During the 1980s, Los Angeles Lakers fans hated Boston Celtics superstar Larry Bird. Not only was Bird one of the five to 10 greatest players in NBA history and one of the greatest crunch-time performers ever, but he was a nasty character.
Bird would never hesitate to talk trash to opponents, and he seemed to take delight in making opponents suffer after making a great play or scoring a victory against them.
In the HBO series “Winning Time,” the legendary forward was played by Sean Patrick Small, and while he was portrayed as taciturn and even callous, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said during The Athletic NBA Show that Bird’s portrayal helped her gain appreciation for him (h/t Lakers Nation).
“And the Larry Bird character, I thought that was great. It made me appreciate Larry Bird so much. I mean we hated him so much in L.A it’s just hard to even think about. And just to see his backstory and what happened with him and the game, what a special athlete he was, and a trash-talker.”
Bird didn’t exactly have a Hollywood-style childhood. He grew up poor in rural Indiana, and he had to endure his parents divorcing and his father committing suicide when he was in high school. He even started college at Indiana University, only to quickly drop out and end up at Indiana State University.
After all these years, long-time Lakers fans should be able to feel some respect for him, even if it is begrudging respect.