eye-hand coordination and was anticipating plays faster than others. He also knew how to get the best position for rebounding, defense and offensive moves.
Cedric Maxwell was the finals MVP but that was because the media didn't want to give Bird the credit because it was only his second year in the league. Yes Cedric averaged more points but it was the rest of Bird's game that made the difference in the finals that year. Now that said, Cedric did get too much of the blame sometimes but that was less an aspect of play than anything else. No one wanted to blame Bird, not because he didn't have off days, he did, however how could you fault him when he was always giving you everything he had even on those days? Cedric was getting older and so he became an easy target of the Media rather than some of the other subpar play similarly like Russell Westbrook in LA.
People forget how good a defender Cooper was. Unlike Rodman who was very talented but lost focus from time to time, Cooper was tenacious as well as talented and had a feel for when picks were coming and could side around so quickly before it could be set correctly. Cooper also understood where passing would develop so closed down the easy passes. Sure Bird got creative and got his share but Cooper was a magnificent defender.
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Cooper had heart. Brought everything every night like Rodman
I grew up in this era ,in Boston,as a young teenager and ML Carr was respected all around in all the neighborhoods I played B-Ball in,nobody ever said a bad thing about him.I think he may have read a few bad sport columns about him(Name one pro,any sport,who hasn't had that happen.) at the time and took it just a little more too close to heart than he should have. He's forever loved in Boston.
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The Celtics replaced Chris Ford with ML Carr as head coach once they went into the toilet. IMO, It seemed pretty obvious that they did that to let the season tank so they could get a good lottery pick. ML Carr, being a good soldier, would seem to be the kind of guy to go along with it if it would help the team in the long run. Again, just my opinion.
Anyway, after two dreadful seasons, his image may have tarnished in some people's eyes. The Celtics, though, respected him enough to name him Director of Basketball Operations, and still held that job down while coaching. He's a very capable man.
It’s true, Larry was the great white hope. He was a media darling. He more than lived up to the hype tho!
"Larry Bird was slow."
If he's dropping 50 points on you, he's fast enough.
I think is not "the psychic trash talking" the problem for these players but the fact Bird back it up every single time. Because every player on this planet talk trash but very few people makes the play really, especially in the clucth moment. Bird was simply the best in this aspect and and you knew exactly that he was about to make the play with no way to stop it.
LARRY LEGEND IS A UNICORN AND THE TRUE GOAT!!! 🐐 ☘️
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That's what I've always said. Larry's first step or two is super quick and once you get past someone on your first step you're gone
Bird’s so good. Yeah I agree. Why do people say he was unathletic? He had moves. Good reaction HD!
Thanks 💪🏾
#BirdGang!!
You came a long way from where you discovered Larry and I've heard you rate Larry over LeBron. You know basketball so I feel comfort in understanding that I know the game just like you... RESPECT!
Respect! 🙏🏾
Too 10 for me. Favorite story, the left handed game. Thanks for he trip down memory lane 😊
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@8:55 X-man got the Bird Flu 😂
☘️ Larry Legend
#BirdGang
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Bird is definitely in my top 5.
#1 small forward.
Craig Hodges won the 3 pt contest the year after Bird won 3 straight and missed the contest with an injury the 4th year.
So the reporters ask him if he thinks he would have won if Bird had been there since he was second to Bird the year before.
Hodges gets a little huffy and says if Bird wants to challenge him to a contest he knows where to find him.
So word gets back to Bird and he says, yeah, I know where to find him.
Sitting on the end of the Bulls bench.
That story still cracks me up.
People remember him after his back problems, he wasn't slow and unathletic when he was younger. Go look at his highlights early in his career and you'll see. He's pretty damn quick and he can get up when he wants to. I watched him block someone and he got up to the top of the square so, yeah.
I am 80 I went many games, watched Chamberlain, West, Harvick, teams that were brutal Detroit, Chicago all the great that played in that era, the 90s and 2000s the teams that played from the 80s and back to 60s got better by time and there is a lot of praise to the Glob Trotters their plays, passing, and how dominated the court was ahead of the NBA. From what I have watched, Magic, Bird, Jordan, were the complete player, and James is so close that the 4 should on the same level.. We should never forget that it was team that made the game and playoffs.
Coop never took his attention off of Larry no matter what was happening on the rest of the court. He tried to stay in between Bird and the ball so his teammates wouldn't pass to Bird.
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Bird said Cooper never gave up he played hard every minute
I was a Patrick Ewing fan and rooted for the Knicks in the 80's and 90's. The game was far more physical then than today. There was a lot of great competitors, and team players then, but there are too many primadonnas today. It seems they are more concerned about the highlights reel than the team.
What up dawg? Bird and Russell tie for #1 with me with Magic just slightly behind them. Bottom line, I consider Russell the best center, Larry the best forward, and Magic the best guard. It's not because of their stats, but because of the degree to which all three made their teams better by making their teammates better players. Bottom line, if you want a winning team, who would you build it around? You couldn't lose with any of those three. Kareem and MJ round out my top 5.
Great, astute comment. Yes, the team play is a bit difficult to put stats to, except with number of assists, which is not the whole story. All three players knew how to win with that team first attitude and great, selfless, play and were great fun to watch play the game.
Not many look at the big picture. It is the way of the GOAT🍻
Larry is it.👍
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Isiah Thomas tells a story that prior to the tipoff Bird came to him and asked who was going to guard him. Thomas named the center and forwards, all white guys. Bird looked at him and said,"You aint got no brothers?"
You the man Hen!! Love that you show respect to the old heads!! Bird was a beast. Young bucks don’t know how great Larry was. Contrary to popular opinion Larry was also an excellent defender. He made 2nd team all league defense 4 times and his defensive win share (for the youngins who love sabermetrics) ranks him in the top 50 ALL TIME!
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Michael Cooper had good Court Sense. He was the intangible for the Lakers. Like Bird, Cooper had a good ability to see things materialize before most players could. That is why Cooper defended Bird well. But Larry of course always loved a challenge and burned Michael many times. Chess game between those two players.
What a great tribute to a great player, thank you.
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Loved your reaction! Larry is my top 2-4 players of all time.
Cooper was long for his size, athletic and super smart. He was almost always in the right spot, had a high IQ and top notch fundamentals
Cooper was a 6'7" lock-down cornerback basically. You couldn't get separation.
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#birdgang 🍀🐐💚
☘️☘️☘️
I grew up in a crazy Irish/Anglo-American family (in Mass), but the one thing that united us was the Celtics - love seeing your interpretation of the happiest moments of my life - ha!
I believe that's Detlef Schrempf, a 6-10 small forward, telling the story about Mark Aqquire not wanting to play against Larry
The Larry Legend talking trash and telling the opposition where and when he is gonna shoot it and still couldn’t stop the man. Absolutely a Legend
🐦🐐. "Mother was watching?"
@13:35 Mark Aguirre caught the Bird Flu too!
#birdgang
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Bird could dominate a game without taking a shot. That is greatness.
G.O.A.T. number 1. He played with his brain. It was so much fun to watch him and Magic back in the day.
Cooper was the sf/ pf defender equivalent of Gary Peyton at the guard position. Just great effort and spent time watching film of players he guarded
Larry Legend
Top 5 shooter ?
Bird is the greatest
Shooter of all time !
( 2 ) 50 40 90 Club
( 3 ) 3 Point contest
90% lifetime free throw
Who’s better than Bird ?
Don’t say Curry , because
without the three pointer ,
he’d have to buy a ticket
to the NBA !
I gotta take Steph over Larry as best shooter 😬
@@HenDawgTV I know you've seen enough Bird to know better.
Don't make me call Larry🤭
@@HenDawgTV Steph would not have made it in Birds era. Not even close.
It's understandable that Cedric Maxwell felt picked on in the press. There was a 2 year stretch back then when Boston lost like 4 whole games at home, including the playoffs.(There's still an NBA record in there) The press didn't have many opportunities to blame ANYONE for a loss, but you wouldn't expect the hometown press to blame the star unless they had a terrible game. Larry had some bad games like anyone. He just didn't have them in losses, or didn't play as bad as someone else. CM did happen to run hot and cold, so it made him an easy target if he didn't hit his averages. Those Celtics-Lakers finals were great.
When players sat out of the game rather than face Larry is was said they had ‘Bird Flu’ !!!
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Salley's quote... It's made to look like he's talking about Larry, but it was him talking about Luka and how he would be scared of Luka like he was about Larry.
!!Bird 🦅is the Goat 🐐!!
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Thanks for a great selection of stories and videos 👍
Thanks for watching!
Cooper was VERY smart and he did his home work - he studied Bird!
Thx 4 giving the Bird respect
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Shaq & Nate Robinson FUNNIEST MOMENTS
Top 3......
Is your mom watching..... That's cold....lol ☘️
Crazyyy lol
U waiting to react to the playoff games? I was surprised u hadn't yet
I get copyrighted whenever I react to new current games smh
@@HenDawgTV dang I knew it had to be something
C’mon , hendawg !
Bird is the biggest
trash talker in NBA !
How many trash
talking videos have
you seen with Payton
compared to birds !
And Bird is the greatest
shooter in the NBA !
How many 50 40 90
memberships and 3
point contests does
Curry have ? Not as
many as Bird ! ……
When you gonna
just admit Bird is the
real GOAT 🐐 !
Corn Bread Salty
Larry was amazing with the deak. He'd do a flinch to one direction and go the other. Sometimes it was hard to see. He created space where there wan none.
There may be some truth, but I think Cedric may have taken it personal and out of proportion a bit.
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Coop was a hustle player like Bird. I think that’s what made him have some defensive success against Bird.
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I think Bird liked Cooper because he was a small guy that played with a lot of heart and kept going, Bird probably would have said the same thing about Rodman if Rodman didn’t make his stupid comment about Bird.
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Birds presence in the building made even the hot dog vender shit his pants & run.
Larry intimidated *everybody* . But he loved to terrorize some smart mouth rookies~!
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I don't know how much truth there is about what Maxwell said (that people always blamed him when they lost), but there is truth in the reality of what he did. Maxwell was sometimes a no-show, and actually deserved the blame. Even when Bird didn't have a great game, he always played balls to the wall and left it all out there. Maxwell didn't always.
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Larry Bird is the greatest clutch shooter ever!!
Bird will always be in the discussion,flat out!
JJ Redick had a torn jersey damn near every game he played at Duke from people grabbing him while he ran around smoking teams for 30+ a game. Can't understand why in the world he would say anything about the Bird era being soft or whatever. To be fair, Bird wasn't running around and weaving in and out of screens all game like Redick or Curry did/do. He simply jogged down the court and gave people the BUSINESS
The reason his trash talking scared people is that he backs it up. If he starts telling you what he's going to do and where he's going to shoot it from then does it, you already know it's over.
Cornbread was talking to Bob Ryan about the fact that his picture always appeared for the losses
I did a job for the athletic director of IU but was retired. He told me he and booby knight would go to see larry play in french lick games. He said what mostly impressed him and bobby was that this kid was all over the court. He never stood still. Bobby told him, I want him. After that they went to pick up larry after he was approved for IU. He said that on there way back to campas, larry told booby this be the last time i ride in the backseat of a car. bobby was offended!! very true story. bobby and larry never did recover after larry statement
Cedric was talking about the first day of training when rookie Bird arrived.
I agree with the host that Bird was about so much more than just being a great shooter! He had amazing passes and was a very good rebounder.
Coop had long limbs and he was quick and athletic as hell.
He's liar he was jealous of Larry Legend 🐐
Be sure to see the clip where Olden Polynice explains what smart black NBA players knew about the Magic-Bird comparison. Who they knew was best...😊
Cedric was a little jealous
I’m from Boston and I remember what the papers said
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Bird numero 1, un giocatore di basket anche per la squadra, non un mero solista..
Depending on whether an old school top 5 or a modern top 5 ... the total composition might be different between the two eras, but Larry Bird makes top 5 in both eras. Best story was the Valentine's Day game against Portland ... almost all of his shots were lefthanded and he scored 47 points.
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Best player ever.
Birds the man.
Bird was an assassin on the court. He always came to do business.
🍀😵SHAQ vs ROOKIE YAO MING!💥😵🍀
The Shawn Kemp thing happened about 5 miles from where I live in Tacoma. Crazy part, he owns two dispensaries & he tracks his stolen phone to the mall. Then pulls a gun out of his backpack & fires 3 times.
Crazy
There’s a lot of armed robberies & even murders in dispensaries in WA. It’s a cash business. Cars back into them and they go in & rob the dispensary. The owners are now arming employees, armed security. So the assumption or they “rumor” is he had all of his codes in it.
I also wouldn’t say Bird was feared. That’s a pretty loaded statement. I would say he caused anxiety & they knew he was hard to contain & you never knew what he was going to do. Those who played basketball know you don’t have fear. We always had that one player you know is great & you hoped they had a bad night lol
Whether you meet them or not,in any sport,there's always somebody who's got your number at any given moment.
For sure
🍀JJ Got Kicked out of his OWN Sons Game!🎉💥🍀😕😂😂😂😂
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Damn good player
That's gotta be Detlef Schrempf to answer you question (white guy!) and the other guy is drum roll... Michael Ray Richardson, God bless him