{"id":1238050,"date":"2020-09-21T13:39:51","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T17:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1238050"},"modified":"2020-09-21T13:40:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T17:40:02","slug":"larry-bird-wasnt-afraid-of-talking-trash-to-his-own-boston-celtics-teammates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-wasnt-afraid-of-talking-trash-to-his-own-boston-celtics-teammates\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Bird Wasn't Afraid of Talking Trash to His Own Boston Celtics Teammates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While everyone knows that<a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/the-night-larry-bird-proved-he-could-still-be-the-nbas-best-player-if-he-only-used-his-left-hand\/\"> Larry Bird was a deadly shooter,<\/a> his skill set wasn't limited to long-range shots. <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/Larry-Bird\/\">The Boston Celtics forward<\/a> was capable of scoring at will; short of dunking, he could do virtually anything he wanted on offense. He was also a fiery competitor with a noted knack for trash talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Larry Legend, however, didn't only take aim at the opposition. In fact, he was known to unleash some brutal trash talk against his own teammates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Larry Bird's legendary basketball career <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Larry Bird&#039;s top 10 moments with the Boston Celtics | SportsCenter\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RbcrDjxt18g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-once-bailed-on-the-celtics-white-house-visit-saying-the-president-knows-where-to-find-me\/\">Larry Bird Once Bailed on the Celtics' White House Visit, Saying the President &#8216;Knows Where to Find Me'<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, the city of Boston has seen plenty of legendary athletes. During his time with the Celtics, Larry Bird established himself as <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/how-good-was-larry-bird\/\">one of the best.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bird's basketball career, however, didn't get off to the best start. After making a name for himself in high school, the forward headed to the University of Indiana; the Bloomington campus wasn't a bit much for <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-made-24-million-in-the-nba-but-never-forgot-his-poor-childhood-in-french-lick\/\">the Hick from French Lick,<\/a> though, and he left without playing a single game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indiana State basketball <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-may-have-stayed-a-garbage-man-if-not-for-a-man-named-bill-hodges\/\">coach Bill Hodges<\/a>, however, couldn't ignore Bird's talent and convinced him to join the Sycamores. Playing in more comfortable surroundings, the forward became a legitimate star. Within a few seasons, he became the National Player of the Year and <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/we-can-thank-larry-bird-and-magic-johnsons-1979-finals-clash-for-march-madness\/\">dueled against Magic Johnson<\/a> in the NCAA championship game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While he lost that title game, Bird's star continued to rise. He headed as <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/ranking-the-5-players-taken-ahead-of-larry-bird-in-the-1978-nba-draft\/\">the sixth-overall pick<\/a> of the 1978 NBA draft; he promptly claimed Rookie of the Year honors and lifted the struggling Celtics back to relevance. By the time he retired, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-is-so-legendary-twitter-named-its-logo-after-him\/\">Larry had become a legend,<\/a> winning three-consecutive MVP titles and three NBA championships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Larry Legend was also a legendary trash-talker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Please, this is a Disney television show.&quot; - Bill Walton responding to Dave Pasch&#39;s request for an example of Larry Bird&#39;s trash talk<\/p>&mdash; Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewDBailey\/status\/964009455678513153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 15, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>During his time on the hardwood, Michael Jordan developed a reputation as <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/michael-jordans-brutal-trash-talk-once-ruined-a-teammates-career\/\">a ruthless trash-talker<\/a>. Even His Airness, however, had to <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/michael-jordan-called-this-player-the-biggest-trash-talker-hes-ever-faced\/\">acknowledge Larry Bird's verbal repertoire. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While some of the stories may have been exaggerated over time\u2014the world of sports is no stranger to tall tales and urban legends\u2014Bird reportedly unleashed some wicked one-liners during his time in the pros. He <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/if-you-think-michael-jordan-burned-craig-ehlo-heres-what-larry-bird-did-to-him\/\">once asked Craig Ehlo<\/a> if his mother was watching the game to see him get embarrassed. On another occasion, he claimed that no one was guarding him after scoring over <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/dennis-rodmans-drive-to-becoming-one-of-the-greatest-defenders-and-rebounders-in-nba-history\/\">Dennis Rodman.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Celtics forward didn't limit his trash talk to individual players, either; <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-hated-playing-against-a-white-guy-during-his-time-in-the-nba\/\">any &#8220;white guy&#8221;<\/a> was fair game. &#8220;A white guy would come out,&#8221; Bird explained in a 2004 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/news\/story?id=1818396\">ESPN<\/a> write-up, &#8220;[and] I would always ask him: \u2018What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?\u2019 And he\u2019d go, \u2018No,\u2019 and I\u2019d say, \u2018Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Larry Bird wasn't afraid of trash-talking his own Celtics teammates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Open Court: Best Trash Talkers\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7Ms02gNaYjk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-revealed-the-best-celtics-team-he-ever-played-on\/\">Larry Bird Revealed the Best Celtics Team He Ever Played On<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Larry Bird's verbal assaults, however, weren't reserved for his opponents. He also broke out plenty of trash talk during Bostons Celtics practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The best trash talking he did was in practice,&#8221; center Joe Kleine told Jayson Jenks of <a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/1725703\/2020\/04\/09\/you-wouldnt-believe-what-he-said-the-greatest-trash-talker-ever-larry-bird\/\">The Athletic<\/a>. &#8221; We would be getting ready for practice. We were all sitting on our concrete benches with our metal lockers behind us. The room is the size of nothing. Ed Pinckney would be sitting there. The whole team was really close, and Larry was really close with Ed. So Larry comes in and Ed\u2019s getting dressed and Larry just stands over Ed.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once he got into position, Bird unleashed a verbal assault. He\u2019d go, \u201cEd blankety-blank Pinckney,&#8221; Kleine continued. &#8220;Ed blankety-blank Pinckney. I am going to <em>kill <\/em>you today in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It's not clear what happened that day in practice. Based on what we know of Larry Bird, though, it's safe to assume that he didn't take it easy on Ed Pinckney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Like Sports7 on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sports7dotcom\/\">Facebook.<\/a> Follow us on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sports719\">@sports719.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Larry Bird wasn't merely a talented player. He was also a brutal trash-talker and unleashed some verbal assaults on his Boston Celtics teammates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":1238184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[62310],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Larry Bird Wasn&#039;t Afraid of Talking Trash to His Own Boston Celtics Teammates - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Larry Bird wasn&#039;t merely a talented player. 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He covers the NBA and soccer for Sports7, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history \u2014 likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center \u2014 he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. 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