Bird Day

For all my past Larry Bird posts, I've never done one on his birthday.  It's time to start.  Happy 68th, Larry.  Let's watch some passing by #33.

Indiana Boys

Reggie Miller hosts a talk with Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas.  Larry, as always is reticent but Reggie draws him out.  Isiah is always interesting.  He talks about the moment when Larry held his career in his hands and how thankful he is for how Bird handled it.  Isiah also takes Bird to task for firing him as coach when he took over as GM of the Indiana Pacers.

McFilthy & McNasty

Jeff Ruland and Rick Mahorn played for the Washington Bullets in the early 1980s, Ruland at center and Mahorn as power forward.  The Bullets were Eastern Division rivals of the Boston Celtics and thus evil doers, as were all Celtics rivals, in the view of Johnny Most, the Celtics radio broadcaster from 1953 through 1990.  With his gravelly voice and outright rooting for the Celtics, Most was a memorable figure for all of us who listened to him.  Like many, we would often watch the Celtics on TV with the sound turned off, listening to Most.  Johnny was not always accurately describing what we were watching, but he sure was entertaining.

In Johnny's lexicon, Ruland was McFilthy and Mahorn McNasty, because of their rough and rowdy ways against the Celtics.  This morning, for some reason I can't figure out, those nicknames popped up in my head so I went looking on YouTube but, unfortunately, could not find any video with Most using those names, though I can distinctly hear his voice in my head calling them out.

(McFilthy)

(McNasty guarding Robert Parrish)

Ruland's career was short, but Mahorn played for 18 seasons and in 1985 was traded to the Detroit Pistons, the most hated rivals of the Celtics, allowing Most to continue lambasting McNasty after he joined The Bad Boys.  

(Johnny Most)

You can listen to Johnny's over the top invective against the Pistons below.

And here is Johnny calling four game winning shots by Larry Bird.

I miss Johnny and those Celtics days..  In the mid-80s on a flight from Indianapolis to Boston I got up to use the bathroom in the rear of the plane and saw Johnny standing there also waiting (the Celtics had played the Pacers the night before).  Introducing myself as a Celtics (and Most) fan, Johnny embarked on a one-way conversation at the same volume he used when announcing.  I'm sure everyone on the plane, including the pilots, could hear him.

It was only when researching this piece I realized Most served in WW2 as a gunner on a B-24, flying 28 combat missions.

The Last Championship

On this date in 1986, the Boston Celtics won the last of three NBA championships during the Larry Bird era, beating the Houston Rockets 114-97 at Boston Garden.  Bird averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists a game during the six game series.

I watched the game, which was memorable, not so much for the score - the Celtics won easily - but for the atmosphere (as a Celtics fan in those years I watched or listened to a lot of games).  The Rockets had won game 5, played at The Summit in Houston, with Bird playing poorly with only 17 points, 7 rebounds, and four assists, but that wasn't the story.  In the second quarter Houston center 7'4" Ralph Sampson was ejected for slugging Celtics bench player Jerry Sichting who was 6'1".   Game 6 was back in Boston Garden and the crowd was out for blood; Sampson's blood.

We'll let Bill Simmons tell what happened next:

For Game 6 of the Finals in Boston, my father and I were sitting right on the tunnel where the players walked on and off the court. People were holding "SAMPSON IS A SISSY" signs and the entire building was chanting "SAMPSON SUCKS!" even before Houston came out for warm-ups. When Ralph came out to earsplitting boos, there was legitimate hatred in the air. Ralph walked right by us and I remember thinking, That guy's done. He looked rattled. You know the rest — Ralph played terribly, Bird played out of his mind and the Celts blew them out. But Celtics fans never stopped holding a grudge after the Sichting fight — they booed Ralph every time he came to Boston.

The 85-86 Celtics squad was the finest of the Bird years.  Bill Walton joined the team that year, squeezing 20 minutes a game out with his damaged feet and establishing a telepathic on-court relationship with Larry.  The team went 67-15, winning an incredible 40 of 41 in the Garden during the regular season and all ten of its home games during the playoffs.

Before reaching the finals, the Celtics swept the Milwaukee Bucks in four, beat the Hawks in five games, and in the opening series swept the Chicago Bulls in three.  Despite the sweep it was the Bulls series that resulted in the most memorable moment of the playoffs.  The Celtics won Game 2 in double overtime, despite second-year player Michael Jordan's 63 points.  After the game Bird said:

“I didn't think anyone was capable of doing what Michael has done to us. He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it's just God disguised as Michael Jordan."(1)

 Bird would go on to have two more great seasons, though the Celtics lost the '87 finals to the Lakers and the '88 conference finals to the hated Pistons.

Early in the 88-89 season, Larry had double Achilles surgery, ending his season.  Though he returned for three more years, his chronic back problems, which often required spending nights at the hospital in traction, and having to lay on the floor during games, limited his playing time.  Even with those limitations, during his final two seasons, the Celtics were 77-28 when Larry played and only 30-29 when he did not.

Bird had his last memorable playoff outing in the '91 series against the Indiana Pacers.  Tied 2-2 in a best of five series, Bird crashed to the floor face-first in the second quarter.  It turned out he had fractured his cheek bone, and with a possible concussion was advised by the team doctor to sit out the rest of the game.  Instead he returned in the middle of the third quarter and dominated the rest of the game, which the Celtics won. 

Bird was a member of the Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but his back was so bad he could not play.  However, while the Dream Team was training, a bunch of college all-stars was brought in to practice against them leading Jamal Mashburn to tell this very funny story about Larry and Magic Johnson. 

And there is no better way to end this post than with a Larry Bird highlight video.  Enjoy the passes.

---------------------------------------------------------------

(1)  I can't resist throwing in this quote from Pat Riley: 

"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game, I’d choose Michael Jordan. If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life, I’d take Larry Bird."

No Foul

Scottie Pippen just went up a notch in my estimation.  Had not seen this photo before.  The guy he is attempting to either strangle or break his neck is Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Pistons.  I don't know what proceeded this photo, but I am sure Laimbeer deserved it.  The Pistons enjoyed torturing Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls for several years, and Laimbeer was the master of ceremonies in that effort.  And it wasn't only the Bulls.  Laimbeer is the only player that Larry Bird still hates and will have nothing to do it with.

Go get 'em, Scottie!

I’ll allow it. pic.twitter.com/vgDEJcGJm0

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) September 10, 2022

Hang Time

Super 70s Sports reminded me today of this spectacular play by Dr J (Julius Erving) in the 1980 NBA playoffs.  Dr J was the first player I saw who seemed to be able to hang and move in the air (the second and last was Michael Jordan).  This play was one of his most memorable carried out against the Los Angeles Lakers with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the defenders.

He made this. Think about that for a minute. pic.twitter.com/NR6g0bXe62

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) August 6, 2021

 

Below is a video clip showing the play from several angles as well as the reminiscences of several of the other players.

And, in one thing leading to another it reminds me of another NBA moment from the 80s, this one shocking - when Larry Bird and Dr J (who was noted as a gentleman on the court) got into a fight with each attempting to strangle the other.  This occurred towards the end of J's career and at the height of Bird's, when Larry was demolishing J on the court and taunting him at the same time (Bird was a master trash talker), leading to the Doctor finally exploding.  As Bill Simmons wrote, "It was like seeing the Easter Bunny trying to strangle Santa Clause".

Bird Comes To Boston

“If I had to choose a player to take a final shot to win a game I’d choose (Michael) Jordan, but if I could pick one to shoot to save my life I would pick Bird.”

- Pat Riley (Coach, LA Lakers & NY Knicks, President & Coach, Miami Heat)

This is the 40th anniversary of Larry Bird's first game with the Boston Celtics.

I was there that night.  Can't remember how we got the tickets but they were on the floor a few rows behind one of the baskets.  Larry's arrival was much anticipated.  When they announced him, doves were released and flew around the Garden.  And, of course, he made some tough shots and startling passes that night.  The Celtics who had been pathetic the year before won 60 games during the 1979-80 season.  He was a joy to watch.

THC favorite athletes:

1.  Willie Mays
2.  Larry Bird
3.  Big Papi

Watch Larry:

Willie Turns 88

Willie Mays turns 88 today.  My favorite athlete (and my dad's - I always think of him when I remember Willie - dad raised me in the Church of Willie Mays), Willie is slowing down, losing his vision to glaucoma, but still likes hanging out in the manager's office before San Francisco Giants home games.  Happy birthday, Willie.  My posts on Willie.

Sorry, Big Papi but you're #2.

And Larry, you're #3.

NBA Season Opens

The NBA season actually started on October 29 but there were more important sporting events occurring at that time so THC delayed this post.  And since it is serving as just another excuse to post Larry Bird videos the timing isn't really that important anyway.

The first is a 23 second video of Bird hitting a game-winning shot in 1985.  While not one of his most remarkable shots it deserves watching because the call is by Johnny Most who had a one of a kind announcing style.
THC happened to be on a flight with Johnny Most in the 1980s and we spoke for awhile at the back at the back of the plane.  He was a very nice guy (and chatty!) and his voice sounded exactly the same as when he broadcast a game so all our fellow passengers heard every word he said.

The second video is a Bird trash-talking classic when he told Xavier Daniels of the Pacers that he was going to make the game-winning shot off him and then proceeded to do exactly that.

The Good Old Days

With the NBA Playoffs starting it brings back memories of when Mrs THC and I became big fans of the Boston Celtics in the 1980s during the Larry Bird era.  We didn't attend many games but we watched or listened to a ton of them (broadcast distinctively by Johnny Most).  Along with Bird we also had Kevin McHale, Chief (Robert Parrish), Dennis Johnson and for one glorious season, Bill Walton.
(McHale, Chief) (Johnson, Most)
During that period the Celtics had three rivals.  In the early 80s it was the Philadelphia 76ers led by Julius Erving (Dr J) and the dangerous Celtic-killer Andrew Toney.  It was a good rivalry and we always wanted to beat the Sixers but there was mutual respect and we all admired Dr J (of course there was that unforgettable moment when Bird and J started strangling each other on the court which Bill Simmons said was as shocking "as watching Santa Claus throw down with the Easter Bunny".
Next were the Los Angeles Lakers who we really disliked and felt entitled to beat.  That was a hot rivalry but we all knew how good Magic Johnson was and we respected him.

But then, starting in the mid-1980s the Detroit Pistons arose from the primordial ooze and we hated the Pistons because they were the cheapshot champs of the NBA.  They specialized in irritating opponents until they retaliated and were talented at not letting the referees catch them while they were doing it. We already didn't like Isiah Thomas and then when he and Dennis Rodman claimed that Bird was an overrated player because he was white, well things got a lot worse.  Thomas was generally disliked across the league; he was a natural selection for the 1992 Olympics Dream Team but was kept off the team when Michael Jordan told league officials that if Isiah was on the squad he would not play. You had also had Ricky Mahorn deliberately and repeatedly stepping on Kevin McHale's broken foot in the '87 playoffs but worst of all was Bill Laimbeer, the smirking and sneaky center who was loathed by Boston fans (and, I'm sure, by all true basketball fans outside Detroit).

The rivalry reached its peak during the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.  In Game 3 at Detroit, Laimbeer clotheslined Bird, provoking Larry to retaliate and triggering his ejection from the game - nothing happened to Laimbeer.  Game 5 was in Boston and every Celtics fan, whether you were at the Garden or watching on TV, as we were, wanted Laimbeer taken care of.  He was, and from an unexpected source.  Robert Parrish was an excellent center who never changed his expression, never showed excitement about anything and never got angry.  Until that day.  In the second quarter, Laimbeer elbowed Chief and Parrish hit him hard from behind and knocked him to the floor.  We all went nuts.  The best part was that the referee saw the whole thing and didn't call a foul (Bill Simmons called it "maybe the most astounding non-call in NBA history").  We figured it was because he agreed that Laimbeer deserved it.  Game 5 ended with the Pistons on the verge of victory when Bird stole Isiah's inbound pass, and whipped it to Dennis Johnson who scored at the buzzer to win the game.

The league stepped in and suspended Chief for Game 6, which the Pistons won, but the Celtics came back to win the seventh and deciding game.

You can see the clothesline, Chief's slugging Laimbeer and Bird's steal here:
And here is Larry Bird in 2013 on why he still hates Bill Laimbeer (ah, the good old days).
  We'll close with my pick for the best sports celebrity commercial which started airing during this year's March Madness, featuring Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabber.  First, it's amazing they got four of the five greatest living retired players in NBA history (only missing Jordan) and second, it's actually funny (and true!).  The first time I saw it I could not believe who I was seeing. Of course, my choice for best commercial ever remains the Dollar Shave Club.