He’s nicknamed Larry Legend for a reason.
During the 1984 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird delivered one of the most blunt and ruthless locker room messages ever.
It was after an embarrassing Game 3 loss, where Bird and the Celtics were throttled by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 137–104.
The Celtics fell down 2-1 in the series.
Bird called out ’embarrassing’ Celtics during 1984 NBA Finals
“It’s embarrassing, no doubt about it,” Bird said after the game. “We got some great players on this team, but we don’t have the players with the heart sometimes that we need.
“And today, when you see Magic slapping high fives and guys going behind their backs and shooting layups on us all day long, it seems like someone would try to put a stop to it, but until we get our hearts where they belong, we’re in trouble.”
Boston had won the title just three seasons earlier, in 1981, so there was no real sense of panic. They had been there and done that — but Bird didn’t care. He was as fired up and frustrated as ever.
“You go to the hospital and get twelve heart transplants,” Bird said, openly questioning the team’s heart.
Would Bird’s words resonate after such a deflating performance on the sport’s biggest stage? The answer to that would be a resounding yes.
Heading into Game 4, Kevin McHale proposed a ‘no easy layups’ rule. It was a mindset that was much tougher to enforce than to declare — but one the veteran-filled Boston team embraced and enforced.
The Celtics clawed back from a 10-point halftime deficit and, on the brink of falling behind 3–1, escaped with a thrilling 129–125 overtime victory in Los Angeles.
Bird finished with 29 points and 21 rebounds.
“We took them into deep water and they didn’t know how to swim,” teammate Cedrix Maxwell recalled. “That’s when I knew we had ’em. Kareem was a thinker.
“You want to get into the head of the thinker, and we’d done it. I’d never seen Kareem like that. When we got into the intellectual’s head, the rest of ’em were chopped liver.”
All of a sudden the Celtics found their swagger and confidence again.
Bird’s teammates responded to his tough words after Game 3 by winning three of the next four games, including the championship-sealing victory in Game 7.
Bird would win his second NBA championship and first Finals MVP award.
In the seven-game series, the Hall of Famer averaged 27.4 points, 14 rebounds and 3.6 assists, rising to the occasion whenever his best was needed.
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The turning point came without a doubt after Game 3, when Bird lit up his team both privately and publicly.
Usually, when that happens, you risk losing the locker room and your teammates’ respect. But for Larry Legend, it had the opposite effect.
It galvanized the Boston squad on their way to another championship and would no doubt propel them again in 1986 to yet another title.
For the Celtics in the 1980s, it was simple: it was Bird’s way or the highway. And more often than not, Bird’s way led to championships.
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