{"id":1330091,"date":"2021-03-04T14:39:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T19:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1330091"},"modified":"2023-10-02T12:04:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T16:04:58","slug":"larry-bird-once-played-an-nba-game-with-160-in-cash-inside-his-shoe-after-proving-his-greatness-to-a-local-reporter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-once-played-an-nba-game-with-160-in-cash-inside-his-shoe-after-proving-his-greatness-to-a-local-reporter\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Bird Once Played an NBA Game With $160 in Cash Inside His Shoe After Proving His Greatness to a Local Reporter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While NBA fans have seen plenty of iconic athletes over the years, it's almost impossible to forget what <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/Larry-Bird\/\">Larry Bird<\/a> did on the hardwood. Not only was the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-wasnt-afraid-of-talking-trash-to-his-own-boston-celtics-teammates\/\">Boston Celtics great<\/a> an incredible talent, but he was also supremely confident in his own skills. Plenty of opponents and, on one occasion, a Boston Globe beat reporter experienced that reality firsthand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Larry Bird usually reserved his <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/can-we-dare-say-larry-bird-was-a-better-basketball-player-than-michael-jordan\/\">trash talk for the other team<\/a>, he once felt the desire to put a local writer in his place. Not only did Larry Legend best the scribe in a free throw shooting contest, but he also pocketed $160 on the deal and hit the court with the cash still in his shoe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-larry-bird-proved-to-be-an-incredible-basketball-talent\">Larry Bird proved to be an incredible basketball talent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the modern NBA, virtually every player has to be capable of knocking down a three-point shot. <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/michael-jordan-won-the-battles-while-larry-bird-won-the-head-to-head-war\/\">Larry Bird<\/a>, however, was ahead of the curve when it came to big men being able to shoot the basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite his talent, Bird's basketball career got off to a tough start. The forward headed to the University of Indiana to join <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/bobby-knight-once-did-the-unthinkable-and-made-michael-jordan-cry\/\">Bobby Knight\u2019s<\/a> Hoosiers but didn't care for the Bloomington campus. Overwhelmed, Bird headed back home and started working as a garbage man until Indiana State University 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> paid him a visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Larry Bird ULTIMATE Mixtape!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hcXv0JtzNQA?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>Bird agreed to give college a second and suited up for the Sycamores. That turned out to be the right move as he promptly grew into a star. During his time at Indiana State, Bird averaged 30.3 points per game, won 1979 National Player of the Year honors, and led his squad to the NCAA Tournament Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After his junior campaign, Bird entered into\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/ranking-the-5-players-taken-ahead-of-larry-bird-in-the-1978-nba-draft\/\">1978 NBA Draft\u00a0<\/a>and, despite some contract-related drama, signed the Boson Celtics snagged Bird with the sixth-overall pick. In Beantown, his star only continued to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Larry Legend spent 13 seasons in Boston, averaging 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game for his career. Bird also won <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/dennis-johnson-once-explained-the-difference-between-larry-bird-and-kevin-mchale-when-it-came-to-killer-instinct\/\">three consecutive NBA MVP titles<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/how-many-nba-championships-have-the-boston-celtics-won\/\">lifted three Larry O\u2019Brien Trophies<\/a>\u00a0as an NBA champion, earning himself a place in basketball history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-boston-celtics-star-was-always-supremely-confident-in-his-own-abilities\"> The Boston Celtics star was always supremely confident in his own abilities <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-hated-playing-against-a-white-guy-during-his-time-in-the-nba\/\">Larry Bird Hated \u2018Playing Against a White Guy\u2019 During His Time in the NBA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to make it to the highest level of any sport, you have to be supremely confident in your own abilities. Larry Bird, however, had bravado to spare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his time in the pros, plenty of stories about Bird's trash-talking abilities reached the public. From <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\/\">playing a game left-handed <\/a>to telling his opposition exactly how he planned to beat them, Larry Legend was never afraid to speak his mind and trust in his own greatness. On one occasion, he even <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\/\">bailed on the Celtic's visit to the White House<\/a> after a night of partying, saying that Ronald Reagan knew where to find him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Jordan, who could more than hold his own when it came to on-court banter, even said that Bird was the best trash-talker he ever faced. That's pretty high praise, especially coming from His Airness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Happy 63rd Birthday Larry Bird...<br>He was a baaaaaadddd man ! His step back game,shooting, passing and trash talk was soo\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25GOAT status.  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uU7xKdyQqX\">pic.twitter.com\/uU7xKdyQqX<\/a><\/p>&mdash; MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkJonesESPN\/status\/1203491353914675200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 8, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-larry-bird-once-won-160-from-a-reporter-then-hit-the-court-with-the-cash-in-his-shoe\">Larry Bird once won $160 from a reporter, then hit the court with the cash in his shoe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-was-a-ruthless-trash-talker-but-the-boston-celtics-legend-also-had-a-softer-side\/\">Larry Bird's competitive fire<\/a> wasn't limited to his interactions with NBA players, though. On at least one occasion, a Boston Globe reporter had to (literally) pay the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As explained in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/sports\/2015\/12\/07\/yes-larry-bird-dan-shaughnessy-free-throw-contest-really-happened\/tc61foxLpiJwuxzZyVPK6N\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a transcript<\/a> of a Globe podcast, former Celtics beat writer Dan Shaughnessy challenged Bird\u2014who was nursing an injury after a fight\u2014to a free throw shooting contest. Despite having &#8220;his hand taped like a fist, like a boxing glove almost,&#8221; Bird started sinking shots with incredible ease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He made 6 out of 10, first round. I made 6 out of 10, so we're even. And then the second round, I was rebounding for him, and he said, &#8216;Oh, I've got this figured out.' And he did,&#8221; Shaughnessy recalled. &#8220;He made an adjustment, and he knew. And he made like 8 or 9 out of 10. And, of course, I step up, and I'm starting to see $5 bills fly through the air every time I let go, and I was choking, and he beat me by $160. I think it was 88-62 or whatever it was, but I owed him $160.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following afternoon, Shaughnessy had to pay up. &#8220;He totally took the money, stuck it in his sneaker,&#8221; the reporter remembered. &#8220;And, gross, he played with my eight $20 bills in his shoe the whole night and lit up the 76ers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If it's any consolation, Shaughnessy managed to expense that $160 as &#8220;eight $20 lunches with [Celtics center] Robert Parish.&#8221; He also learned a priceless lesson: Don't mess with <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-said-the-lakers-eventually-showed-their-true-colors-in-the-1984-nba-finals-i-always-thought-they-were-soft\/\">Larry Bird<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Stats courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/larry-bird-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sports-Reference<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birdla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Basketball-Reference<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Larry Bird was a deadly shooter, even with an injured hand. Just ask a Boston Celtics beat reporter who lost $160 to the star.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":1577628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"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 Once Played an NBA Game With $160 in Cash Inside His Shoe After Proving His Greatness to a Local Reporter - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Larry Bird once hit the NBA hardwood with $160 in cash inside his shoe after reminding a beat reporter of his unbeatable shooting skills.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-once-played-an-nba-game-with-160-in-cash-inside-his-shoe-after-proving-his-greatness-to-a-local-reporter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larry Bird Once Played an NBA Game With $160 in Cash Inside His Shoe After Proving His Greatness to a Local Reporter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Larry Bird once hit the NBA hardwood with $160 in cash inside his shoe after reminding a beat reporter of his unbeatable shooting skills.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-once-played-an-nba-game-with-160-in-cash-inside-his-shoe-after-proving-his-greatness-to-a-local-reporter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-04T19:39:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-02T16:04:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Larry-Bird-Boston-Celtics.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"789\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Kozlowski\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JoeKozlowski_\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Kozlowski\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-once-played-an-nba-game-with-160-in-cash-inside-his-shoe-after-proving-his-greatness-to-a-local-reporter\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-once-played-an-nba-game-with-160-in-cash-inside-his-shoe-after-proving-his-greatness-to-a-local-reporter\/\",\"name\":\"Larry Bird Once Played an NBA Game With $160 in Cash Inside His Shoe After Proving His Greatness to a Local Reporter - 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