“In the era, they were hunters, they were sharks!” Rick Fox draws parallels between Michael Jordan and Larry Bird’s competitive mentality
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The NBA today is much different than the league was a few decades ago. Unlike the game right now, The league was filled with solid competitiveness and not everyone grew to like each other. Some feuds are still being carried out since the day they originated. Most of these feuds are surrounded around “His Airness.”
Michael Jordan dominated the league during the 80s and 90s and he was known as one of the most feared trash talkers. But before Jordan and the Chicago Bulls took the NBA by storm, there were a few others who were considered just like how he was, the greatest. Larry Bird was the MJ before MJ himself. Much like the Bulls legend, Bird had taken control of the situation in the NBA and his team was just as overpowering.
Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics ruled to NBA before being taken over by MJ
Jordan had entered the league in 1984 before which he played college basketball for North Carolina. The bird had been the master of the game prior to MJ’s arrival and much like the Bulls guard, the former Boston Celtics legend was the best trash talker around. Larry Bird was someone who found ways to motivate himself to be the best among his peers and to break records along with it. To many, Bird was even considered the best smack speaker of all time.
Rick Fox who was a former associate of the Celtics and North Carolina alumni said, “In that era, they were sharks! They were looking for every edge they could get. Just like if you just even try to get their attention, their approval or validation, you were showing a sign of weakness.” Fox describes the green slashers as sharks based on their nature of dominance. MJ had admitted that Bird was a very intimidating opponent saying that he would easily get into the heads of his opposition and then destroy them on the court.
Larry Bird and Michael Jordan took over the floor in head to head games
“His Airness” was arguably the best scorer the league has ever since. Against the great Celtic, MJ would put up averages of 33.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. Jordan would finish his career as one of the top five scorers in the league with a total of 32,292 points. His reign in the league would last only 15 seasons due to two early retirements. He averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 throughout his NBA life.
Larry Bird on the other hand was a better and more consistent shooter than Jordan. He shot 49.8% from the field and 46.9% from the three-point range. Jordan shot 50.6% from the field but averaged a much lower 30.6% from three due to excessive double or even triple-teaming. Jordan gives all credit to “Larry Legend” for teaching him how to be verbally powerful. He said, “Larry Bird is the greatest trash talker and mind-game player of all time. He taught me everything I know about getting in folks’ heads.”
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Rakibul John Rodgers
(1258 Articles Published)