And had double vision when he came back out

Was slightly concussed and seeing double too

@@michaelburns7530 Back when basketball was still a tough game.

Last year I had a cycling accident and fractured my right cheek and orbital, same as Larry! The idea of playing basketball and dominating the last quarter to seal a win is difficult to comprehend, not just from a willpower standpoint, he already had that covered, but the injury has your body in shock, your vision is compromised and your face is pounding with pain. I still can't believe he did that.

@Rheumattica It wasn't just against the advice of trainers, he got someone to distract them so he could put himself back in the game. #damn

Probably the biggest ball hawk in the history of the game. Larry Bird absolutely would not let you put his basketball out of bounds. He would go get it no matter where it was going.

He had an instinct for the game that was and is unparalleled. He seemed to always know where the ball was going to go, where his teammates were, and how to make it so the ball would go in from any angle or distance. He wasn't obsessed with stats, he just wanted to win be it by dominating himself or by making his teammates better with his passing and offball movement

I agree with you in every aspect. Im my eyes, hes my goat...but there's no denying black Jesus. Diff decades, teams, and players..majic..but they are all on the mt Rushmore of basketball

Agreed...

I have watched Clips on here of both Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar saying Larry Bird was probably the best player they've played against during their careers. Especially older basketball fans, would argue one of those two was the greatest ever. I'm forty-five myself so kindergarten to grade 11 was Larry Bird's career. I grew up in Vancouver Canada and like most in the area was a Sonics fan because they were just across the border in Seattle. Unfortunately the team with the worst win-loss record in the history of professional sports franchises the Vancouver Grizzlies kind of turned me off of basketball I quit watching almost completely really about the time Jordan retired. Always love to Larry Bird and the Celtics as well, I'm glad to see that the younger generation is able to see what a different level of player he was. I can't think of another player in NBA history who legitimately had one of his opponents contemplating suicide because he felt like a fraud thinking he belongs in the same league with somebody like Larry Bird 🐦 🤣 I do like that a couple of the reactions people have done they are laughing that a guy looked as if was playing around like a Harlem Globetrotter against the top-level NBA players he used as pylons. A great spot is when they see four players on the other team jump at once due to a fake out.

I saw Bird several times late in his career. He was in such pain, he had to lay on his stomach on the floor on the sidelines when he wasn't in the game. Then he would go back in and score and score. It was unreal.

Larry's right index finger was shattered by a line drive while playing softball in the summer between college and the Celtics. Larry didn't go to the doctor right away and when the Celtics heard about it, they almost fainted. The Celtics brought Larry to Boston and had Larry shoot a bunch of shots until Red Auerbach pronounced Larry good enough to play.

PREACH ON!

He in mine!!! It’s pretty much common sense. Bird was a winner. Dude would play and win till he dies. In his prime that is. Just to think, Larry was NEVER 100%. NEVER!! He literally played his whole career hurt. I dream of watching a fully healthy Larry Bird play. Boy would that be something to watch. Fucks sake man🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️

I agree

watch it...

To pharaphrase Spinal Tap turn it up to 11. It is one of the best documentaries of all time.

Forgive my ignorance but which doco are you talking about?

@@APB225 Spinal Tap is a mockumentary about a rock band. One of the characters has amps that go up to 11. LOL

@@Lonewolfmike I know and appreciate that but I was referring to which Magic and Larry doco James was talking about

Mostly because of him working on his mom's driveway and messing up his back.

He won the league mvp the year *after* he messed up his back... That's kinda ridiculous. Was he even human?

@@F1rstWorldNomaD Right?

And a "dead" finger...

Don't forget he broke his (multiple) fingers playing baseball right before his rookie season and were never the same.

Mj is the better player all around and statistically Mike is the goat.

@@sukmynut MJ was a force of nature , with a court IQ off the charts . When he wins coach & exec of the year , MJ will have contributed all around to basketball like Larry Bird . We can all thank MJ that we haven’t worn those awful Addidas for the last 30 years 😄🤘🏽

@@vanessareis4582 so winning coach & exec of the year make you the goat.... too bad Mike must have missed the memo. Also nobody has contributed all around to basketball more than MJ period.

@@vanessareis4582 so get you're facts together or jus stfu and go back to you're English homework kiddo

Every time I see that Riley quote it reminds me of another quote. “That’s not Michael Jordan. That is GOD disguised as Michael Jordan.” - Larry Bird

The one I loved was the media going to Dennis Rodman hoping to get some ridiculous sound bite and asked Rodman " what are your feelings having to play against Magic Johnson knowing that he's hiv-positive?" Rodman made the media feel like idiots for asking the question " well we're going to be playing basketball I won't be sharing any needles or having unprotected sex with him out there on the court so I don't have much to worry about do I?"

They were close long before that. When magic went to birds family house and met his Birds mother, they might as well have been born brothers after that.

@@dfaust391 Wasnt it when they were filming a TV commercial of them playing street ball in front of Larry's parents house? If I remember Larry's mom invited Magic to join them for lunch and Mama Bird won Johnson over. That was when Larry and Magic got talking realizing they had a lot in common.

@@RobwLPOC I think Bird's Mum's favourite player was Magic...lol...trolled her own boy!...you can see where Bird gets his head games from...

@@RobwLPOC i think you are correct, the key point i remember is magic thought "where tha hell am i?" But when Birds mom cooked them food, magic knew that was his second mom from what and how she cooked. It made him feel more than welcome. I think without the other, they might not have been as great without the other to drive them.

I grew up in Indiana and I had never watched a college basketball game until Bird vs Magic. Everyone was talking about the Hick from French Lick!

And he still averaged over 24 ppg for his career. The man was truly a legend.

His point average would have been higher if he hadn't tried to save some money by re-doing her driveway by himself. That's how he hurt his back, by paving his mother's driveway. That's the most Larry Bird thing ever.

I believe that' BUT You do what needs doing to Win . Larry Legend LOST but he Never Ever QuiT'

Larry would wipe the court with Lebron.

Lebron himself said Larry was the goat haha

Absolutely!!

Larry Bird would be better than Bron if it wasn't for injuries, given the 10 or 11 seasons of elite basketball given from Bird that doesn't beat 17 seasons of MVP play, Lebron also played in 2 completely different era's, a slower paced slasher/big oriented league and now a 3 Point, fast paced, guard dominated league, Bird is 100% top 5 and in my opinion Top 4 but he's not better than Lebron

@@monkeybusiness9424 I respectfully disagree. Lebron is unbelievable. I'm not taking anything away from him. But consider the evolution of the sport. In Bird's era, the NBA had legit bone fractures on a regular basis. Not sprains and ambulances for rolled ankles. There were concussions from elbows that weren't fouled. The courts were run down, with lumpy floors and next to no financial interest. Players pushed through career ending injury and played. Bottom line, Bird could play against Lebron, today, but Lebron couldn't play against Bird then. It's the Tom Brady-Joe Montana and Bobby Orr-Wayne Gretzky, or even the Muhammad Ali-Rocky Marciano type of factor... or paradox. Rules were looser for the the gameplay. Then gameplay was sacrificed for entertainment. Now... It's all rules and fear of injury. How many game altering fouls were completely bullshit? Or dramatic dives to feign absolute agonizing pain only to heroically return minutes later? Bird played with a concussion, broken cheek and orbital bone... Broken feet, and eventually disintegrating vertebrae and ligaments ripping away from his shin and feet bones.... Yet still held his own and instilled visceral fear in....what 7 or 8 first pick Hall of Famers? Who all consider him as the best? I'm definitely not saying he is the goat, but he'd crush Lebron. Bird redefined the sport and made the NBA what it is... Or was. Consider 3 decades of incredible medical advancements, much tighter runes, and completely update courts... completely leveled, tuned boards, and air conditioning... Lebron is great, just not Larry Bird great.

27 left handed 👍🏼

I watched another video that said he practiced the left hand shot for Michael Cooper. It eventually became part of his arsenal. The left hand game, it sounds like it was the first game he used it.

@@aakla I saw him use his left hand in college, he always practiced it

@@venetoaward ahh ok, I thought the left hand game might have been where it started. My bad

@@lynnhoffman247 In 3 Quarters.

Larry invented the jab step. That's why he was breaking so many ankles.... nobody had ever seen it before.

@@0fsgiven442 If that is so, speaks to his genius.

I agree with everything you said.

Perfect analysis

No lies detected.

Yes. That playoff dual between Bird and Wilkins was the greatest NBA game I've ever seen. Surrounded by other great players (the other Celtics and Hawks were no slouches) Bird and Wilkins elevated to titan level, blow for blow. Amazing.

The hick from deerlick ya he's the goat. And in 1/2 the time of all he's compared with.

I was. Just didn't watch. I'm more of a NFL fan. I remember my male relatives watching the games. They are hard core Lakers fans. Getting all crazy. Whenever the Lakers played the Celtics. The vibe was anger and awe. Because of Larry. He used to remind me of J.R. Ewing character. From that old tv show Dallas. I just watched a Larry Bird video recently. Because I wanted to see why my relatives would react the way they did. I must admit I was impressed. I wish I would have watched the games back then. Larry's a beast.

Not only are you right, but Larry had that all worked out in his head in seconds. He was a basketball assassin. There is videotaped interviews of grown men who were afraid to be put in to guard him, after they tried to guard him earlier.

Bird in 86 would beat Lebron easily

Cap

Plus he stole from Isiah Thomas ... not exactly a scrub.

MTXE

I lived about 15 miles north of Boston during that Era.

Knowing how good he is and how good Michael and Magic both were, it makes the Dream Team just seem that much more ridiculous. Could you imagine even trying to field a team against that level of athletes? That has to be one of the greatest talent level assortment of players ever in the history of any sport

The Celtics had a much better team, swap MJ and bird and the lakers and pistons don’t win 💩….context matters

@@mannyneva1760 when Larry Bird took over the Celtics in 1979 or 80 I can't remember he literally had the second-worst team in the NBA he brought them to a championship within two years with the same team what's Michael Jordan's excuse and that's before he had all those Hall of Famers on his team and to be honest I don't think Robert Parish and those guys would have been Hall of Famers without bird he always made his teammates better he knew how to use the hand that was dealt to him and that's another thing Larry Bird always had accountability for his teammates he made sure whoever played on the Celtics were going to play at a high level he didn't want no scrubs on his team

@@captaindeath87 it wasn’t the same Celtics team stop lying on here. Bird couldn’t fk with MJ period

@@mannyneva1760 I can tell with you saying that you don't know nothing about that situation or the topic you're like everyone else is just being told what is and what isn't without going and figuring it out for yourself you should read up on something before you outright say what you don't know nothing about Larry did have that same team for two years and they did go to the championship and Larry Bird was the MVP while Michael Jordan was in the league also Michael Jordan learned a lot from Larry Bird he said so himself he's always thought highly of Larry Bird so as a MJ fan you don't know much about that either you need a touch-up on your history of basketball

My brother was a Knick fan from the 60s, and I was a Celtic fan, also from the 60s. The last time we played each other, I forced him down behind the backboard and he beat me with that same shot that Larry made, only he did it years before Larry did it. I called me bro and told him he didn't beat me cause it was an illegal shot...in all fairness to myself, that was before I realized I could shoot...Russell and D was my game. My bro lived in CA and ran with the Lakers summer league dudes.

I(

My all time starting 5 is Wilt Chamberlain at C, Tim Duncan at PF, Larry Bird at SF, Michael Jordan at SG, and Magic Johnson at PG.

@@cirrustate8674 yeah that sounds about right. There's a lot of combinations of guys. Wilt, Kareem or Shaq at the 5. theres argument Kobe quietly I think John Stockton doesn't get enough credit. There's also the Bill Russell debacle. But I think the starting five that you just laid out is probably As Good As It Gets.

@@jamesburns8827 The REAL question for me is, who would I choose as the other 7, to make a full team. I haven't been able to answer that, yet.

@@cirrustate8674 I'll tell you one thing I would find a way to work Chris Cornell into the lineup. Lol a Goat is a goat my friend!!

Don't forget about Hakeem.

Your assessment feels spot on to me. The thing that separates them is the approach towards to the game and afterward as well. Larry's loudest critic was himself and he was his team's biggest cheerleader. Those that say he wouldn't translate to today's game forget how crowded the court was in those days. The rulebook and officiating encouraged physical play, the 3pt line was new, and the court was squished, there were no touch fouls. The league had 8 fewer teams and the talent more concentrated, multiple hall of famers in every arena. LeBron's legacy is problematic and difficult to judge. He has underachieved is glaring areas but also overachieved in ways that aren't given enough credit. Taking 3 different franchises to title is unreal. Bringing a title back to Cleveland is legendary (for people from Cleveland). Demanding personal decisions and then critizing and laying blame on the players and schemes of your own design is unforgivable. He will most likely have more hardware and records when it's all said earning and deserving each. But when it's all said and done LeBron also has his blemishes and total failures as well. In my opinion, solely, the hardware and records of LeBron puts him first in any conversation but last atop a short list among a pantheon of basketball greats. I won't knock anyone who disagrees, in fact I will defend their choice. If there was a pick up game chosen amongst the top 10 in their primes, LeBron would probably be my last choice if I was drafting to build the best team(keyword). If you would draft him earlier then we would both be psyched which is a damn good outcome for everyone.

Yeah I like how his eyes look at the video like wow I wonder if mine look like that 👀

@Rheumattica Nah, Larry Bird wasn't a troll, he talked shit then followed through, then made his opponent feel like shit. I don't think Bird was ever humorous about talking shit.

@Rheumattica I have a feeling you don't know anything about the dictionary, or any other book for that matter. "Hi, I'm Larry Bird, Im gonna dazzle you with light hearted jokes and cheer. Don't worry about me zoning in looking pissed off while I school you all on the court, It's all fun and games you silly sally's"

Best trash talker all time!! On a Christmas Day game he told the defender I have a gift for you and shot a 3 in his face and says “ marry Christmas mf”

@Rheumattica ohh okay thank you for the correction but still great shit talk thoo

Honestly, LeBron is a much better athletic specimen but skills and talent wise he's not on Bird's level. Plus how many teams did James need to win all his titles? Bird needed 1. Plus he makes you want to be as good as him whereas LeBron doesn't seem to inspire that in others.

@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 lebron is one of the most selfish players in the game, him and the late Kobe while Bird made it about the WHOLE team but knew he could carry them too

wahhh wahhh look at you crying about lebron

@@Ironmanpwnz The only one crying is you, though.

Haha dude I love Larry but brown would dunk all over him. Just different eras

@@davidpaul4061 there’s the difference between Bird and Floppy. Both are above average passers with an assist to turnover of 2 to 1. Bird is an average defender, Floppy has been below average statistically through most of his career. When it comes to scoring though, cut off the rim and Floppy is pretty much done - he’s a sub 38% shooter from outside of 3’. Bird career shooting percentage from 3pt range is as good as Floppy’s shooting percentage on anything outside 3’. Bird can beat you under the basket, in the post, from mid range or he can take you down town, or he can break ankles off the dribble. Floppy is a one trick pony - if he can’t drive the rim, he’s only going to score about once every 3 shots. It gets worse when the pressure is on - Bird was probably the most clutch player ever to play - he called his shots, he light up the league in high pressure situations and if you pissed him off, it got worse. Floppy is the opposite, the more you get under his skin, the worse he shoots. The more pressure the situation, the worse he shoots. If Bird played today he’d shoot the lights out. If Floppy played in the 80’s and 90’s the very first thing he’d have to start doing is making a layup without travelling, the second thing he’d have to do is stop flopping like a European soccer player.

​@@rickbateman2401you think Larry Bird was an average defender? Larry Bird led the NBA in defensive win shares 4x. The only players with more are George Mikan in the beginning of the league, Bill Russell, the greatest defensive player in history, and Tim Duncan. Bird also finished 2nd twice,, made 3 NBA all defensive teams, was a legitimate 6-9+, averaged 10 rebounds a year, had 10 seasons in the top 20 in defensive rebounds, 8 seasons in the top 20 in steals, Larry Bird was a great defender.

@@michaele9751 Larry Bird was a great player but he was an average defender - that’s not an insult, it’s just fact.

@@rickbateman2401 no it's not a fact. It's an uneducated opinion. You cannot lead the NBA in defensive win shares, be on all defensive teams and among the leaders in steals and defensive rebounds year after year and be an average defender.