Larry didn’t care about the envy around him

I’m not gonna quit playin’ as hard as I can because I get publicity” – Larry Bird on his teammates being jealous of him

All the spotlight was on Bird, and Larry knew some of his teammates didn’t like him for it.

Though Larry Bird was the face of the Boston Celtics throughout the 1980s, the franchise’s success was not solely attributed to him. Many unsung heroes elevated Bird’s play, one of them being Robert Parish.

In fact, Larry himself acknowledged that without ‘The Chief’ by his side, he wouldn’t have been able to tally as many points as he did throughout his legendary career.

Bird gave Parish credit

While Bird often led the Celtics in scoring, he recognized that it was because of teammates like Parish who did things that didn’t show up in box scores. As a result, the 12-time All-Star openly admitted that Parish’s ability to set hard screens was why he found it easy to score big in games.

“I came off a pick set by Robert, who sets the best pick in the world,” Bird said. “I don’t know how he does it. Now, I don’t come off those picks as much because that’s not our offense. But if it wasn’t for Robert, I wouldn’t have scored half the points I have.”

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While Parish was certainly no slouch and proved himself as one of the best three players on the team—he was Boston’s starting big man for 14 years—he struggled to garner the spotlight he deserved. This was mainly due to Bird’s presence on the team, as his superstar status tended to overshadow the achievements of those around him.

With players never receiving credit for their efforts, Larry acknowledged that multiple Celtics players may have held some resentment against him.

“Does he resent me?” Bird asked. “I’m sure pretty near everybody has a little resentment toward me. They’re out there working their as*es off, and all you hear is ‘Larry Bird’s in town’ or ‘Larry Bird and the Celtics are here.'”

While the three-time NBA champion never discussed this aspect with any of his teammates, he refused to feel apologetic about it. Instead, Larry’s sole focus was to be the best player every time he stepped on the floor.

“I’m not gonna quit playin’ as hard as I can because I get publicity,” Bird concluded.

This speaks volumes about Larry’s abilities as a leader and a player. The Celtics legend always gave credit where credit was due but had tunnel vision on one thing and one thing only—winning.

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