I mean why wouldn't he? He was one of the best players of his era. He clearly knew enough to tell how much potential a young player has.

All the players in the league knew what MJ was that summer of 1984 when he kicked their asses in exhibition games before the Olympics. Good vid tho

Bird knew from that day on Jordan legacy is infinite

🗣️BOBBY KNIGHT IN 1984 CALLED 🤙 🔊UT MICHAEL JORDAN ' S G.🐐.A.T. STATUS EARLY . BRFORE ANYB👤DY , ELSE DID . LARRY BIRD CO SIGNED ✍️ IT .>🎤 🏀🗑️🤾⛹️

Here Is a Stat That Bird Did In His First Year, And NOTE He Was The ONLY Knew Player This Year 1979-1980. He Took That Same Team That Was 2nd To Last In 1978-79.They Only Won 29 Games That Year. The Next Year & Bird's First Year 1979-80 Took Them To 61 Wins. Birds 2nd Year, 1980-81, He Helped Get Them A Ring. So Yes, Bird Did Liked Jordan, But Bird Had Said He Has A Lot To Lean. Meaning Being A TEAM PLAYER Or Leader. It Only Took Jordan 7-Years To Get His First Ring. But Once Jordan Got It, WOW.

This Was Nice BUT You Left Out A Lot Of Things. Bird Also Won His 1st Year Rookie Of The Year. He Also Was 4th For MVP That Year. And Came In 2nd For Many Of The 1980's. But Best Of All, Bird Won MVP In: 1984, 1985, 1986. He Is Still To This Day The Last To Have Won 3-MVP's, 3-Years In A Row. Also MJ Never Beat Bird In The Playoff's. MJ Has Beaten Everybody In The Great Players Of The 80's (except a few, like Dr.J, because of retiring). Bird Has That One On MJ, Well Really 2 Of Them On The Playoff's. And Yes, They Do Respect & Like Each Other To This Day.

It's not a prediction it's a plan. David Stern worked hard to make MJ the face of the NBA. He removed all obstacles to make it happen. Bird knows he's better than MJ. MJ makes the NBA rich and that's what it's all about.