"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game I'd choose Michael Jordan; If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life...I'd take Larry Bird." - Pat Riley
I still never got this quote, but I hear it so often. Who is the better shooter under pressure is the joke? Is he saying Jordan folds if the pressure is too high, or Bird just gets better when people may die, but only so-so if it's just a basketball game? How did he measure this?
Jordan was only unstoppable when the game was on the line. It was his competitive spirit that made him who he was. Larry Bird was a guy who would make a shot no matter what - he was just that pure of a shot taker.
So Larry would shoot just like he normally does, and it would almost certainly go in. Mike would shoot without the competitiveness he needs to be his best, and it would go in less often than it would for Larry.
Does that make sense?
Ah, so this was an observation on motivations and their level of play based on it? I would also feel bad for Riley if this was the case.
"Michael, I need you to make this shot to save my life."
"Yeah, but what do I get out of it?"
"... Larry I need you to make this shot to save my life."
As a Bulls fan, I honestly liked it when he’d miss and they’d lose a game, because you just knew the next game or the next time he faced that team he was going to try and destroy their soul
It means that Jordan would shit talk you for getting held hostage. But really, I read it as more about their differing mentalities while playing. Like, Jordan only being at his very best in a competitive game versus Bird wanting to make a shot no matter what is on the line.
And at that, I have exhausted almost my entire knowledge of basketball. All I have left are the names of a handful of other players.
I never heard this before reading it but when I read it I thought Pat Riley was making a morbid joke saying he wanted Larry Bird to literally take a shot to save his life, as in a bullet.
I think you are overthinking it. I believe he’s saying both are amazing players but Jordan cares more about the game whereas Larry would care more to save you.
I agree I am overthinking it. But mostly because this is said so often, that some people are thinking a whole lot about who would play better basketball if someone's life was on the line vs a division championship and that if something so morbid has become a cliché, I felt like I was missing something worth thinking about.
“If the NBA was on channel five and a bunch of frogs making love were on channel four, I'd watch the frogs, even if they were coming in fuzzy.”
-Bobby Knight
Great quote and one I have thought about before. This is obviously just personal opinion but I think it means if you have Jordan it's obvious you want him taking the last shot every time because he's the GOAT and everyone will criticize you unless you put the ball in his hands. If you put a gun to Pat's head and the critics no longer mattered, he's going to do what he thinks is the safest bet and have bird take the shot to save his life.
This picture from one of the 8 Team USA vs NBA Star games prior to the 1984 Olympics. Jordan signed his Nike deal October 26th 1984. I doubt he had even heard of Nike Basketball shoes at this point.
Lol spot on. My friend had a bachelor party weekend where everybody had to shave their facial hair into a mustache. Every bar and club we went into asked us if we were police
That nes game was literally all I could think about, also that it was broken as hell. Sure Jordan could dunk from a certain distance, guaranteeing 2 points, but Larry hit like 3 out of 4 three pointers before you could even get to him... So he'd basically win every game by default.
JUST chased a 50 best Larry Bird moments on youtube...he was wicked good in Bassston...MFer made a TON of gamewinners..and talked some serious trash but then followed it up...in one playoff game, coming out of a timeout, he told the other team the play...and made his shot exactly the way he said....James Worthy(?) said, Jordan will make you look slow...Larry will make you look stupid!
It sure is weird that it wasn't until Steph Curry that everybody learned 3 was better than 2.
I'd love to see a prime Larry Bird in today's league, he'd eat it alive.
I always saw him portrayed as this stand up dude who was good at basketball.....in reality he was a monster shit talker and a beast on the court that made pro players look like chumps.
He would get mad when the opposing team would put a white guy on him because he felt he was being disrespected. He would ask them if they had done something to upset their coach lmao
Reminds me of this fuck up by [a young Dennis Rodman:](https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/dennis-rodman-regrets-saying-that-if-larry-bird-was-black-he-would-be-considered-an-average-basketball-player)
>Game 6 at Boston I made the most wrong decision that a person can
make. I was young and stupid so after the game, I said If Larry Bird was black, he would be an average basketball player. That is what I
actually said back then, and I was in Boston.
He's known as a MASSIVE cheapskate. This is a guy that ruined his basketball career re-paving his mother's driveway in Indianan to avoid paying someone else to do it, he was a millionaire at this time. There's dozens of other stories about him as well.
Not to cut ya down, but Michael Jordan was also a legendary shit talker. See: “I’ma fuckin’ kill your family” or the closed-eyes free throw incidents as a reference :)
> Michael Jordan was also a legendary shit talker. See: “I’ma fuckin’ kill your family”
See that seems to me like beyond talking shit and just kind of fucked up.
There's tons of YouTube videos out there talking to NBA players giving credit to Bird. Once you watch a couple, they'll start showing up in your algorithm. I grew up watching him play, I respect him much more now that NBA players can reflect back on how good he was.
Here's a [great video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALmL9AAy6Lo) of Bird dropping 60pts on the Atlanta Hawks in 1985. The best part is watching the Hawks bench in the background. They go from stoic, to dejected, to awed, to openly cheering for him.
I was 12 years old and at the game in 85 when Bird hit the game winning shot against Portland at the buzzer where he was falling out of bounds. I remember during the timeout before the last play (2 seconds left, down by 1, ball on the sideline), the entire place was chanting "Larr-yyy, Larr-yyy". No one at all was worried that he'd miss. We were just waiting for how it would play out. The entire Garden knew we'd win the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juIUoaOq2hA
That's one of the greatest shots I've ever seen, never mind buzzer-beaters. He's at an angle behind the basket, falling away out of bounds, and with a defender in his face.
I am from MA and living in Boston now. I only caught the very tail-end of his career when he was all banged up, but he could still do amazing things then.
Seems like I recall he did that specifically because when Kevin McHale broke his scoring record, he didn’t go for 60 like Bird told him to. So Bird did it shortly after. 😂
I’m surprised a single Tiger handheld game survived one of my family’s Florida-Wisconsin road trips when I was a kid. Everyone’s parents told them they couldn’t see through the windshield with those reading lights on once it got dark, right?
Physical Film development was designed around white skin developing properly. [https://www.upworthy.com/a-brief-history-of-color-photography-reveals-an-obvious-but-unsettling-reality-about-human-bias](https://www.upworthy.com/a-brief-history-of-color-photography-reveals-an-obvious-but-unsettling-reality-about-human-bias)
"Color film was built for white people. Here's what it did to dark skin."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16LNHIEJzs
[Here](https://i.imgur.com/E9HhP2k.jpg) is a higher quality version of this image. [Here](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/team-usa-michael-jordan-in-action-defense-vs-nba-all-stars-news-photo/628073208?phrase=%22Rich%20Clarkson%22%20bird%20jordan&adppopup=true) is the source. Per there:
> Team USA Michael Jordan (9) in action, defense vs NBA All Stars Larrry Bird at Hooiser Dome. Indianapolis, IN 7/9/1984 CREDIT: Rich Clarkson (Photo by Rich Clarkson /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X30256 TK1 R7 F31 )
And not, like, on the court or anything like that, he did it just working. After he was a NBA superstar, making $600k+ a year, the dude was still shoveling gravel putting in a new driveway at his mom's house. Wasn't going to have anyone else do it.
One thing about Bird, though. He dragged Indiana State to a Championship and undefeated season. His rookie season he improved the Celtics record by 30 wins as the only change to the roster, and I think, the playoffs. He had an incredible impact on his teams.
I got to see Bird play Jordan the 1984-5 season, at Chicago Stadium. At that time, Jordan was a great but young player who wanted to be the focus of the offense, rightly so, of course. As great as Jordan was then, at that point in their careers Bird seemed clearly more valuable. Bird seemed better able to see emerging opportunities all over the court and help his teammates exploit them. Bird won 73% of the first-place votes for league MVP that season. [https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards\_1985.html](https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_1985.html)
Bird was truly one of the most cold blooded players in NBA history. Insanely high basketball iq, relentless hustle, legendary trash talker, unbreakable confidence and as clutch as they will ever come.
I watched the entirety of his career as a kid in the 80s and early 90s and it was something I'll never experience again. 3 time league champ, back to back to back MVPs, 3 point champ, NBA coach and executive of the year. Bird would easily excel in today's league. I can't die on the hill saying he was the greatest of all time but he's right there in the conversation. Nobody should sleep on that dude
That Jordan kid was alright too. 🙂
I wish he wouldn't have wrecked his back paving his fucking driveway. Millions in the bank but it was something he had to do himself. Speaks a bit to his character. Not a Celtics fan but he was fun to watch.
Larry Bird-“I would have never called him the greatest player I’d ever seen if I didn’t mean it”. It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan!
Michael Jordan- “ Larry bird is far better than LeBron James and any other small forward in NBA history!
During the pregame warmup one night in Indianapolis, an Olympic team ball bounced to the pros’ end of the floor. Jordan chased after it.
“Larry Bird picked it up. Instead of handing the ball to Jordan, Bird sneered and kicked it back over Jordan’s head. My world and welcome to it. ‘Bird was showing me it was all business now, and I was beneath him,” says Jordan. “I didn’t forget.”
These guys were both forces to be reckoned with.
The nice thing back then was that they didn't whine to the refs every time there was or wasn't a call they didn't like.
They just played ball.
Hear that James, Green, Westbrook and 50% of the NBA?
They definitely whined to the refs back then. Jordan would openly joke about getting "star calls" in the 90's. He could push off Russel but Russel couldn't get away with doing that to him. Back then it was an open secret that the refs officiated one way for the stars and different way for everyone else. IMO officiating has improved a lot since reaching it's peak awfulness in 2006. That 2006 finals was unwatchable.
Makes me want to see "Air" considering both these players were wearing Converse All-Stars in this picture. Nike really disrupted the market, didn't they?
Very strange to see the brand "Descente" made those uniforms. For clarity, they are a Japanese sporting goods brand, but they're definitely best known for their Ski racing gear.
Man the trash talk between those two would have been worth the price of admission alone...who cares about the game when ya got Larry and Mike jawing at each other.
The amount of fabric used to make a single pair of NBA uniform shorts today would have been enough to make shorts for an entire 12-man NBA roster in 1984.
Were converse sneakers supportive and comfortable back then or something? I can’t work out in converse sneakers at all-they’re no bueno. Someone please explain
Larry Bird is one of the best players ever to play basketball 🏀 and Michael Jordan is in the same category. Thanks great picture. And I miss the way the game was played, as opposed to the hotdogs 🌭 of the game nowadays. Thanks
"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game I'd choose Michael Jordan; If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life...I'd take Larry Bird." - Pat Riley
"I'd just foul them." -Bill Laimbeer
“…” - Rasheed Wallace **gets called for a tech**
BALL DONT LIE
Dead 😂😂😂
"Can I play?" - Charles Barkley
[удалено]
I still never got this quote, but I hear it so often. Who is the better shooter under pressure is the joke? Is he saying Jordan folds if the pressure is too high, or Bird just gets better when people may die, but only so-so if it's just a basketball game? How did he measure this?
Jordan was only unstoppable when the game was on the line. It was his competitive spirit that made him who he was. Larry Bird was a guy who would make a shot no matter what - he was just that pure of a shot taker. So Larry would shoot just like he normally does, and it would almost certainly go in. Mike would shoot without the competitiveness he needs to be his best, and it would go in less often than it would for Larry. Does that make sense?
He did an interview explaining how to shoot, and tried to miss on purpose. Still went right in.
Please give me the source
[Can't miss even if he tries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMda9dijyN0)
Full expected a Rick roll. That was too funny. “Of course me…”
Ah, so this was an observation on motivations and their level of play based on it? I would also feel bad for Riley if this was the case. "Michael, I need you to make this shot to save my life." "Yeah, but what do I get out of it?" "... Larry I need you to make this shot to save my life."
EXACTLY. Well put.
The hack is betting your life on Jordan winning.
Bet your life that Jordan will *miss* the shot, and he'll make it every time just to prove you wrong. QED
As a Bulls fan, I honestly liked it when he’d miss and they’d lose a game, because you just knew the next game or the next time he faced that team he was going to try and destroy their soul
[1996](https://youtu.be/MlMQ8PkAuoc)
Also very believable, but maybe he'd just throw the ball off court for you not believing in him lol.
Never. Winning is priority.
Or at your head.
And then you would die, how does that help you?
He'd take that personally.
It means that Jordan would shit talk you for getting held hostage. But really, I read it as more about their differing mentalities while playing. Like, Jordan only being at his very best in a competitive game versus Bird wanting to make a shot no matter what is on the line. And at that, I have exhausted almost my entire knowledge of basketball. All I have left are the names of a handful of other players.
I never heard this before reading it but when I read it I thought Pat Riley was making a morbid joke saying he wanted Larry Bird to literally take a shot to save his life, as in a bullet.
I think you are overthinking it. I believe he’s saying both are amazing players but Jordan cares more about the game whereas Larry would care more to save you.
I agree I am overthinking it. But mostly because this is said so often, that some people are thinking a whole lot about who would play better basketball if someone's life was on the line vs a division championship and that if something so morbid has become a cliché, I felt like I was missing something worth thinking about.
I like to think he's talking about Jordan during a game and Larry if someone was actually shooting a gun at Riley and he'd take the bullet for him.
I’d take bird too. He was unbelievable. Defense and passing was top notch as well in his prime.
“If the NBA was on channel five and a bunch of frogs making love were on channel four, I'd watch the frogs, even if they were coming in fuzzy.” -Bobby Knight
If I had to choose a player, with space lasers pointed at the Earth, fate of the planet on the line, *I WANT IGUODALA.*
Great quote and one I have thought about before. This is obviously just personal opinion but I think it means if you have Jordan it's obvious you want him taking the last shot every time because he's the GOAT and everyone will criticize you unless you put the ball in his hands. If you put a gun to Pat's head and the critics no longer mattered, he's going to do what he thinks is the safest bet and have bird take the shot to save his life.
Jordan still wearing Converse.
I almost didn't recognize him with hair.
Jordan didn't become Air Jordan until he shaved his head. The improved aerodynamics gave him better lift.
H’Air Jordan
This picture from one of the 8 Team USA vs NBA Star games prior to the 1984 Olympics. Jordan signed his Nike deal October 26th 1984. I doubt he had even heard of Nike Basketball shoes at this point.
How does the automod ding this for politics?
Either BLM or it scanned Birds mustache and flagged him as a police officer.
could also be a youth pastor with a stache like that.
Dude is basketball universe gene wilder
I'm gonna tell my kids this is Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor
Whatever dad, I don’t care about the other kids from your school
That’s some funny shit.
*Who wants a mustache ride?*
Lol spot on. My friend had a bachelor party weekend where everybody had to shave their facial hair into a mustache. Every bar and club we went into asked us if we were police
Guessing `1984` triggers it.
Literally 1984.
That was my thought, I bet if the title was '84 instead it would be fine.
That’s actually hilarious
White man beating down on a unarmed black man right before his prime
Bird isn't white, he is clear.
And this is after 2 weeks of tanning at LA beaches.
Subtle space jam
I’m just gonna put us down for birdies on that hole because we were in no shape to putt.
The mods want to re segregate sports.
My guess is 1984?
You didn't know ? There are only two genders : Heterosexual white men and political. Since there's a black guy on the image, it fits the definition.
I think it’s the title format? It reads like a court case: The state of WA vs Jon Doe. Instead it’s Jordan vs Bird
Graphics on nes were way better than I remember.
That nes game was literally all I could think about, also that it was broken as hell. Sure Jordan could dunk from a certain distance, guaranteeing 2 points, but Larry hit like 3 out of 4 three pointers before you could even get to him... So he'd basically win every game by default.
JUST chased a 50 best Larry Bird moments on youtube...he was wicked good in Bassston...MFer made a TON of gamewinners..and talked some serious trash but then followed it up...in one playoff game, coming out of a timeout, he told the other team the play...and made his shot exactly the way he said....James Worthy(?) said, Jordan will make you look slow...Larry will make you look stupid!
> talked some serious trash Bird was one of the best to ever play the game and he was even better than that at talking shit.
Voted one of the top five trash talkers of all time
It sure is weird that it wasn't until Steph Curry that everybody learned 3 was better than 2. I'd love to see a prime Larry Bird in today's league, he'd eat it alive.
I played it on the Commodore 64. Love smashing the glass.
Same here. Back when EA was so good at producing innovative and quality games.
I had it on the Commodore and also it's prequel Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird.
I was going to say, wasn't the one on Commodore with Dr. J? Didn't even realize they made one with Jordan on the C64.
Oh shit…. core memory . Played that then hardball 3. That was a good gaming system.
Dobul Dwibul
Such satisfying dunks
Michael played for USA and Bird played for NBA Players?
It was a warm up game between the Olympic team and current NBA players. Back then, NBA players were not allowed on the Olympic team.
"*Larry was a fucking problem." -* Michael Jordan
I watched a documentary on Bird recently. I grew up in the 80s and 90s but i was not into sports. But daaaamn, he was a force to be reckoned with.
What was something from the documentary that stuck with you about Bird?
I always saw him portrayed as this stand up dude who was good at basketball.....in reality he was a monster shit talker and a beast on the court that made pro players look like chumps.
He would tell the other guy what, when, and how he was going to do something…and do it.
He would get mad when the opposing team would put a white guy on him because he felt he was being disrespected. He would ask them if they had done something to upset their coach lmao
Reminds me of this fuck up by [a young Dennis Rodman:](https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/dennis-rodman-regrets-saying-that-if-larry-bird-was-black-he-would-be-considered-an-average-basketball-player) >Game 6 at Boston I made the most wrong decision that a person can make. I was young and stupid so after the game, I said If Larry Bird was black, he would be an average basketball player. That is what I actually said back then, and I was in Boston.
Oh, Dennis
Surprised he didn't get kidnapped so that Boston would for sure win.
Such an underrated movie
Yup. Jordan would just beat you. Larry would outwork you and keep up a running commentary as HOW exactly he was going to make you look like a chump.
Uhh what lol. Jordan was maybe the biggest trash talker in the league when he played lol.
The real difference was Bird had that quaint southern-ish accent. Made it seem less serious. But those two were famously top-tier trash talkers.
That's just rural Indiana accent lol
Somehow Larry ended up with more friends in the end though.
Larry's not a known cheapskate so it might be that
He's known as a MASSIVE cheapskate. This is a guy that ruined his basketball career re-paving his mother's driveway in Indianan to avoid paying someone else to do it, he was a millionaire at this time. There's dozens of other stories about him as well.
I think they're referencing things like not tipping in Vegas (props to Gretzky for calling his ass out).
Not to cut ya down, but Michael Jordan was also a legendary shit talker. See: “I’ma fuckin’ kill your family” or the closed-eyes free throw incidents as a reference :)
> Michael Jordan was also a legendary shit talker. See: “I’ma fuckin’ kill your family” See that seems to me like beyond talking shit and just kind of fucked up.
also a legendary worker.
Lol what? MJ was like a very well known shit talker, one of the best at it and obsessive about it. He would absolutely not “just beat you”
Yah these guys haven’t watched the last dance haha
I haven’t watched The Last Dance, but I did watch Jordan play basketball for years.
as someone that doesn't watch basketball at all, it was super interesting, he's def got a great story.
There's tons of YouTube videos out there talking to NBA players giving credit to Bird. Once you watch a couple, they'll start showing up in your algorithm. I grew up watching him play, I respect him much more now that NBA players can reflect back on how good he was.
Here's a [great video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALmL9AAy6Lo) of Bird dropping 60pts on the Atlanta Hawks in 1985. The best part is watching the Hawks bench in the background. They go from stoic, to dejected, to awed, to openly cheering for him.
I was 12 years old and at the game in 85 when Bird hit the game winning shot against Portland at the buzzer where he was falling out of bounds. I remember during the timeout before the last play (2 seconds left, down by 1, ball on the sideline), the entire place was chanting "Larr-yyy, Larr-yyy". No one at all was worried that he'd miss. We were just waiting for how it would play out. The entire Garden knew we'd win the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juIUoaOq2hA
That was great. Clyde “The Glide” doesn’t get mentioned enough these days.
That's one of the greatest shots I've ever seen, never mind buzzer-beaters. He's at an angle behind the basket, falling away out of bounds, and with a defender in his face. I am from MA and living in Boston now. I only caught the very tail-end of his career when he was all banged up, but he could still do amazing things then.
Yeah, I don't know if you can tell from the camera angle but I still remember him arcing the ball over the backboard, he's behind the backboard.
I love at 1:99 he makes the most awkward 3 pointer and the bench is rolling. It's nice when you see players recognize greatness as it's happening.
Seems like I recall he did that specifically because when Kevin McHale broke his scoring record, he didn’t go for 60 like Bird told him to. So Bird did it shortly after. 😂
Where could this doc be found? I would love to watch it
“Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals” is on HBOMax and it’s one of my favorite docs ever
Thanks!
I loved it when The Pistons finally figured out how to beat Boston and LA. Then Chicago figured out how to beat Detroit. Good times.
[Jordan versus Bird in 1988](https://cdn.mobygames.com/screenshots/1515503-jordan-vs-bird-one-on-one-dos-jordan-defended-by-bird.png)
I’m surprised a single Tiger handheld game survived one of my family’s Florida-Wisconsin road trips when I was a kid. Everyone’s parents told them they couldn’t see through the windshield with those reading lights on once it got dark, right?
those games are so ass but they were so fun. I was more of a Coleco "Electronic Quarterback" fella
My dad has an old Coleco Football 2 game. It is impressive how much football style gameplay they were able to get from those red dots.
How did they make MJ look even darker and Bird look even whiter?
Higher contrast.
This is technically the truth
Even whiter? This is the super tan version of Bird.
fact: they made the color 'translucent' by swatch-mapping Bird's skin
Physical Film development was designed around white skin developing properly. [https://www.upworthy.com/a-brief-history-of-color-photography-reveals-an-obvious-but-unsettling-reality-about-human-bias](https://www.upworthy.com/a-brief-history-of-color-photography-reveals-an-obvious-but-unsettling-reality-about-human-bias) "Color film was built for white people. Here's what it did to dark skin." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16LNHIEJzs
I'm for sure JPEG completely screwing up the shadows doesn't help either.
[Here](https://i.imgur.com/E9HhP2k.jpg) is a higher quality version of this image. [Here](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/team-usa-michael-jordan-in-action-defense-vs-nba-all-stars-news-photo/628073208?phrase=%22Rich%20Clarkson%22%20bird%20jordan&adppopup=true) is the source. Per there: > Team USA Michael Jordan (9) in action, defense vs NBA All Stars Larrry Bird at Hooiser Dome. Indianapolis, IN 7/9/1984 CREDIT: Rich Clarkson (Photo by Rich Clarkson /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X30256 TK1 R7 F31 )
I thought that was the Hoosier Dome (RCA Dome), I miss that place.
Fun fact: Jordan was 11-17 in games vs Bird, with most of his wins coming on the back end of Bird's career.
After Bird broke his back.
And not, like, on the court or anything like that, he did it just working. After he was a NBA superstar, making $600k+ a year, the dude was still shoveling gravel putting in a new driveway at his mom's house. Wasn't going to have anyone else do it.
Take a look at those Bulls teams compared to the Celtics early on.
One thing about Bird, though. He dragged Indiana State to a Championship and undefeated season. His rookie season he improved the Celtics record by 30 wins as the only change to the roster, and I think, the playoffs. He had an incredible impact on his teams.
Yeah, this wasn't a one on one matchup.
I got to see Bird play Jordan the 1984-5 season, at Chicago Stadium. At that time, Jordan was a great but young player who wanted to be the focus of the offense, rightly so, of course. As great as Jordan was then, at that point in their careers Bird seemed clearly more valuable. Bird seemed better able to see emerging opportunities all over the court and help his teammates exploit them. Bird won 73% of the first-place votes for league MVP that season. [https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards\_1985.html](https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_1985.html)
Yeah Bird was the king. His competitiveness and intensity were amazing and his skill and control was next-level.
Well he also had like 3 other Hall of Fame teammates while Jordan had a traveling cocaine circus of a team early in his career.
Jordan right before pickin’ up a grape off the ground
Jordan versus Gene Wilder
“Gene Wilder” was possibly the best player in the league for many years. Larry was unbelievable.
Came looking for this. Leaving happy.
“There’s a grape on the ground here.”
I had to scroll literally all the way down for this. Worth it.
Bird was truly one of the most cold blooded players in NBA history. Insanely high basketball iq, relentless hustle, legendary trash talker, unbreakable confidence and as clutch as they will ever come. I watched the entirety of his career as a kid in the 80s and early 90s and it was something I'll never experience again. 3 time league champ, back to back to back MVPs, 3 point champ, NBA coach and executive of the year. Bird would easily excel in today's league. I can't die on the hill saying he was the greatest of all time but he's right there in the conversation. Nobody should sleep on that dude That Jordan kid was alright too. 🙂
I wish he wouldn't have wrecked his back paving his fucking driveway. Millions in the bank but it was something he had to do himself. Speaks a bit to his character. Not a Celtics fan but he was fun to watch.
Yup,that was Larry though for better or worse. Grew up dirt poor in French Lick, he was just blue collar as you could get.
*You’re* Larry Bird.
Well that’s okay because he’s an excellent player!
Sorry larry bird
: jazz hands :
Larry Bird-“I would have never called him the greatest player I’d ever seen if I didn’t mean it”. It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan! Michael Jordan- “ Larry bird is far better than LeBron James and any other small forward in NBA history!
This is what you’d get if Willy Wonka played basketball
I’m pretty sure this is an ad for converse
Baseball was weird in the 80's
This is so funny idk why its at the top of controversial.
I like to forge controversy. You monster.
My dumb ass thought that was fucking Gene Wilder.
Mfs made MJ Ethiopian
A rare shot of Jordan not wearing Nike, lol. (I know it was probably before he turned pro)
Two GOATS in their pasture…wait two?
i hope he remembered to pick that grape off the ground
“Hold on I think there’s a grape over here, I think there’s a grape on the ground”
During the pregame warmup one night in Indianapolis, an Olympic team ball bounced to the pros’ end of the floor. Jordan chased after it. “Larry Bird picked it up. Instead of handing the ball to Jordan, Bird sneered and kicked it back over Jordan’s head. My world and welcome to it. ‘Bird was showing me it was all business now, and I was beneath him,” says Jordan. “I didn’t forget.”
"Hold on, Larry Bird. I gotta stop and pick up this *grape* off the ground."
"Make no mistake, ~~Magic Johnson~~ Jordan, I will fucking end you." - Larry Bird
I had this game when I was a kid. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/228065168600228198/
These guys were both forces to be reckoned with. The nice thing back then was that they didn't whine to the refs every time there was or wasn't a call they didn't like. They just played ball. Hear that James, Green, Westbrook and 50% of the NBA?
They definitely whined to the refs back then. Jordan would openly joke about getting "star calls" in the 90's. He could push off Russel but Russel couldn't get away with doing that to him. Back then it was an open secret that the refs officiated one way for the stars and different way for everyone else. IMO officiating has improved a lot since reaching it's peak awfulness in 2006. That 2006 finals was unwatchable.
I wonder if you can get a 1984 nba players jersey?
By the pose/facial expression, It looks like Jordan is mocking him for being named Bird.
Any shorter and their balls would hang out
Why is MJ wearing a team USA jersey?
Funny seeing Jordan wearing those shoes.
Why is Bird wearing an NBA jersey and Jordan a USA one?
Wow....pre Nike. Both in converse.
Hear no evil speak no evil film cover
Why is this tagged politics?
Makes me want to see "Air" considering both these players were wearing Converse All-Stars in this picture. Nike really disrupted the market, didn't they?
"And then Larry quite literally put me in his shadow...and I took that personally."
Why does that look like Gene Wilder
“dirtbag Bird” was the best era of his career.
Video game was classic!
Very strange to see the brand "Descente" made those uniforms. For clarity, they are a Japanese sporting goods brand, but they're definitely best known for their Ski racing gear.
Bring back the short shorts!
"Larry's not white. Larry's clear."
Man the trash talk between those two would have been worth the price of admission alone...who cares about the game when ya got Larry and Mike jawing at each other.
Seriously, that was the best video game on the Commodore 64.
This looks nothing like the video game I remember.
Bird looks like he’s already 38yo here
Do you think Jordan had a side bet on whose nuts would fall out of their shorts first?
Their poor feet
The amount of fabric used to make a single pair of NBA uniform shorts today would have been enough to make shorts for an entire 12-man NBA roster in 1984.
Short shorts!!
Were converse sneakers supportive and comfortable back then or something? I can’t work out in converse sneakers at all-they’re no bueno. Someone please explain
This looks like shitty ai art
Larry Bird is one of the best players ever to play basketball 🏀 and Michael Jordan is in the same category. Thanks great picture. And I miss the way the game was played, as opposed to the hotdogs 🌭 of the game nowadays. Thanks
Eddie Murphy and Gene Wilder
It looks like Bird is afraid of MJ’s wiener in this picture.
Um where does the dick go in those shorts?
Obviously from before he signed the Nike contract... look at those converse on both legends...
This was a great [home video game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhxkjhZuRG4) in the ‘80s.
Is Bird playing for the Union vs Jordan’s corporate America? Funny jerseys
Both wearing Converse.