Larry Bird - Confidence and even some more Trash Talking

Trash Talking part 3
Some more examples of Bird's trash talk:

After Craig Hodges won the NBA All-Star Game Three-Point contest in Bird's absence, Hodges was asked if the victory was tainted because Bird hadn't participated. "He knows where he can find me," was Hodges retort. Told of Hodges' challenge, Bird replied, "Yeah, at the end of the Bulls' bench."

Heat forward Glen Rice said, "When Bird started lighting you up and talking trash, that's hard on you. It's like driving a stake through your heart."

After Bird made four straight baskets with Rodman guarding him, he ran over to Chuck Daly and asked "who's guarding me, Chuck? Is anyone guarding me? You better get someone on me or I'm gonna go for 60." Then he'd continue the banter the next time he got the ball with Rodman inches away.

Shawn Kemp said, "Larry taught me a lesson. People criticized Larry... Larry is getting old, his back is in pain... So I go out, I hit a couple of shots on him, I was like man, said a couple of words to him, next thing you know, he is shooting threes in my face, he's talking to me, he ended up with like 40 points. He taught me a lesson that regardless of who you are, how good you are, you have to bring it every night, you got to get your respect that way."

"I started talking a little trash to him," Horace Grant recalled, when the Celtics were the defending champions. "I'm saying, 'You're not going to score. You're not getting this basket. I remember him then telling me exactly what he was going to do to me. He says he's going to fake me left and then he's going to shoot a right-hand hook over me. And then he goes and does it and scores."

Dennis Rodman on Larry Bird: "I would be all over him, trying to deny him the ball, and all Larry was doing was yelling at his teammates, I'm open! Hurry up before they notice nobody is guarding me!" then he would stick an elbow in my jaw and stick the jumper in my face, then he would start in on my coach "Coach you better get this guy out and send in somebody who's going to D me up, because its too easy when I'm wide open like this"

Knicks' forward Charles Smith remembers when Bird barked "Sorry, Charlie," as he released a long, last-second shot to win a game. "That kind of a thing makes you want to jump on a guy," said Smith.

When the Indiana Pacers put rookie George McCloud on Bird in the closing minutes of a game, Bird yelled over to the Pacers bench, "Hey, I know you guys are desperate, but can't you find someone who at least has prayer?"

The year after Bird greeted fellow three-point shooting contest participants by asking which one of them would finish in second place behind him, Dale Ellis told the press that Bird didn't have much to say this year. "There was no need to talk this time," Bird replied,"we all knew who was going to win."

On a West Coast trip in 1986, Bird told the entire Dallas Mavericks bench that after the time out, Ainge would inbounds the pass to DJ, who would hit Bird in the corner where Bird would step back and take a three. "So you got that?" Bird queried the bench. "I'm gonna stand right here. I'm not going to move. They'll pass me the ball, and the next sound you here will be the ball hitting the bottom of the net." And that's exactly what happened. Bird winked at the Maverick before heading back down to the other end of the court.

Bird even precipitated a fight with Julius Erving by repeating a single phrase over and over. The phrase? 42-5, or the number of points each had scored during an easy Boston victory.

Shawn Kemp was guarding Larry Bird one night. On the last three-pointer, Larry Shot in Kemp's face and he said, "I'm the best damn player from Indiana."

Видео Larry Bird - Confidence and even some more Trash Talking канала BasketballJones48021