The Best Larry Bird REVENGE Story Ever Told

Charles Barkley had a handwritten letter delivered to Bill Lambert before playing a game against him and it said dear bill thank you sincerely Charles Barkley and as one might expect they got into a fist fight that game [Applause] [Music] Robert Parish who got into a fight with Lambert three years in a row was questioned about Bill and beer he said I was always taught if you can't say something nice about someone then don't say anything at all so I'm saying nothing at all but nobody hated Bill lamp beer more than Larry Bird I never really ever liked landbear in any social situation no yeah and uh it's because he was a dirty player the 80s when I played it was a lot cheap shots if you go back and watch the Pistons playing against Chicago yeah pounded and a lot of it happened after the whistle if you're going in and you get fouled and a guy goes ahead and tries to that's a free foul Ricky Mahorn he'd hit you and all that but he'd hit you you know you know you're gonna get hit yeah he didn't try to maim you right Bill try to hurt you got it back so they reset it five landbear walked with it then committed a foul knocked bird to the floor Celtics are very unhappy about it yeah caught bearing the jaw yeah and Larry's a little upset and uh you know he was one of them guys you shoot a jumper he tried to slide his foot underneath your ankle so you twist your ankle and that's why parachute if you watch any of our old games Paris was always twisting his ankle against the Pistons so one time I shot a jumper and Lynn Mary did it to me and I stepped on his foot but I stepped on a hide and twist my ankle I don't know a quarter or two later he was shooting that jumper I slid mine in there that's the last time he ever did it really and when Bill Lambert was caught the NBA's dirtiest player by Michael Jordan [Applause] he responded in a way that showed his true colors Michael Jordan may be a very good outstanding basketball player but as a individual down-to-earth heart person he he has only who is he who cares about him he all he does is play basketball in the in the world he's this big yeah I can see why nobody liked him and during the 1986 season the All-Star team had just been announced bird as the group of reporters if lambeer who had been an All-Star the last three years but the Pistons had made the team again when he heard land beer was not selected Larry Bird said good now I won't have to worry about him getting on the bus and saying hi Larry and me having to say you Bill but that year they would still see each other in the playoffs I was always the one that came out first there's always a leprechaun out on the floor I'd go out and spit right on the leprechaun rub my foot in it and then go down and make a big dunk away we went attention was obviously high and in one game Robert Parish said I feel like landbeard took some cheap shots at me I guarantee something will break out if they let it go next time and though nothing happened the rest of that series the very next year they met again in the Eastern Conference Finals and in game four it got crazy right open people see sting and 24 seconds clock goes down and bird and Lee vehicle at it Larry Bird and Bill Lane beer have both been ejected from the game bird throwing a ball at lambeer and Rodman coming over Larry Bird said bambia was backing away from me didn't want any part of me I wish they would have cleared the court for about 15 minutes and just let us go at each other and build and beer and classic build and beer fashion he said I didn't do a thing I tried to grab hold of him to break his fall and Larry came up swinging I was victimized and Larry Bird responded sure he wasn't trying to hurt me and I was trying to throw the ball at the referee Bill's face just got in the way when you play the same team four five six seven times right in a row within the space of about two weeks it's got to be bad temper our ball Club I always feel will retaliators not instigators and I think the other team like Detroit they are the instigators and in that next game when Bill and beer tried to come out and Shake Larry Bird's hand Larry looked at Bill and said go [ __ ] yourself I always have respect for my opponents Larry said but in my instance I think Lambert was trying to hurt me so in game five the Celtics got their Revenge I was at the game and the crowd just had so much hatred for lambeer for that game I've never felt I've never been in any sort of a sporting event where the crowd hated a player that much and I still am convinced to this day that the crowd convinced Parish to punch him in the second quarter no question very generally tried to teach [Applause] Parish takes Lane beer to the ground with a right forearm well they had said it was only a matter of time until somebody did this landbeer he had it coming that's I you know he had it coming because you watched the replay and it was like barely he did anything happened two plays before the camera's just got the part where Robert got mad see but nobody saw lambia's elbow that hit him in the neck right by the Adam's apple and all he did was react because people are sick and tired of this guy with the baby face putting his hands up all the time who me meanwhile he'll he'll suck a punch you he'll do everything in the game so as I said once before it couldn't happen to a nicer guy yeah I've kind of kind of know my shoulder Max I thought I don't get sucker party you know we have changed a few uh unpleasant trees then a few elbows that passed between us and then I just lost the third point so I couldn't believe that I lost my composure like that that's the first time ever this play epitomized 80s basketball because not only did this flurry of punches result in no ejections and no technicals but they didn't even call a foul they just kept playing Larry Bird called it a good deed but sometimes in the words of the great Frank Sinatra the best revenge is massive success because later on that game Larry Bird made the greatest play of his entire career we knew we had to win that game both teams knew that whoever won game five was probably going to win the series Casey had to play the starters almost the whole game and so our guys were just completely worn out there's bird off the screen from the corner basket by Larry Bird that's a two-pointer Detroit by three with a minute 13 and bird has 36. the Celtics have been to the finals in 84 85 86 and now it's 87. we're all beat up the guys that are playing are hurt um so you know it was just guts it was just a that's in Pride 3 41 to go in the game Detroit leading by two and that man is playing on nothing but heart he went out with an ankle injury that would keep most people out of the game came back in and now he's Twisted it again now the Boston moment there was a heartbreaking moment what was heartbreaking about that moment is I had made the game-winning shot everybody wants to beat the Pistons right now Boston is first in line in that desire they lead by one 27 seconds to go in but I was on Isaiah Thomas and he went one-on-one against me at the top of the floor I thought I played pretty good defense in Isaiah didn't get in the pain and he took a jump shot a contested jump shot and uh it went in out on the top of the floor against Susan 16 seconds Thomas with a very big bucket we go to the timeout we know Bird's gonna get it either on the left side or the right side and we got the play figured out we sent them left about five of us come over there to try to block the shot there's bird with the ball against him he'll take it to the hoop you can bet he's going to try to draw a foul it's blocked and seasting hit it off of a Detroit player no no ball goes out of bounds and I never forget everything just started when in slow motion so I run over we we look at the bench no time out nothing so I run over and I grab the ball Detroit should have called the time out Brian because they had a timeout left they could Advance the ball down to the other end of the floor there's a shot somewhere there's a photo that I saw that Chuck Daly is standing by their bench with his with his hands up calling time out Isaiah I remember to this day he's standing there like this to the referee give me the ball give me the ball give me the ball so I grabbed the ball from the referee lambeers good foul shooter I never taken the ball out that wasn't my thing right I I throw it up bird sneaks in I didn't even see him bird was moving right when he was inbounding the pass and when you look at it from a couple different film angles I mean he threw it right to him on the move and I had my back to where he was stealing the ball so when I turned around I was probably more shocked than anybody in the whole stadium that bird had the ball in his hands and this is probably one of the most incredible plays that's ever happened against me and that probably I've ever witnessed from an athletic standpoint two people being in sync and just bird just playing every second and that's what the Celtics taught us to play every second not to play 47 and a half minutes but to play a 448 and he had a smirk on it he knew the game was over and he had he almost had a smile on his face when they gave him the ball and he did not see bird at all but the thing I remember the most is that joker this is the out of bounds line that joker caught the ball and in my mind I'm like okay he going out of bounds that dude did this like a ballerina right and if you go back and you watch the play that dude is on his toes the the Baseline is right up under his toes and in my mind he must have stood there for about five seconds because every everything was going in slow motion in my mind right and then and it's like damn how are you doing that and then DJ out of nowhere right right they are so in tune they are so in sync he catches the you know bird hits him he catches the basketball later [Music] I'm walking to the Huddle and as I come back out of the Huddle right we try to take the ball out of bounds or whatever Larry walks by and he goes the Celtics won that Series in seven games when Bill land beer tried to shake Larry Bird's hand again Larry just ignored it and walked straight through it Larry Bird said I don't like Bill land beer Why Should I shake his hand even Isaiah Thomas who was Bill Lambert's teammate for 11 years on the bad boy Pistons had this to say about him to tell you the truth if I did no bill I wouldn't like him either and when the Celtics retired Larry Birds Jersey in 1993 that hatred was still there [Applause] this seems like a perfect night I mean except for the fact that bill Lambert couldn't be here what would you tell him if he was we would probably hang him up with my my number because back in the day the animosity was not for show when they hated each other they really hated each other and it didn't stop when they were tired they were enemies for life I hate Larry Bird but I respect the hell out of that man I respect Isaiah Thomas's Talent no matter how much I hated yeah I respect his game but Bill land Beer's hate was on another level because he didn't respect anybody not even his own teammates in his last Detroit Pistons practice before he retired lambeer elbowed the star player Isaiah Thomas and broke his rib and when Isaiah Thomas got angry Lambert elbowed him again Bill Lambert once said I don't fight I agitate then walk away but this time Isaiah Thomas didn't let him walk away because in retaliation Isaiah Thomas punched bill lambeer in the head breaking his own hand resulting in Isaiah being sidelined for eight weeks like I said I can see why nobody liked him I don't give an inch at all on the on the court I don't give anybody any respect I think that's the major problem with a lot of other players is I don't respect their game if they happen to get in the way well that's not my fault that's their fault I make no apologies for my game throughout my career whatever the general public thinks about my style of play I really could care less you left the Bad Blood on the court for the most part but not with lambeer I never really ever liked landbear in any social situation no yeah and uh it's because he was a dirty player Larry Bird sitting next to you right now would you talk to him would you have a conversation with him what would you say I probably go to a different table

Channel: Prime Larry Bird

Views: 1,512,682

Keywords: NBA, NBA History, Larry Bird, NBA Legends, GOAT

Id: F2AF0y19HS4

Length: 14min 52sec (892 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 28 2023