Locker room interview with Celtics player Larry Bird on the change in management styles between his coaches. See the entire news story at Boston TV News Digital Library (bostonlocaltv.o....
Fitch was very old school which Larry understood because the game was focused more on the fundamentals. I think KC recognized the game was changing and he knew how to adapt the players to the newer style. Larry probably saw Fitch as an extension of his college playing experience then when KC came along he transitioned to the newer uptempo style of the game.
Yeah, Larry admired and respected him a lot. In the "When the Game Was Ours" book, Larry says he was against firing Bill Fitch, but the other guys wanted him out, which is why they gave up in the 83 playoffs. Bird of course was furious because of that.
@@BoogieWoogieCat Fitch was the coach that called Larry "Kodak" because of Bird's ability to take "pictures" in his mind and play the game a few plays ahead of the other players.
@@BoogieWoogieCat It's almost hard to believe that a team that wins it all in 81 is in full blown Mutiny by 83. I love that Larry took a hard line and basically chastised his teammates for giving up and stated Never Again!!! I believe this helped Bird formulate and live by his own rule that he would not coach longer than 3 years as players tune out the coach after that long
@@adamr6794 I can see Larry thinking that way but Red Auerbach coached the Celtics for many years and won a lot of championships. You gotta respect Larry for sticking by his coach though.
Larry Bird really liked Bill Fitch even though Fitch was beyond demanding. The reason The Celtics got washed out out of the 1983 Playoffs is that the team purposely tanked because they hated Fitch so much. Bird was not involved in any way and when he found out about it he was livid and Bird let everyone know that it would not happen again. Fortunately KC was a great fit. Later on when Bird coached he told everyone he would only coach for 3 years because after 3 years players will tune out any coach.
Nice to see someone whos done the reading and knows their history. Do you think the Jones was really a better coach for Boston? Or do you think they maybe beat the Lakers one more time (85 or 87) if they have a better X and O's guy and not just a players coach?
@@JoeKnows44 I think KC was the right guy for that group. The Celtics came together and excelled as a "team" during that stretch peaking in 86. I believe the 84 Lakers were a better team than the Celtics but the Celtics used every trick in the book to mess with their heads and handled the heat of Games 5 & 7 much better than the Lakers. The 85 Lakers were bent on avenging that loss in 84 I don't think a better tactician on the Celtics bench would have stopped LA. The Celtics 86 team wasn't going to lose to anyone. In 87 Injuries kept the Celtics from truly competing yet still Bird had a chance to tie the series in Game 4 but came up short. Who knows what happens if he sinks that shot.
Wow. 😮. Reading your two comments have me astounded. I learned something I never knew about the Celts slow dogging it during the playoffs. What a huge let down for me right now. And my poor pops is turning over in his grave. What a shame to find this out. I know Larry was beside himself. My only question is, how did a player with birds intuition not figure out that his mates were dogging it. 🤷🏻♂️
@@chaelodoul9401 .......These remarks are mostly taken from the book "When The Game Was Ours." The following year, the Bucks embarrassed them with the four-game sweep in the conference semis. It was clear something wasn’t right with Boston. While the casual Celtics fan had no idea, the team had a problem with the way Fitch ran things in Boston. Many of the Celtics players turned on their coach. Former Celtics forward M.L. Carr was blunt when speaking about the mindset of some of the players from that 1983 team. They wanted Fitch gone. “I’ll admit it,” he said in Jackie MacMullan’s book When the Game Was Ours. “Our goal in 1983 wasn’t to win a championship. It was to get rid of Fitch.” None of this sat well with Bird, who quickly became more than just a leader on the court. “I was ticked off,” Bird said, per MacMullan. “After (Game 4 of the Bucks series), I told Red, ‘Hey look, we’ve got no leadership here. If you want me to lead this team, I will. But we’ve got to get back to winning championships and forget all this other crap because it’s killing us.’ And I meant it.” After venting to Auerbach, he laid into his teammates. “Most of what he said was unprintable,” said former Celtics guard Quinn Buckner. “And he was very pointed in his comments. Most of the guys were looking around the room as if to say, ‘He’s not talking about me.’ But they must have gotten the message because everyone came back in better shape the next season.” The Celtics went on to reach the NBA Finals the next four seasons, winning championships in 1984 and 1986.
@chaelodoul9401 Maybe because the very notion of doing such a thing - to the organization, to themselves, to the fans, to their fellow teammates - was just 🤯 unfathomable to Bird. 🤷♀️ All water under the bridge now and no telling if they would have beat the Bucks to go on that year.... We can't know what the alternate timeline would have been like.
No doubt, all about respect...Different eras n its all about them...Perfect example being Lebron wanted everyone to keep their big mouths (in his mind) shut if they showed any support for Hong Kong...Now what was the big crime they were committing? They are demanding Liberty from the tyrannical Chinese govt and thats unacceptable to Lebrun cuz could interfere with his $....SO Lebron (imho) really could care less about persons enslavement so long as its benefitting him....Right now, as we speak, there are people who are slaves..I don't care if the Chinese govt pays them .10 an hour they are slaves and are told to make those shoes so Lebron can buy his fancy houses...Thats y I know he a complete fraud and its disgusting that he condones child slavery in horrible conditions...He should be up in arms about whats going on to make Lebron's shoes...Slavery going on right f n now and not a peep outta him...? Also why does Nike have any voice in anything...Their entire business model is built upon employing a foreign slave to make their products at a maximum profit...How is it that they are skating by, lecturing everyone when they are slave masters...Literally!! No one says a f n word and its truly pathetic...So in Lebron's world he'll say all this n that here and our media pick it up like he's some damn hero when he knows damn well kids are enslaved to make him and his buddies $ and he could give 2 shits....Hes not alone he and many others, ironically many African Americans who talk a big game, who have no issues with foreign people being slaves, actual f n slaves but Lebron wants to tell us Trump is the pos....He needs to look str8 in the mirror...I cannot believe all these "social justice warriors" get away with their fake outrage...Wheres KAP also? He's running his big mouth how kids are being mistreated and killed but haven't heard a word about him criticizing Nike who are modern day masters buuuuttt the big difference is they're cutting him a check so that slavery is alllll good....Fuck their fake outrage and its a total fraud...Im not saying you agree with any of this and I didn't intend for this to go in this direction but I'm tired of these athletes getting away with their bullshit and in turn people, kids, are suffering greatly as slaves in horrible conditions so they can pay KAP and Lebron and many many other...Phil Knight is the modern day master so where are the mobs!? Do foreign slaves count in their perverse world? Clearly not and according to Lebron the people of Hong Kong better shut their mouths, they don't deserve freedom cuz if the got it then China would be mad and that in turn would take $ outta Lebron's and his friends' pockets so they need to shut up and listen to their China Masters...Only Lebron deserves the fruits of their slave labor, right? Oh and KAp and master Phil also, he's gotta get his--I can't forget Master Michael Jordan whose own about children slave labor for years but those jets and 10 homes cost a lotta $ and someone has to suffer so there you go mike glad you got ur 36 holes in today while likely few slave kids died...Total f n frauds
Typical liberal subversive reporter, angling for a quote to Reste division and create controversy. Larry legend would never give that to you. Yet another reason why he’s the best!
