Your respect for Larry Bird just increased

[Branden Albert's Huge Balls]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...jordans-cooler

In 1998, Larry Bird coached Michael Jordan in the All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. The next year he published a book with Jackie MacMullan called "Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love."

More than a dozen years after the fact, allow me to point out the book is fascinating and fun to read, and includes this anecdote from the "Space Jam" set:

The movie people really took care of us. They had this big room in the hotel filled with food, drinks, anything you wanted. One cooler had beer, another had soda, another had sandwiches. And then there was this big cooler marked MICHAEL ONLY.

You weren't supposed to touch that one, because it was all Michael Jordan's special stuff they flew in just for him. So one day Bill Murray and I are sitting in there, and I go over to Michael's cooler and lift up the lid.

There was this girl there, and her only job was to make sure everything was just right for Michael Jordan, and she starts yelling at me, "Larry, you can't go in there!" I said, "What are you talking about? That's bull. Everyone here is family." She was getting all nervous and said,"No, no. Those are all the things Michael told me he wanted, and if you take something out of there, Michael won't be able to have it, and we just can't let that happen!"

Bill Murray is laughing the whole time listening to this, because whenever Michael walked into the room he always went to one of the other coolers and pulled something out, just like the rest of us. He hardly ever opened his own cooler.

Anyhow, I waited until the girl left, then I reached in and started grabbing stuff out of Michael's cooler and throwing it out to the crew, all over the set. I threw it everywhere! Gatorade bottles, some special drink he liked, candy bars ... She was so mad at me.

For the rest of our stay, every time I went by that cooler I took something out.

[Garcia Bronco]

-Larry Legend (Bird) was well known for his competitive fire and high bball IQ, but it is rare that people expose Larry as one of the NBA`s alltime greatest smack talkers. Stories have been told of Larry pointing out the spots on the court he was going to score from, BEGGING his defender to "try and make it tough on me this time" Then he would dribble to that spot and stick the jumper in the defenders face. I remember Rodman telling a story about Larry`s trash talk---
"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, becuase its too easy when I`m wide open like this"

-Larry Bird trash talk moment in a game against Seattle. He told Xavier McDaniel where he'd score from, got the ball, and scored with 2 seconds left on the clock. He said, "Damn! I didn't mean to leave any time left on the clock."

- During one game on Christmas Day against the Indiana Pacers, before the game Bird told Chuck Person that he would give him a Christmas present. During the game, when Person was on the bench, Bird shot a three-pointer on the baseline right in front of Person. Immediately after the shot, Bird said to Person, "Merry Christmas!", and then the shot went in

- During the three-point shooting contest on All-Star Weekend 1986, Bird came in, started looking around without saying a word, then finally said "I'm just looking around to see who's gonna finish up second." He indeed won the shooting contest

- In a game against the Seattle SuperSonics with the game all tied up, Bird told Supersonics forward Xavier McDaniel, who was guarding him, exactly where he would hit the game winning shot. After a timeout, Bird made two baseline cuts, then posted in the exact spot he had indicated to McDaniel, paused and turned and hit the shot in his face.

- On a night in 1984 versus Philadelphia where Larry Bird was outscoring Julius Erving by a margin of 42–6, he continuously informed Erving of their tallies every chance he got, which resulted in first a shoving match, then swings taken by both players and culminated in a bench-clearing brawl


Xavier McDaniel Story of Larry Bird

I remember Shawn Kemp was guarding Larry Bird one night, and during the time out, Shawn shared Bird’s comment. On the last three-pointer, Larry Shot in Kemp’s face and he said, ‘I’m the best damn player from Indiana.’ We ended up hearing this story during the time out and started laughing. He was on fire that night; he ended up with 50-plus points.

(Shawn Kemp, for those that don't know, is from Elkart, Indiana)

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

What is amazing is is that video did not even have what many consider to be Bird's greatest play (and one the greatest plays in general)....his steal of Isaiah Thomas's pass to Bill Lambeer with four seconds left in game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals. Pistons were up 107-106, and were finally, finally, going to beat the Celts in the Garden...but Larry Legend stepped in, stole the pass, and hit DJ for a wide open layup to steal the game, and ultimately the series, for the Celtics.

I was thinking of that play the whole time I was watching that video, wondering if it was going to pop up or not.

[Superbowltrashcan]

I never detected much Bias in coverage of Bird.... (too soon?)

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Superbowltrashcan

I never detected much Bias in coverage of Bird.... (too soon?)

You just crossed a line.

[WhiteWhale]

Bird was so active with the ball... he was constantly pass and pump faking guys out of their shoes.

One annoying thing is that people seem to think of Bird as a 3 point shooter when he really wasn't. Yeah, he was really good at it. He scored most of his points in the post.

I loved how he would 'bat' passes to guys. You don't see that much anymore.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by Superbowltrashcan

I never detected much Bias in coverage of Bird.... (too soon?)

Hi5n1

[Branden Albert's Huge Balls]

Originally Posted by WhiteWhale

Bird was so active with the ball... he was constantly pass and pump faking guys out of their shoes.

One annoying thing is that people seem to think of Bird as a 3 point shooter when he really wasn't. Yeah, he was really good at it. He scored most of his points in the post.

I'd like to know why his 3 point shooting went to shit for 4 years after his rookie season, then snapped back to form.

[Bearcat]

Am I the only one who imagined them opening the cooler and seeing the girl inside?

[Thig Lyfe]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Am I the only one who imagined them opening the cooler and seeing the girl inside?

Michael Jordan raped and murdered a girl on the set of Space Jam.

[RNR]

That was the only time in my life I have been a bandwagon fan. To be perfectly honest it was because the Celtics had a handful of white guys that could really play. Black guys just dominated the sport. Right or wrong that was the reason I started following Boston and the NBA for that matter. I found myself reading the newspaper, catching highlights and watching the games when I could. I never really watched the NBA growing up. I followed football and boxing, the two sports I was pretty good at.

In high school I would play pickup games with several black guys I knew from the football team and the guys that played varsity basketball for our high school. I would marvel at how damn much better they were than I was. The boys and girls both went unbeaten one year, there was not a white starter on the team. It was really cool to see white guys play at the top level and do well. Not long after Bird retired I lost my interest in the game again. I would still watch the Bulls when they were winning titles from time to time, because Jordan was simply amazing. Slowly I just stopped watching all together. Those highlights bring a smile to my face, it was a fun time~

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by RedNeckRaider

That was the only time in my life I have been a bandwagon fan. To be perfectly honest it was because the Celtics had a handful of white guys that could really play. Black guys just dominated the sport. Right or wrong that was the reason I started following Boston and the NBA for that matter. I found myself reading the newspaper, catching highlights and watching the games when I could. I never really watched the NBA growing up. I followed football and boxing, the two sports I was pretty good at.

In high school I would play pickup games with several black guys I knew from the football team and the guys that played varsity basketball for our high school. I would marvel at how damn much better they were than I was. The boys and girls both went unbeaten one year, there was not a white starter on the team. It was really cool to see a white guys play at the top level and do well. Not long after Bird retired I lost my interest in the game again. I would still watch the Bulls when they were winning titles from time to time, because Jordan was simply amazing. Slowly I just stopped watching all together. Those highlights bring a smile to my face, it was a fun time~

Because there just weren't enough models of white success and dominance in other, non-sports venues.

Joking aside, you're not the only one. To this day, the Celtics are looked at as the white man's team, while the Lakers are the black man's.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Because there just weren't enough models of white success and dominance in other, non-sports venues.

Shut. Up.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by Satanic Goat

I'd like to know why his 3 point shooting went to shit for 4 years after his rookie season, then snapped back to form.

Hard to say. He made more 3 pointers as a rookie than he did in those 3 seasons combined, but he wasn't taking as many either as he was probably being used in the post where he was insanely efficient and a very good rebounder. Maybe they were desperation shots that were very low percentage.

I really don't know. I was a baby in 1981 so I didn't get to see his earliest years. By the time I started watching he was already a legend.

[Demonpenz]

bird was perfect example of john woodens "Be quick, but don't hurry"

[RNR]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Joking aside, you're not the only one. To this day, the Celtics are looked at as the white man's team, while the Lakers are the black man's.

That is true, few seem to want to admit the simple truth. The Lakers were Show Time and were like a fancy sports car. They made it look effortless. Boston was like a 4x4 truck. They just ran on horsepower and force. The NBA came back from almost dead because of Magic and Bird. If people wish to ignore the race factor, they are being disingenuous~