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Michael Jordan once called Larry Bird the greatest trash talker in NBA history. Jordan and Bird are known for their legendary trash-talking stories, but "His Airness" credited the Boston Celtics great for teaching him how to do it.
In an article by Jayson Jenks of The Athletic, it was recalled how Jordan praised Bird for his trash-talking greatness. MJ went on to call Bird the G.O.A.T. of trash-talking.
"Larry Bird is the greatest trash talker and mind-game player of all time," Jordan said. "He taught me everything I know about getting in folks' heads."
Michael Jordan was a great trash talker, but Larry Bird was on a different level. Byron Scott explained how Bird used to tell opposing players what he was going to do before actually doing it.
"The thing I love about him is that he was a s**t talker," Scott said. "The dude would just tell you where he's going, shoot it in your face, talk s**t to you and run back down the floor. He was the biggest s**t talker in the league back in the day. He would tell you exactly where he was going, what he was gonna do. And he did that to us in the Finals.
He was like, 'Guys, don't worry about it. I'm gonna go right over there to the corner. I'm gonna catch the ball, I'm gonna shoot it, and there ain't s**t y'all can't do about it.' And he did exactly that."
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Former NBA head coach reveals why Michael Jordan and Larry Bird were great trash talkers
Former NBA player and head coach Mike Woodson explained why Michael Jordan and Larry Bird are two of the best trash talkers ever.
On the podcast "Inside Indiana Basketball with Mike Woodson" last year, Woodson said that Jordan and Bird could back up everything they said.
"Larry talked a lot of trash, man," Woodson said. "Jordan talked a lot of trash, you know. There were a number (of) guys that talked trash. But the beauty of beauty of those guys talking trash is they could back it up. That('s) what makes them so great."
In a game on November 23, 1991 against the Denver Nuggets, Jordan had one of his most famous trash talks. Before taking a free throw, Jordan looked at Dikembe Mutombo and said, "Hey, Mutombo. This one's for you, baby." He closed both of his eyes and hit nothing but net.
Meanwhile, Bird's most famous trash talk happened before the 1988 3-point shootout. He entered the locker and said, "Who's playing for second?" to the rest of the participants. He never took off his warm-up jacket and pointed his finger up before the game-winning shot in the final went in.
Guess the Lakers players!
