My fave player EVER! In his prime, the most nearly perfect player to play the game! Excelled in so many areas and yet doesn’t get the respect he deserves.
What is Bird's best attribute? Scoring, Passing, rebounding, clutch play, controlling the game, team play, he is at such a high level on all of these, He will always be my favorite player, thanks for the upload.
His mind is his greatest attribute imo..Leadership, IQ and tuffness and confidence all fall under the mental aspect of this sport and every sport..Great shooter, great scorer when needed, great passer and extremely underrated rebounder (10 per game for his career during the most physical era that was dominated by bigmen,..LeBrons lucky if he ends up with 8 per game for his career amd hes 3Xs more athletic, and also is bigger and stronger..His ability to anticipate the game as it unfolded was unreal
I had to chuckle to myself as I started watching this game, that I saw as a young man. I remember they asked Charles Barkley if Bird was a better player than Barkley, and Barkley hesitated and came back with "Bird is a better shooter than I am, possibly a better passer than I am, and I am a better rebounder clearly!!". I then proceeded to watch Bird outsmart Barkley by getting the best angle and positioning, and then Bird collected the rebounds!! BTW... This is some of the most beautiful basketball I have seen in years!!
I love how many players in the 80's could shoot the ball and do offensive put backs while keeping the ball over their head the whole time. The fundamentals, especially on the 80's Celtics and Lakers teams, were really something to behold.
This '86 Celtics team was absolutely formidable! Healthy basically all year, other than a few missed games here and there, they were deep, and they were arguably the greatest passing team ever!
Wow...truly shows overall complete player and greatness of bird-scoring, shooting,rebounding,defense,left hand,post play and post dribble penetration, passing and assists. Overall controling the tempo of the game. By the way, bird is doing this against barkley, Dr j, and Moses malone...no disrespect, but LeBron who?...lol
God this team was incredible. Cousey and Gorman and Heinsohn used to do the play by play and Cousey always said of Bird he had "no wasted motion". You can see that Barkley almost wants to give up when he is guarding Bird. This team just wore their opponents out with solid fundamentals and VIRTUOSO performances from Bird and McHale.
lool people are brainwashed thinking lebron is better smh this is what real basketball looks like no fouls every 2 plays, no flopping, no whining, no ref and player relationship, players facilitating as one unit, players were loyal to franchises, and to think basketball is supposed to evolve.
Mind you this was Larry Bird almost effortlessly it seems putting the moves on the likes of Charles Barkley. You could tell Charles attitude hurt his play when he's getting man handled by arguably one of the best players ever.
Barkley was asked one time if he was better than Bird. He hesitated at first and then said he was a better Rebounder and Defensive Player than Larry. All I can say is please. No comparison.
this 86 Celtics team would mop the court with every team Ive seen play before or since, other Celtics teams of the past included...Bird, Walton, and DJ made them the best passing team ever assembled...The unselfish play was clearly so contagious that even McHale, who was nicknamed the black hole for how rarely he passed the ball back, got into the act.
A million years from now this will be the greatest passing team ever. and perhaps the best rebounding as well. there's only a few teams in history who could hang with them. Even a great franchise like Tim Duncan's Spurs teams would be lucky to win one game against this team.
@@morewithles2738 Honestly I kinda think the 87 Lakers are a bit overrated...Magic was always driven by his competition with Bird, and Bird altho always eager to talk trash on the court, is usually very modest, humble when reflecting about himself off of it, but he was actually quite anxious to let people know almost from the moment they finished that 86 championship run off that he felt that the 1986 Celtics are the best team hes seen since hes been around the NBA... Naturally Magic felt a need to be able to compete with Birds best team...Birds declaration automatically dismisses all the previous Lakers teams Magic had won with(1980, 1982, 1985), so 1987 was Magics 1st chance to answer Larrys declaration...plus, that was the yr where the torch got fully passed over to Magic both on his own team and as the leagues top player-Kareem took a lesser role in 87 Riley handed Magic the keys to the car so to speak at the beginning of the yr...Magic finally won a league MVP as well as the Finals MVP, plus he hit that clutch hook shot in game4 at the garden which ultimately helped him get the2-1 finals edge over Bird and that unit was their 1st of their only back2back run... Honestly as good as they were they werent nearly as good as that 86 Celtics team-the 86 Celtics had 5 HOFers and set a homecourt record which still stands to this day...That 87 LA team only had 3HOFers and arguably the best of the 3 of them, Kareem, had declined as far away from his prime as an all star could get...Meanwhile, their 1984 & 85 teams had 5HOFers with a version of Kareem who could still consistently play at a HOF if not MVP caliber level., and their 82 team had 4HOFers & Nixon who isnt a HOFer but was no slouch either. My point is I dont even fully agree that the 87 Lakers are the best Lakers team of the Showtime era...they are merely the medias fav and Magics favorite group, his response to Larrys declaration...Imho, if the 87 Lakers played the 86 Celtics in a series I believe the 86 Celtics would definitely win in 6 or less-maybe even produce a sweep-winning in 5 wouldnt surprise at all.. The Celtics scratched and clawed their way to a finals series they didnt even belong in in 1987 and because they then lost it seems to have hurt their legacy is some ways...it cost Bird the rubber match...he woulda been better off with a 1-1 tie or a 2-2 tie...the media pundits, fans try to hold that 2-1 edge Magic has over him against Birds legacy and give Magic the edge as the superior player over him as a result while ignoring the fact that LA simply packed it in during the 86 playoffs vs Houston, maybe because they knew Boston was standing there with brooms waiting for them in the finals...they really shoulda met in the finals all 4 of those yrs...LA didnt have any major injuries in 86.... Its really weak how the media has spun a number of legacies and sports narratives...Bird was the better player compared to Magic...A better scorer rebounder and defender and the best passer the SF position has ever seen, better than Lebron with that stat inflated era apg edge...Magic won more championships because he joined Kareems Lakers...Bird didnt have an already 5 time league MVP on his team when he was a rookie...the Showtime Lakers also avoided injuries far more, and the injuries they did suffer didnt linger, persist, or become chronic career threatening conditions like Birds back and McHale and Waltons feet...At the halfway point of the decade, before all those injuries became issues, Bird was far ahead of Magic continually getting better with no end in sight thru to the very end of the 86finals.. 87 Lakers hunted down a wounded animal...James Worthy has stated that LA was far more worried about facing Detroit in 87 than about facing Boston because they knew Detroit had a legit squad and that Boston was injured and worn out...in hindsight that group the Bad Boys never quite won with(Dantley instead of Aguirre) makes 4 healthy future HOFers and a bench that goes 9deep everyone was fresh full of energy unlike the 87 Celtics...If injuries hadnt derailed the Celtics from 1987 on Im not even sure the 87Lakers would be a team Magic brags about...
@@dp233332 The 87 Lakers were quicker than the 86 Celtics. When Kurt Rambis was replaced by a faster younger A.C Green, the Celtics big men had problems DEFENSIVELY. The mid season trade for Mychal Thompson put the LAKERS over the top.
Yeah, I love Chuck but his D left a little to be desired. There is a reason some guys don't win championships. Can't only be concerned with scoring... Dominique, Bernard King, George Gervin, Alex English to name a few
Most players wouldn't even think to try and dribble in that situation they would have picked up the ball get called for traveling while sliding on the floor
#33 A PHENOMONAN ‼️😃👍🤍🍀🏀💥🏆 for eternity👍😃🏀💥🍀🤍🍀🤍🍀🤍🍀🤍Go 🏀 BosTon tonight! How GREAT would it be if we turned the NBA championship game on tonight and On the floor ,we see Larry Bird, Danny Ainge,Kevin Mchale,Dennis Johnson ,Cedric Maxwell + all the other GREATS?! Wouldnt that make your 🌃 night!🌙🏀👀💥🍀🤍🍀🤍
the round lump of rebound couldn't handle Bird. Magic said Bird and the Celtics gave him nightmares. Half the sixers wanted to jump off a building after playing against Bird.
This is the real Larry Bird. He was everywhere. Feels almost tragic that injuries slowed the celts down. With Bird, Walton and McHale healthy the eighties landscape would`ve been quite different.
Could you imagine if Lenny Bias was alive during this run of great Celtics teams? Bias was as close to Michael Jordan talent wise as anyone. Celtics would of won 3 more NBA titles had Bias not OD on cocaine... sad...
Cleveland Tribe Bird says in an interview on youtube from several yrs ago that he would have retired in 1988 if Len Bias hadnt died and had proven to be as good as projected...Injuries really had worn him down...Few appreciate how much pain Larry put himself through to continue playing from 1988-1992. I also grew up believing that had Bias not died the Celtics would have won 3 more rings and stayed relevant throughout the 90s and only caught that interview with Bird a few weeks ago.. 2years ago I ruptured a vertebrae and slipped a disc in my neck. Altho this caused significant pain throughout all waking moments of my day and night for the following 2 months, the amount of pain going anywhere in a car, as a driver or passenger, caused me was exponentially greater...I can only imagine tha the gravitational forces one experiences on a plane during takeoffs and landings for road games must have been far worse than the pain I experienced...I have read that Bird had to lay down and wear some kind of state of the art back brace for the entire flight to Barcelona.
dp233332 Bias would have been 'the franchise' until about '98 had all gone well - no doubt Bird would have jagged another title, getting by the deep frontlines of the Pistons and Lakers.
Bird averaged 28.1 this season, but people forget he checked himself out in the early 4th, sometimes late 3rd quarter in dozens of blowouts! His stats could've been much higher if not for that fact
Exactly. Stats just don't tell the story when it comes to Bird. And I don't think that some people can wrap their heads around the truth of that. They can't conceive of a player NOT padding stats. It's sad.
Bird , yessir what a player and I honestly believe these 2 teams on the court were as good as any ever look at the names Celtics at their best , doc on decline a bit , Barkley ascending , toney , Malone , that 4 could hang with anybody , those were some games
ahh remember when teams used fundamentals, iso play really killed the game. if players today had to deal with the hand checking. grabbing, elbows, shirt pulling, etc smh they wouldnt even put up a bucket
There have been a couple other games I've seen highlights of where Bird got a perfect steal like that and instead the ref called a foul. They couldn't believe he was that quick perhaps? 🤷🏻♀️. Gotta be frustrating when you pull off the perfect swipe.
Bird schooling Barkley. This is why Barkley ended up a hall of famer. He had to be humbled by the likes of Bird and Magic, who read the game as if it were chess.
4:47 OK, this is a 6'9" white (to some people that apparently makes a difference, not me) forward with the best hands, eyes and mind in bball. What the hell?? I heard one announcer say that every night Bird would do something that would spin your head around. Well, I just had to pick my head up off of the floor after that one!
Yeah, Barkley was young and had much to learn at this point. Later, esp at Phoenix, his BB IQ was pretty sharp. He was adept at drawing double teams and kicking out to perimeter shooters for open shots. His D? Never great, but he has plenty a company there. Even Larry wasn't that good at guarding people, a much better roamer.
I saw a RUclips video where the host ask Charles Barkley if he was better than Larry Bird. He did say that he was but he said that he was a better defender and rebounder than Bird. Charles needs to watch this video and then he will know Bird was the best. Barkley wasn't even a better defender or rebounder.
Dont call a foul on Bird that was NOT a foul. ....be ause he gets angry and we know what he does when he gets angry .................HE WINS !!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sorry, but we all know that Lebron is superior physically, and his consistent greatness over years is better than Larry's. But, at their respective peaks, I just can't see how anyone could pick Lebron over Larry. Just sayin'.
@@morewithles2738 not true. Its how Bird controls the game and involve his teammates that made them good. Unlike Lebron who just join force with star players to win championships. So with this, he aint in the top tier discussion. I'd say he's overrated. Really.
@@morewithles2738 they werent stars yet when they played with Bird, but i believe bec of Bird, thats why they became stars, they were utilized by Bird. Not like Lebron who would team up with already stars to get a championship.
Man, how many of these highlights are Bird just taking advantage of bad/lazy defense? I am NOT taking anything away from Bird. Part of his greatness was his anticipation and his effort - and you can see it here. It seems at least half of these plays are Bird anticipating and acting while the Sixers are re-acting after the play is over. (Also, the play that starts at 0:20 - after Parish blocks Malone's shot try to find Malone after that - he's no where in the frame!)
My fave player EVER! In his prime, the most nearly perfect player to play the game! Excelled in so many areas and yet doesn’t get the respect he deserves.
Girl you're about as addicted to Larry Bird as me, probably even more. I've seen your name and comments on every Larry Bird video
Any team of all stars that starts with Bird will beat any other combination. He’s that good
I was fortunate to be at many of these games. Larry was a highlight reel every night. His awareness and b-ball IQ was second to none.
I can only imagine the atmosphere must have been ‘electric’. Lucky you!
I could watch Larry legend highlights all day long.
What is Bird's best attribute? Scoring, Passing, rebounding, clutch play, controlling the game, team play, he is at such a high level on all of these, He will always be my favorite player, thanks for the upload.
I'd say leadership or basketball intelligence
His mind is his greatest attribute imo..Leadership, IQ and tuffness and confidence all fall under the mental aspect of this sport and every sport..Great shooter, great scorer when needed, great passer and extremely underrated rebounder (10 per game for his career during the most physical era that was dominated by bigmen,..LeBrons lucky if he ends up with 8 per game for his career amd hes 3Xs more athletic, and also is bigger and stronger..His ability to anticipate the game as it unfolded was unreal
I concur with both of you.
In his prime, Nobody can touch him! All around perfection!
Another great upload, always amazing to watch peak Bird and the 1986 Celtics. Larry was everywhere, as usual.
I will never get tire of watching these clips.
I had to chuckle to myself as I started watching this game, that I saw as a young man. I remember they asked Charles Barkley if Bird was a better player than Barkley, and Barkley hesitated and came back with "Bird is a better shooter than I am, possibly a better passer than I am, and I am a better rebounder clearly!!". I then proceeded to watch Bird outsmart Barkley by getting the best angle and positioning, and then Bird collected the rebounds!!
BTW... This is some of the most beautiful basketball I have seen in years!!
Isn't it, though.
Truly beautiful.
Every once in awhile I have to look back to these old games to be reminded how great bird was. Also how great those 86 Celtics were.
I love how many players in the 80's could shoot the ball and do offensive put backs while keeping the ball over their head the whole time. The fundamentals, especially on the 80's Celtics and Lakers teams, were really something to behold.
This '86 Celtics team was absolutely formidable! Healthy basically all year, other than a few missed games here and there, they were deep, and they were arguably the greatest passing team ever!
Now I remember why'd I'd rather pull out the old tapes and watch some good game 5,6 and 7's C's vs Lakers, Sixers, Pistons.
MANY of us here, do JJ.
Wow...truly shows overall complete player and greatness of bird-scoring, shooting,rebounding,defense,left hand,post play and post dribble penetration, passing and assists. Overall controling the tempo of the game. By the way, bird is doing this against barkley, Dr j, and Moses malone...no disrespect, but LeBron who?...lol
Its not like those guys were known for their stellar defense though lol
Matt Grothendieck Still Moses, Doc and Barkley are legit HOFers.
@@mattgrothendieck7664 go score on them..
@@steveguse4481 Lmao in my dreams... couldnt even tell ya why I made that comment lol
@@mattgrothendieck7664 maybe bird is just that good
that team was surgical with the way they took their opponents apart
From 1984 thru 1987 I've never seen a better NBA player than Larry Bird. Absolutely dominating....
My only wish is that we had more film from '80 - '83 as well
@You know where I like it... They say Oscar, but I need to watch some Oscar to believe it.
Hard to argue with that.
Jaamal Wilkes would've ❤️ guarding broken back Larry bird
Connie hawkin would've ate up larry bird on defence , 50s points burgers 🍔
God this team was incredible. Cousey and Gorman and Heinsohn used to do the play by play and Cousey always said of Bird he had "no wasted motion". You can see that Barkley almost wants to give up when he is guarding Bird. This team just wore their opponents out with solid fundamentals and VIRTUOSO performances from Bird and McHale.
Larry Legend Is Bar None,: The Smartest Player Ever!
lool people are brainwashed thinking lebron is better smh this is what real basketball looks like no fouls every 2 plays, no flopping, no whining, no ref and player relationship, players facilitating as one unit, players were loyal to franchises, and to think basketball is supposed to evolve.
They usually played a quicker pace. So much iso and draw and kick outs for 3's today.
You SAID IT ‼️👀💥🏀🍀🤍😃👍 And I second the motion 👍🍀🏀😁🌙
Mind you this was Larry Bird almost effortlessly it seems putting the moves on the likes of Charles Barkley. You could tell Charles attitude hurt his play when he's getting man handled by arguably one of the best players ever.
What a matchup it would have been this Celtics team against the Lakers in 87 finals.
Or the 86 Lakers.
Birds was an underrated player, even as the GOAT!
1:40 Wow! Out-positioning Barkley for the rebound. He was way ahead on that one.
Barkley was asked one time if he was better than Bird. He hesitated at first and then said he was a better Rebounder and Defensive Player than Larry. All I can say is please. No comparison.
@@garrywilliams5777 Charles was a rebounding champion, but was never selected into the All-Defensive Team.
Phenomenal, great post as usual!
Larry bird at his best and their is a couple of hall of famers on sixers but they didn't seem to have a chance!!!
Prime Bird = GOAT
Sam T
YES! ALL DAY LONG!
Fo shizzle
His passing ability and IQ are unmatched, the Duke could do everything and made the game beautiful.
Which one is the Duke?
this 86 Celtics team would mop the court with every team Ive seen play before or since, other Celtics teams of the past included...Bird, Walton, and DJ made them the best passing team ever assembled...The unselfish play was clearly so contagious that even McHale, who was nicknamed the black hole for how rarely he passed the ball back, got into the act.
I've thought that myself for a long time. Bird himself has even said that the only reason they lost 15 games was overconfidence and boredom.
87 Lakers?
A million years from now this will be the greatest passing team ever. and perhaps the best rebounding as well. there's only a few teams in history who could hang with them. Even a great franchise like Tim Duncan's Spurs teams would be lucky to win one game against this team.
@@morewithles2738 Honestly I kinda think the 87 Lakers are a bit overrated...Magic was always driven by his competition with Bird, and Bird altho always eager to talk trash on the court, is usually very modest, humble when reflecting about himself off of it, but he was actually quite anxious to let people know almost from the moment they finished that 86 championship run off that he felt that the 1986 Celtics are the best team hes seen since hes been around the NBA...
Naturally Magic felt a need to be able to compete with Birds best team...Birds declaration automatically dismisses all the previous Lakers teams Magic had won with(1980, 1982, 1985), so 1987 was Magics 1st chance to answer Larrys declaration...plus, that was the yr where the torch got fully passed over to Magic both on his own team and as the leagues top player-Kareem took a lesser role in 87 Riley handed Magic the keys to the car so to speak at the beginning of the yr...Magic finally won a league MVP as well as the Finals MVP, plus he hit that clutch hook shot in game4 at the garden which ultimately helped him get the2-1 finals edge over Bird and that unit was their 1st of their only back2back run...
Honestly as good as they were they werent nearly as good as that 86 Celtics team-the 86 Celtics had 5 HOFers and set a homecourt record which still stands to this day...That 87 LA team only had 3HOFers and arguably the best of the 3 of them, Kareem, had declined as far away from his prime as an all star could get...Meanwhile, their 1984 & 85 teams had 5HOFers with a version of Kareem who could still consistently play at a HOF if not MVP caliber level., and their 82 team had 4HOFers & Nixon who isnt a HOFer but was no slouch either. My point is I dont even fully agree that the 87 Lakers are the best Lakers team of the Showtime era...they are merely the medias fav and Magics favorite group, his response to Larrys declaration...Imho, if the 87 Lakers played the 86 Celtics in a series I believe the 86 Celtics would definitely win in 6 or less-maybe even produce a sweep-winning in 5 wouldnt surprise at all..
The Celtics scratched and clawed their way to a finals series they didnt even belong in in 1987 and because they then lost it seems to have hurt their legacy is some ways...it cost Bird the rubber match...he woulda been better off with a 1-1 tie or a 2-2 tie...the media pundits, fans try to hold that 2-1 edge Magic has over him against Birds legacy and give Magic the edge as the superior player over him as a result while ignoring the fact that LA simply packed it in during the 86 playoffs vs Houston, maybe because they knew Boston was standing there with brooms waiting for them in the finals...they really shoulda met in the finals all 4 of those yrs...LA didnt have any major injuries in 86....
Its really weak how the media has spun a number of legacies and sports narratives...Bird was the better player compared to Magic...A better scorer rebounder and defender and the best passer the SF position has ever seen, better than Lebron with that stat inflated era apg edge...Magic won more championships because he joined Kareems Lakers...Bird didnt have an already 5 time league MVP on his team when he was a rookie...the Showtime Lakers also avoided injuries far more, and the injuries they did suffer didnt linger, persist, or become chronic career threatening conditions like Birds back and McHale and Waltons feet...At the halfway point of the decade, before all those injuries became issues, Bird was far ahead of Magic continually getting better with no end in sight thru to the very end of the 86finals..
87 Lakers hunted down a wounded animal...James Worthy has stated that LA was far more worried about facing Detroit in 87 than about facing Boston because they knew Detroit had a legit squad and that Boston was injured and worn out...in hindsight that group the Bad Boys never quite won with(Dantley instead of Aguirre) makes 4 healthy future HOFers and a bench that goes 9deep everyone was fresh full of energy unlike the 87 Celtics...If injuries hadnt derailed the Celtics from 1987 on Im not even sure the 87Lakers would be a team Magic brags about...
@@dp233332 The 87 Lakers were quicker than the 86 Celtics. When Kurt Rambis was replaced by a faster younger A.C Green, the Celtics big men had problems DEFENSIVELY. The mid season trade for Mychal Thompson put the LAKERS over the top.
such beautiful basketball
Don't worry Chuck, you weren't the only one to look silly.
amen
Yeah, I love Chuck but his D left a little to be desired. There is a reason some guys don't win championships. Can't only be concerned with scoring... Dominique, Bernard King, George Gervin, Alex English to name a few
Bird was in the zone againts some great all time players.
Bird rules the game of basketball !!!
4:47 Not too many 6'10" guys can keep that dribble alive!!
Most players wouldn't even think to try and dribble in that situation they would have picked up the ball get called for traveling while sliding on the floor
This guy litteraly OWNED the NBA: rookie of the year, 2nd in MVP for 3y in a row and then 3 MVP in a row!
Who else can say that?
Legend
I don't watch much bball, but I've never seen a 6'9" forward slide across the floor while maintaining a dribble (4:47}.
LARRY BIRD sliding across the floor while maintaining a dribble! That was something else. & LARRY losing his cool was COOL!
@@billmelton5528 Truth.
We will never see basketball played at this level again
If you watch this video and come away still unconvinced Larry is the GOAT, seek help!
Watching this video now I understand why Charles Barkley hates Larry Bird so much.
Bird brutally humiliated him.
@4:37 I think Charles to this day is still looking for his jock strap that he lost on that superb pass by Bird. Wow.
#33 A PHENOMONAN ‼️😃👍🤍🍀🏀💥🏆 for eternity👍😃🏀💥🍀🤍🍀🤍🍀🤍🍀🤍Go 🏀 BosTon tonight!
How GREAT would it be if we turned the NBA championship game on tonight and On the floor ,we see Larry Bird, Danny Ainge,Kevin Mchale,Dennis Johnson ,Cedric Maxwell + all the other GREATS?! Wouldnt that make your 🌃 night!🌙🏀👀💥🍀🤍🍀🤍
A true basketball genius
I love Larry
the round lump of rebound couldn't handle Bird. Magic said Bird and the Celtics gave him nightmares. Half the sixers wanted to jump off a building after playing against Bird.
toscodav Not only Barkley but DR J couldn't handle BIRD.
Best halfcourt and passing team I ever saw, the 86 celtics. The only other teams I saw play this way were 80s Lakers and 14 spurs
Bird is the Best!
4:44: "So good!"
Bird's highlight compilations are misleading because he did those things in almost every single game.
Larry legend is the best SF ever
The best Larry !!!!
Was there anything Bird couldn't do?!
Jon Pierik Flop?..He doesn't flop.
@@victorquintana4018 I don't think BIRD knows how to flop.
Stop the LAKERS in 85 or 87.
He wasn't a good shooter, he could've worked on that
Run and jump, but he still managed closing the gap with insane anticipation skills.
The worst part of seeing this team is knowing The Fakers didn't show up to the finals
This is the real Larry Bird. He was everywhere. Feels almost tragic that injuries slowed the celts down. With Bird, Walton and McHale healthy the eighties landscape would`ve been quite different.
Could you imagine if Lenny Bias was alive during this run of great Celtics teams? Bias was as close to Michael Jordan talent wise as anyone. Celtics would of won 3 more NBA titles had Bias not OD on cocaine... sad...
Cleveland Tribe Bird says in an interview on youtube from several yrs ago that he would have retired in 1988 if Len Bias hadnt died and had proven to be as good as projected...Injuries really had worn him down...Few appreciate how much pain Larry put himself through to continue playing from 1988-1992.
I also grew up believing that had Bias not died the Celtics would have won 3 more rings and stayed relevant throughout the 90s and only caught that interview with Bird a few weeks ago..
2years ago I ruptured a vertebrae and slipped a disc in my neck. Altho this caused significant pain throughout all waking moments of my day and night for the following 2 months, the amount of pain going anywhere in a car, as a driver or passenger, caused me was exponentially greater...I can only imagine tha the gravitational forces one experiences on a plane during takeoffs and landings for road games must have been far worse than the pain I experienced...I have read that Bird had to lay down and wear some kind of state of the art back brace for the entire flight to Barcelona.
Larry Bird Three titles still a fair effort. Had Cs been able to hold in game 4 of '87, Lakers and Celts would have evenly shared eight titles
dp233332 Bias would have been 'the franchise' until about '98 had all gone well - no doubt Bird would have jagged another title, getting by the deep frontlines of the Pistons and Lakers.
+Jon Pierik Not a chance, the Lakers were clearly superior in 1987
Bird owning all the big star players on the sixers.
Imagine if bird obsessed about his stats like LeBron?
Indeed!
He wouldn't be Bird. That is the opposite of ☘️ Larry Legend.
Watching Bird play is like listening to Charlie Parker......
yeah 😊
Goat.
Bird averaged 28.1 this season, but people forget he checked himself out in the early 4th, sometimes late 3rd quarter in dozens of blowouts! His stats could've been much higher if not for that fact
Exactly. Stats just don't tell the story when it comes to Bird.
And I don't think that some people can wrap their heads around the truth of that.
They can't conceive of a player NOT padding stats. It's sad.
Bird , yessir what a player and I honestly believe these 2 teams on the court were as good as any ever look at the names Celtics at their best , doc on decline a bit , Barkley ascending , toney , Malone , that 4 could hang with anybody , those were some games
Mr. Bird schooled ol' Chuck Barkley that day.
NOBODY BETTER THAN BIRD period.
Enough said.
Barkley got schooled!
Although physically The Boston Celtics were slow, mentally they were as quick as the L.A. Lakers
ahh remember when teams used fundamentals, iso play really killed the game. if players today had to deal with the hand checking. grabbing, elbows, shirt pulling, etc smh they wouldnt even put up a bucket
Yeah, DJ had quick hands, as even Jordan pointed out.
This doesn't look slow to me.
This looks like beautiful basketball.
It would be cool to see some duels between Barkley and McHale
Barkley called McHale the best player he played against. I think he meant more specifically his toughest matchup.
2:58 Man, Bird was pissed after that (terrible) foul call.
bradm1975 YEAH! Birds like HAY i may be a hick from FRENCH LICK but i ain't taking NO BULLSHIT!
There have been a couple other games I've seen highlights of where Bird got a perfect steal like that and instead the ref called a foul. They couldn't believe he was that quick perhaps? 🤷🏻♀️. Gotta be frustrating when you pull off the perfect swipe.
Bird schooling Barkley. This is why Barkley ended up a hall of famer. He had to be humbled by the likes of Bird and Magic, who read the game as if it were chess.
Charles Barkley had to do defense against not one, but TWO greatest Celtics forwards : Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, as his opponent.
It was nightmare.
What an absolute joy it is to watch Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Magnificent
4:47 OK, this is a 6'9" white (to some people that apparently makes a difference, not me) forward with the best hands, eyes and mind in bball. What the hell?? I heard one announcer say that every night Bird would do something that would spin your head around. Well, I just had to pick my head up off of the floor after that one!
😁
The Real GOAT
1:25 people sleep on how good Barkley was. He basically a 6'4 guard bullying grown men.
Barkley just isn't tall enough to play Bird. Bird eats him alive
Barkley got clowned.
Yeah, Barkley was young and had much to learn at this point. Later, esp at Phoenix, his BB IQ was pretty sharp. He was adept at drawing double teams and kicking out to perimeter shooters for open shots. His D? Never great, but he has plenty a company there. Even Larry wasn't that good at guarding people, a much better roamer.
I saw a RUclips video where the host ask Charles Barkley if he was better than Larry Bird. He did say that he was but he said that he was a better defender and rebounder than Bird. Charles needs to watch this video and then he will know Bird was the best. Barkley wasn't even a better defender or rebounder.
Thank You!
True
05:10 That's just ridiculous!
Love watching the early bird highlights.
The Celtics had 4 white guys on the court at the same time. Miss those days.
Dont call a foul on Bird that was NOT a foul. ....be ause he gets angry and we know what he does when he gets angry .................HE WINS !!!!!!!!!!!!
00:31 Greatest pass Robert ever made!
Barkley or Dr J couldn’t guard him.
I'm sorry, but we all know that Lebron is superior physically, and his consistent greatness over years is better than Larry's. But, at their respective peaks, I just can't see how anyone could pick Lebron over Larry. Just sayin'.
The poin is simple Bird has always had better teammates than Lebron .One on one, neither guy could guard the other.
The 86 Celtics vs the 2018 Warriors?
@@morewithles2738 not true. Its how Bird controls the game and involve his teammates that made them good. Unlike Lebron who just join force with star players to win championships. So with this, he aint in the top tier discussion. I'd say he's overrated. Really.
@@mcgo2836 Are you saying Bird didn't play with star players?
@@morewithles2738 they werent stars yet when they played with Bird, but i believe bec of Bird, thats why they became stars, they were utilized by Bird. Not like Lebron who would team up with already stars to get a championship.
Yeah he always got up for the sixers.
March 16, 1986
Larry dominating Charles Barkley on the offensive board. Incredible sense of positionning
ruclips.net/video/HYnyIWcmJl8/видео.htmlm37s
Man, how many of these highlights are Bird just taking advantage of bad/lazy defense? I am NOT taking anything away from Bird. Part of his greatness was his anticipation and his effort - and you can see it here. It seems at least half of these plays are Bird anticipating and acting while the Sixers are re-acting after the play is over. (Also, the play that starts at 0:20 - after Parish blocks Malone's shot try to find Malone after that - he's no where in the frame!)
Moses stayed down there complaining to the ref.
Spodas talk shit about birds 1 on 1 defensive prowess but Dr. J was far worse. JS
Dr J went one season too long. He was done here
Not taking nothing away from the great Larry Bird but that was also a lot of lazy defense by Barkley plus he was too small to hold bird
im so good im white
Worst defense ever on 76ers. Just letting Bird shoot open threes and cut in for like 5 open layups.
can paul pierce play in this era?
I think Paul could. He was pretty smart and took what the defense gave him.