Yahoo – The former Seattle SuperSonics big man found out the hard way just how ruthless of a trash-talker Bird was when he faced him as a rookie in 1989. During a recent appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles, Kemp recalled a meeting with Bird that has stuck with him to this day.
“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana,” Kemp said. “I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he really got down. …
“Larry gave me 50 [points] in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball, ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right?’ and I said ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ and he said ‘I’ve got something for you tonight.'”
In honor of today being Larry Bird’s 64th birthday, it’s a great time to remind everyone how Larry Legend wasn’t just a basketball icon, he was also a shit talking savant.
Michael Jordan gets tons of credit for being a master trash talker and somehow figuring out a way to make everything a slight against him,
But people don’t realize how ruthless Larry Bird was because he looks like an unassuming white dude putting up mid range jumpers at the Y.
Here comes this rookie in Shawn Kemp and Bird already knows his whole life story and takes it personal that Kemp broke his high school scoring records. Mind you, this is after Bird had already won three championships and three MVP awards in the NBA. Just an all-time shit talker from his “Who’s coming in second?” line at the 3 point contest, to playing a game left handed, to his “Merry fucking Christmas” line during a Christmas Day game, to telling Reggie Miller “I am the best fucking shooter in the league.”
Check out a collection of the best stories here, put some Larry Bird YouTube highlights on loop, and then weep that we were too young to watch him play. We did get another Hall of Fame shit talker in Kevin Garnett though and for that I am grateful.
Last night the Raptors went up 2-1 on the Golden State Warriors in a wildly entertaining NBA Finals game, but late in the game Kyle Lowry dove into the front row for a rebound and some fan took it upon himself to try and give Lowry the business.
Lowry actually said on SportsCenter this morning: “He reached over & put his hands on me for no reason then he said a couple vulgar words to me & repeated them.”
To which I would agree with in a normal circumstance. Some 6’1″ dude diving into your lap would be problematic if you were just riding the T. But, this ain’t a normal circumstance. No you’re sitting courtside at the NBA Finals. You paid an EXORBITANT amount of money just to sit courtside for fucks sake. So for this guy to act shocked and disgusted when he wasn’t even the one who actually took the hit is preposterous. Lets look at the tape.
Kyle Lowry was shaking his head after a courtside fan pushed him when he fell into the crowd. pic.twitter.com/5SwQv3hdnN
Its actually the lady in the yellow that takes the entire collision on the chin. Look at that. Look at where she starts and where she ends up.
Kyle Lowry comes flying in and we see the woman’s head go back..and to the left.
Back and to the left.
That lady got absolutely SMOKED and its this dickhead next to them in the blue polo who’s become rattled by the entire series of events. He’s basically Ari Gold without the witty one liners.
This old rich white guy is lucky Lowry didn’t just snuff him right then and there. I mean have people already forgotten about the Malice at the Palace??
That was a monumental event and will forever be the precise moment in time that historians point to as to why you never fuck with a professional athlete. Its one thing to call a guy a bum from the sidelines, its an entirely different thing to put your hands on him. Once you do that you’re on your own man. If you don’t remember Ron Artest, thats a you problem.
Despite losing to the Magic, the Celtics have backed their way into the 4 seed thanks to a loss by the Pacers last night.
I know I’ve been slacking on the Celtics content lately, but I have my reasons. Firstly, there really hasn’t been much to comment on over the last two weeks. They’ve played pretty much the way I’ve expected: some stupid, disappointing losses mixed in with solid wins. Secondly, it has been harder for me to watch games. As you’d expect for someone living on the VA-DC line, the Celtics don’t get a lot of airtime at the bar, even when the hometown team is a red hot piece of trash that just fired their GM. Lastly, and this is the bigger reason why I haven’t been writing much, I’ve done a lot of drinking since I moved to Virginia.
Maybe I’m just out of the loop because I’m from Massachusetts, but they have real happy hours down here. They’re amazing and probably my favorite thing in the world right now (unless my wife is reading this). From at least 5-7 at just about every bar, and with extended hours at a lot of them, you can get seriously discounted drinks and small plates in half the city. It’s incredible. Mass has a rip off happy hour where you get $1 off of nachos or some shit you can make at your house, but this shit is legit. And rest assured I’ve been taking full advantage of it.
As for the Celtics, although they had a 4-game losing streak in the middle of March, including a pathetic showing against the Hornets in Charlotte, they were able to come away with wins in the two most important games down the stretch: a home and away against the Pacers that has left me 100% sure we will make it to the second round. Although the game at the Garden was a close one, this last win in Indy without Brown and Morris proved that we are a legit force. With multiple games against the Pacers and a home-and-away mini-series against the Heat, the Celtics have actually had a little taste of the playoff format already. Al Horford said having games like this were good practice for the playoffs, and I’m in full agreement.
This guy is going to be an X-factor in the playoffs.
The biggest factor in getting this team playoff ready for me is moving Morris to the bench and replacing him with All of Australia. Baynes brings toughness in the paint and relegates more scoring the to second unit, two things that were much needed. Playoff basketball is very different than regular season basketball, and something the Celtics have lacked since the days of KP43 is a force in the paint. Baynes, in the two games against the Pacers, put up 13 and 13 at home at 11 and 11 on the road with a few blocks mixed in. He’s also done it without fouling, something isn’t always able to avoid.
Consistent scoring from Hayward is the key to a deep playoff run.
Another great sign in the blowout the other night was the perfect game (9-9 from the field, 3-3 from the line) from Gordon Hayward. This was the best such performance since Kevin McHale had 25 in a perfect game back in 1986. It was also the first time this season Gordon put up 20+ in consecutive games, pushing the Celtics to 6-0 when he hits that scoring mark. He’s been more physical and aggressive every game, and I think he’s really starting to show that confidence that was missing for the first several months of the season. I mean shit, he played 38 minutes last night. He may not have lit up the scoreboard, but he was very efficient. The more consistent he can be, the deeper we’ll go in the playoffs. If Gordon and Baynes play at a high level, and Kyrie, Brown and Al continue to play the way they have been, that will open up the floor for everyone else. Tatum looked to be back on track against Indy as well, leading the team in minutes and scoring.
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 8, 2019
Health will be a concern for sure, especially after last night. However, I don’t expect the shin contusion Tatum suffered to be all that serious. We’ll see about the hip injury to Marcus Smart, but he’s a tough bastard that will fight through it. I would expect Tatum, Smart and Irving at the very least to be out for tomorrow’s matchup against the Wizards, but only for a little extra rest. The only disappointing part about the rest is I will be at the game tomorrow rooting on….idk, Yabu I guess? I really don’t expect many people to play, and wouldn’t be surprised if those three I named aren’t the only ones missing time. Oh well. If all of the pieces fall where they should, this team can be the title contender that we all thought they’d be at the start of the season. I can’t wait to watch what they can do and find my hopes rising every day for this team.
The amount of juice the NBA has provided since the season ended last week is just insane. Its been more entertaining than the NBA playoffs and even more so than the Finals. The NBA offseason is hands down the best in sports as GM’s continue to look around the league, see teams like Golden State, and just say fuck it lets reload.
In the immortal words of Ricky Bobby: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
I think that needs to be the new slogan of the NBA. If you’re not Golden State then your franchise might as well punt on the next 3-5 years. It sounds like a joke, BUT THATS WHAT TEAMS ARE DOING. Sure, there are teams like the Celtics who are technically within striking distance so I applaud Trader Danny’s efforts to improve this team as long as it does so without mortgaging the future. But even LeBron and the Cavs, the team thats been to the NBA Finals the last 3 years IN A ROW, seem to be panicking. Cleveland has been in talks for all the big names like Paul George and Jimmy Butler all sandwiched around kicking their own GM to the bricks.
As much as it sucks there is a goddamn Super Team standing between the Celtics and a title, I’m glad it at least gives the rest of the league the motivation to either completely blow things up and rebuild or just stockpile as many assets and big name players as possible.
It’s like the Elite Four at the end of Victory Road in Pokemon. An absolute nightmare to deal with so don’t even both walking down the road if you’re not ready. Level up, get your shit together and then go after the top dogs.
So yesterday we had Woj Bomb after Woj Bomb. Paul George told the Pacers after next season he’s out so now they’re looking to get whatever they can for PG-13. The Knicks are listening to offers for 21-year old stud Kristaps Porzingis and the Celtics are one of the teams in talks with NY. Jimmy Butler saying he’d rather not play in Cleveland so the C’s are still in on that rumor too. Dwight Howard got traded, minutes after dropping some fire jokes about NBA trades on his own Twitter account.
Then we got the Lakers trading D’Angelo Russell, the Clippers looking to deal DeAndre Jordan, all while we still have the NBA fucking Draft on Thursday night. God knows how many more trades there will be and how much more hot, hot heat Woj is going to be dropping on Twitter.
I’m as frustrated as the rest of you that the Celtics didn’t make any trades, not a single move, but at the risk of sounding like a Green Teamer did we really want to blow up our team for another guy? If you believe the rumors of what Larry Legend wanted for Paul George (both Brooklyn picks and 3/4 of Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder) then there’s no way in hell you make that deal.
I don’t even need to leave the Atlantic Conference to point out the last blockbuster trade a team gutted their roster to acquire a new stud; the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony.
The Knicks sent Wilson Chandler (16.4 ppg that year), Raymond Felton (17.1 ppg that year), Danilo Gallinari (15.9 ppg that year), Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick and two second-round picks to the Nuggets. All this when Melo was set to become a free agent like 4 months later. So say what you want, but the Knicks did themselves no favors in gutting the roster. “Felton, Gallinari, Mozgov and Chandler were four of New York’s top six players,” this 2011 ESPN article reminds us.
Since making the trade the Knicks have finished:
2011: 36-30 (lost in the 1st round)
2012: 54-28 (lost in the Eastern Conf. semis)
2013: 37-45
2014: 17-65
2015: 32-50
Not great. And with exactly two playoff appearances, never making it past the second round. My point is just taking every asset you have and throwing it against the wall to get one player doesn’t guarantee success. In fact its the main reason Carmelo is so untradeable now, he’s got an albatross of a contract that is weighing down a team’s cap so much that they can’t justify giving up much of any assets for him at all. Oh the irony.
I didn’t mention Boogie Cousins because I 100% wanted him but for whatever reason the Celtics were never in on him. They just flat out did not want the guy. So as shitty as it sounds, Trader Danny will continue to lay in the weeds waiting to bite some unsuspecting GM in the ass. Or the price of Paul George or Jimmy Butler goes down.
PS – Regardless of the fact the Knicks still aren’t any good, that Melo MSG “Coming Home” commercial still absolutely BANGS 6 years later.
The 300s 