Termed as “the greatest trash talker” by Michael Jordan, Larry Bird once went all vicious with his words against a rookie. But it was not just the league’s new entrant, but an article from the USA Today that had Bird all riled up. The rookie in discussion is Shawn Kemp, who detailed the incident on the ‘All The Smoke’ podcast.
During the podcast, the hosts questioned Kemp about whether the instance of facing trash talk by Bird was actually true. “It is very true… We got to Boston that night… He had some knee pain. I was like, it’s a hell of a time for you to come over to me. I ain’t going tonight,” Kemp recalled. He further mentioned thinking back then that this was the night he gets to outplay the 12x All-Star. “I was over there rubbing my hands, looking at him, like, ‘I bout to get your a**, man,” Kemp further recollected his memories from his first season in the NBA.
But little did the then Seattle SuperSonics (now OKC) know Larry Bird came with a different mindset in that game. However, now he recalls that morning when USA Today’s article questioned if Bird had more game left in him. “So he came out that night to make a statement… He just shook his head at me. He said, “It’s gonna be a f**ked up night for you,” the 6x All-Star recalled.
In the first game, two of them played Shawn, averaged, 5 points, 1 rebound, and 0 assists. Larry, on the other hand, averaged 40 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Notably, Kemp’s rookie season was also ‘The Great White Hope’s’ return after a surgery. In season 1989, the 3x NBA champ played just 6 games as he had to get bone spurs surgically removed from both his heels. It’s said that his back problems and an aging Celtics roster were not letting him re-achieve his prime form. And thus the USA Today article. Kemp, choosing the same day to mess with the Celtics, was a wrong move, as the above-mentioned instance was not the only trash talk he faced.
Xavier McDaniel reveals Larry Bird’s trash against Kemp and Sonics
Both Kemp and Bird are from Indiana, but this did not favor the 6x All-Star against the Celtics icon. Appearing on ‘No Nonsense with Tim Thomas and Scoop B’, McDaniel shared how Bird used these shared roots to bring down Kemp.
“During the game, Shawn Kemp was guarding Larry, and I mean Larry was just talking s***… Bernie (Bickerstaff) calls a timeout, I’m like, ‘Hey, what the f*** that motherf***er says, man?’ ‘He was telling me, ‘I’m the best f***ing player from Indiana,’ and then shot a three in my face,” McDaniel narrated the entire incident on the show.
However, Kemp was not Bird’s only victim. Even the Celtics’ players weren’t safe from ‘Larry Legend’s trash talk.
It’s also worth mentioning that Larry Bird may not have regained his prime after surgery, but his pure stats won’t reflect this. In the very season in discussion, he averaged 24.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.5 assists. He maintained this performance till his very last season in the league. Seemingly, a fitting reply to all such articles that question his game.
