There aren’t many stars who can boast about besting Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the greatest of all time by most basketball fans. Though MJ gave everybody the business, a bunch of NBA luminaries managed to beat him more often than not during …
There aren’t many stars who can boast about besting Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the greatest of all time by most basketball fans. Though MJ gave everybody the business, a bunch of NBA luminaries managed to beat him more often than not during his early days with the weak Chicago Bulls roster in the mid-80s or when he donned the Washington Wizards jersey.
Few accomplished that when MJ and his team were at the peak of their powers – most notably a towering center from the Western Conference.
Here’s a list of stars who retired with a winning record against the GOAT:
The Hick From French Lick was best known for his scoring, but Bird could find the open man like few have ever been able to.
Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird is perhaps best known for countless ways he could hang points on an opposing team. He would find ways to score that sometimes baffled his defenders, coupled with eviscerating trash talk that broke their spirits at the same time.
But the Hick From French Lick could also move the rock on an elite level and was not selfish when he saw an open man with an easier shot than he had at any given moment. All the way back to his days at Indiana State in college, Larry Legend was already using his crafty court vision to lift his teammates.
Renowned NBA draft analyst Ben Pfeiffer sat down and broke down some of Bird’s passing film for a recent short.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rnn-NOd8Y8M
Watch his clip for yourself to see why Bird was not just an otherworldly scorer but also a top-notch floor general when he needed to be.
This interview had Bird reflecting on his entry into the NBA and his early years with the Celtics organization, among a number of topics.
Hall of Fame Boston Celtics small forward Larry Bird typically kept to himself as a player. And while he didn’t begrudge the press interviews on camera, there are not many of them floating around on video for us to see these days.
From the 1985-86 season, the last title campaign of The Hick From French Lick’s career, the folks over at the CLNS Media “History and Legends” YouTube channel have dusted off an especially interesting one. It has Bird reflecting on his entry into the NBA and his early years with the Celtics organization, among a number of topics.
Larry Legend managed to fill up almost six minutes of interview time in the clip embedded below; to get your fix of Boston basketball for the day, be sure to take a look at what Bird had to say for yourself.
Scratch that Celtics basketball itch with a watch of the second clip in the series.
NBC Sports Boston once put together an excellent 10-part video series on the best highlights from Hall of Fame Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird that helped carry fans through the slowest part of the pandemic-inflected 2021-22 NBA regular season.
With that well behind us, the folks at NBC Sports have done it again. Except this time, they have put together a series of videos dedicated to highlighting the so-called Hick From French Lick’s best passes and assists of his storied career with Boston. Spanning Bird’s entire career with the Celtics, it is a great way to learn or revisit just how good the Boston icon was at moving the rock.
Scratch that Celtics basketball itch with a watch of the second clip in the series embedded below to help keep you busy until actual Boston basketball returns in the fall with training camp and preseason not far off.
Scratch that Celtics basketball itch with a watch of the first clip in the series.
Earlier this year, the fine folks over at NBC Sports Boston put together an excellent 10-part video series on the best highlights from Hall of Fame Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird. The video series helped carry fans through the slowest part of the pandemic-inflected 2021-22 regular season.
With that well behind us, the folks at NBC Sports put together a classic for our viewing enjoyment. Except this time they have put together a series of videos dedicated to highlighting the so-called Hick From French Lick’s best passes and assists of his storied career with Boston. Spanning Bird’s entire career with the Celtics, it is a great way to learn or revisit just how good the Boston icon was at moving the rock.
Scratch that Celtics basketball itch with a watch of the first clip in the series embedded below to help keep you busy until actual Boston basketball returns in the fall, with training camp and preseason not far off.
Check out part II of this highlights series of Larry Legend himself.
While we have not seen too much yet of the legendary counterpart to Los Angeles Lakers icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson in the hit HBO NBA basketball series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” Boston Celtics Hall of Fame small forward Larry Joe Bird plays an important foil to the Los Angeles title teams of the 1980s. Better known as the ‘Showtime” Lakers, the team joined the Celtics, through the on-court wizardry of Magic and Bird, to help revitalize a moribund NBA in the early 1980s.
With many younger Boston fans becoming aware of that era of play and the Celtics’ own titles teams of that decade, it behooves us to share more highlights of Larry Legend and his play with the Boston teams from that era.
And NBC Boston Sports has put out the best of Bird’s highlights, with ep. II below.
Check out the clip embedded above for the first installment of the Hick From French Lick’s (as Bird was lovingly called) best plays, whether you’re just getting to know Larry’s game or know it like the back of your hand.
Check out part IV of this highlights series of Larry Legend himself.
While we have not seen too much yet of the legendary counterpart to Los Angeles Lakers icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson in the hit HBO NBA basketball series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” Boston Celtics Hall of Fame small forward Larry Joe Bird plays an important foil to the Los Angeles title teams of the 1980s. Better known as the ‘Showtime” Lakers, the team joined the Celtics, through the on-court wizardry of Magic and Bird, to help revitalize a moribund NBA in the early 1980s.
With many younger Boston fans becoming aware of that era of play and the Celtics’ own titles teams of that decade, it behooves us to share more highlights of Larry Legend and his play with the Boston teams from that era.
And NBC Boston Sports has put out the best of Bird’s highlights, with ep. IV below.
Check out the clip embedded above for the first installment of the Hick From French Lick’s (as Bird was lovingly called) best plays, whether you’re just getting to know Larry’s game or know it like the back of your hand.
Former Boston Celtics shooting guard Chris Ford shot the very first one in the history of the NBA in the debut game of Celtics Hall of Fame small forward Larry Bird. Bird himself would hit the first one in an All-Star game and terrorized opponents in the early years of the shooting contest, created to showcase what was in many corners seen as a tacky novelty.
To those of you confused about what it is we are speaking, we of course mean the league’s adoption of the now-iconic 3-point shot. Which has not only moved off of being seen as some sort of wacky addition to the sport but an absolutely integral part of it.
And while even now it still has its critics, the origin and early history of the 3-ball remain relatively under-discussed by fans of the modern game.
To help remedy that, the folks over at The Score put together this clip detailing everything you need to know about the trey in the NBA.
Check out part X of this highlight series of Larry Legend himself.
We did not see as much of a certain legendary Boston Celtics counterpart to Los Angeles Lakers icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson as we might have liked in the hit HBO NBA basketball series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” However, Hall of Fame small forward Larry Joe Bird played an essential foil to the Los Angeles title teams of the 1980s.
Better known as the ‘Showtime” Lakers, the team joined the Celtics, through the on-court wizardry of Magic and Bird, to help revitalize a moribund NBA in the early 1980s. With many younger Boston fans becoming aware of that era of play and the Celtics’ own titles teams of that decade, it behooves us to share more highlights of Larry Legend and his play with the Boston teams from that era.
And NBC Boston Sports has been putting out the best of Bird’s highlights, a series now up to its 10th edition.
Check out the clip embedded above for the latest installment of the Hick From French Lick’s (as Bird was lovingly called) best plays whether you’re just getting to know Larry’s game or know it like the back of your hand.
Check out part VIII of this highlight series of Larry Legend himself.
We have not seen as much of the legendary Boston Celtics counterpart to Los Angeles Lakers icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson in the hit HBO NBA basketball series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” However, Hall of Fame small forward Larry Joe Bird played an important foil to the Los Angeles title teams of the 1980s. Better known as the ‘Showtime” Lakers, the team joined the Celtics, through the on-court wizardry of Magic and Bird, to help revitalize a moribund NBA in the early 1980s.
With many younger Boston fans becoming aware of that era of play and the Celtics’ own titles teams of that decade, it behooves us to share more highlights of Larry Legend and his play with the Boston teams from that era.
And since December 2021, NBC Boston Sports has been putting out the best of Bird’s highlights, now up to its eighth edition.
Check out the clip embedded above for the latest installment of the Hick From French Lick’s (as Bird was lovingly called) best plays whether you’re just getting to know Larry’s game or know it like the back of your hand.
