Rookie Larry Bird once excoriated fellow Hall of Famer Pete Maravich when both were Boston Celtics

Teammate Cedric Maxwell told the tale of their early clash during the sole season the two Hall of Famers were teammates.

It might surprise some younger fans to learn that the tenures of Boston Celtics Hall of Famers “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Larry Bird overlapped for a season on the storied franchise both played for, Maravich signing on for a swan song to his storied career just as The Hick From French Lick’s got started in the 1979-80 NBA season.

And as is not that unusual, the two basketball legends butted heads a bit at first, going at it in the heat of a game after a play did not go the way one thought it ought to according to teammate and Boston legend in his own right Cedric Maxwell.

Speaking to NBC Sports Boston about a recent on-court kerfuffle between the Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra, Jimmy Butler, and Udonis Haslem, Maxwell recalled a similar incident going down between Bird and Maravich.