I guarded his a** so tough. Then after the game, he came, he sent a little letter over there to me. He was like, ‘I’ve had nobody play defense that hard on me. I appreciate you playing. He was like, I got a little All-Star game. Why don’t you come work out with me? Come to the All-Star game, man.
That’s something I was like, s**t, that meant everything to me. So it went from him whooping my a** to him teaching me a few things.” (0:33)
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Before the game, Kemp was full of confidence, mentally preparing himself to take on Bird. He recalled how, that morning, an article in USA Today questioned Bird’s abilities, suggesting that he no longer had his old form. This criticism motivated Bird to make a statement that night, and Kemp found himself as the unfortunate target.
