On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Celtics small forward Larry Bird won the 1988 AT&T Shootout at Chicago Stadium, part of that year’s All-Star game festivities that were held in the Illinois city.
The Hick From French Lick (as Bird was sometimes affectionately called as a nickname) had already made a name for himself in the event — famously asking fellow competitors in the 1986 iteration of the event “Man, who’s comin’ in second?” (per ESPN’s Jeff Caplan) — and did not disappoint the fans in attendance of the 1988 event in terms of performance or trash-talking.
This time, Bird beat Dale Ellis by two points overall, leaving the court with a finger raised to the heavens as if to say he knew he’d already won yet again.