I agree with this statement. To be on the same team as Larry Bird, you had to be awake all the time because if the other team didn't know he was going to pass, you better know it was a possibility and be ready to receive it.
I'm willing to bet they had an insane amount of passing drills during practice. These plays with multiple passes in this video have so much precision. They were a defenses nightmare.
Bird was one of the few players that made ALL his teammates better while still getting his. I'm glad the younger generation is seeing the greatness of basketball history and understanding that their really were great players that played in the past. I enjoyed your reactions!
Somebody once said, "Jordan would make you look slow, Bird would make you look stupid". There were a lot of times, I don't think the defense knew where the ball was until it was too late.
As far as Larry Bird going after loose balls and being on the floor...Bird made the comment that he couldn't stand to see a ball going out of bounds and a player standing there and watching it. It took a toll on his body over the years. But, that was just the way he played....hustle and heart! ❤️
If Larry hadn't played so hard every game he would've had a 20 year career. He gave more in 13 years then anybody ever gave in 20. Toughest, baddest motherfucker too ever play. Spend the night in traction, play the next day, break your face and still kick some ass. Even the fucking Pistons were scared of Bird.
The pass behind the back that you said "He didn't need to" was a tribute to his rival and friend Magic. That day Magic made the announcement that he was retiring due to his HIV diagnosis. The behind the back was Magic's specialty.
I read in Larry's book that he didn't like it when the papers would get on bench players, like Rick Robey. He stood up for him saying Rick busts his ass in practice. Not everybody has what it takes to dominate, but they can shine in their roles.
Larry was something else. Those long court passes…my goodness, he could have been a QB! No wonder he was so hard to defend…you didn’t know if he would shoot or pass. Wow! Good reaction guys. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Great reaction guys. The reason Larry was extremely effective as a passer, along with Magic the best, was that he could score at will and would often get double & triple teamed, leaving guys wide open. Same with his fakes- opposing players always fall for them because Larry was a passing genius and they knew he could get the ball to someone to score. As Laker James Worthy said about Bird- he was much tougher to guard than Michael Jordan. Larry could score 40 points every night in those days, but knew he had to get his teammates involved to win games. It took MJ years to learn this.
Magic was never the passer bird was. Magic is a tier below him. Bird was just that good. Magic wasnt even close. He only beat him because he had even more stars on his teams.
Several things here. First, Bird knew where every player on the court was at all times. Second, his teammates knew where to be Third, they expected the passes from Bird. Watch the video again and this time look at Birds teammates right before he passed the ball to them - they were ready and could handle the passes. Birds Celtics were all about playing as a team.
Right and LL said it in interviews - when there's 2 or 3 guys on him, somebody is wide open. Watch how many defenders Larry takes off the play before the pass.
Larry Bird was one of the top 3 or 4 players ever. And definitely the best small forward to ever play. If he'd have just been able to stay healthy no telling what he would have accomplished. And he'd be just as dominant in today's NBA.
More dominant. Today's style suits his style a lot more than rough, physical defense, getting hand checked on every shot, and the occasional Rick Mahorn body slam onto the floor. These days defenders can barely touch you or even look at you wrong without getting a foul called. The current NBA style emphasizes perimeter shooting, skilled and efficient passing, spacing, ect. Sounds like a blueprint for Bird domination. If guys like Curry, Doncic, and Jokic are among the best players in the league, Bird would OWN the league. He has most of their best attributes and then some. That includes even rebounding; Bird grabbed almost as many rpg as Jokic as crazy as that is. He often outrebounded the opposing team's starting center in addition to all the other crazy things he was doing, and this is sharing rpg with Parish and McHale. I'm in my mid-40s and still haven't seen a player quite like this guy. Some players have managed to do some things better, but you can't find all of these strengths in one player simultaneously that made him an absolute nightmare to guard from the inbound past to the paint on the other side. Every inch of the court was the "danger zone" when Bird stepped onto the court. You know Curry is dangerous outside and Shaq is a terror underneath the basket, but with Bird he can score or get an assist anywhere at any time.
That was so much fun watching you guys discover how great a passer he was. I've seen him in person a few times and that's even more amazing (and painful, when it's against your team lol) 🙃
Larry Legend was playing chess out there and everyone else is playing checkers. Seeing him play live at the Boston Garden will forever be one of my greatest memories. I was a teenager during the 80’s. NBA back then was must see TV!
You'll hear alot of his teamates tell stories of things Larry did to spice up the games. They suggest that he was bored sometimes and would make incredible plays just to spice up the game.
magics passes were definitely not easy ---he never looked at the guy he was passing to during fast breaks; he looked THE OTHER WAY...they have videos of magics dime just like this one ... they were both amazing at passing the ball
@@futuretimetraveller8677 The comparison was never meant to take anything away from Magic. It is just a comparison of styles. Magic was flash and glitter, an entertainer. This was perfectly suited to LA, Hollywood, California, and the "Showtime Lakers." Larry was lunch bucket, blue collar, working class, get the job done. This perfectly suited Boston, East Coast, and the Celtics. It was the difference in styles that made the Lakers/Celtics rivalry "must watch" TV and saved the NBA.
This is just one reason why Larry was Legend. And he understood that it was more important to get his teammates points than for him to score, because he could have scored at will but winning was more important.
This is one of many reasons why larry was the ultimate threat. He could do it all as he knew the fundamentals of how to be the perfect basketball player. Im sure it must have made even MJ panic a little when larry out of no where would literally throw a field goal pass across the entire damn court to a team mate in waiting. You can't steal that shit unless you know where its gonna land and not even MJ could intercept that shit in mid air. Now that is a monster threat. One minute you got the game in a lock and next minute you are on frantic defense as the celtics are about to get yet another bucket. Then there is those transfer passes. You are guarding who ever has the ball and then boom it goes to bird but just as you are dreading guarding a marksman the ball instantly moves to someone that everyone has overlooked. Boom! Bucket! No matter what larry always kept people busy but even with him telling them exactly what was about to happen they still would be left with the pants at the ankles feeling like a chimp. Still makes me chuckle how many legends he did that too including the goat.
When it comes to passing, Larry perfectly combined basketball with volleyball and football. Love watching you two, you make me smile…. Not an easy task.
@@KIDIff I grew up watching Larry Bird and you guys capture that sense of "is this witchcraft? How did he do that feeling I used to have all the time. Also on the crappy TVs back in the day, there were times I couldn't see how he made the pass. I was waiting for the Bird throws a full court pass while still in the air rebounding the ball pass.......and you guys looked like you saw a ghost! And that diving on the ground and whipping the ball over my back pass. Wizardly.
Quite frankly I've watched you guys watching Bird and I'm enjoying it. I graduated high school in 1977 and applied to both Michigan State and University of Michigan. Got accepted to both. Now these two schools aren't in the same league. Michigan State is a land grant farming college and U of M is a powerhouse academic institution. But guess what, my journalism teacher in HS who went to OSU said don't pick a school based upon some notion about that degree. Pick a school that will create memories because college is really about keeping you out of the workforce for 4 years. So Earvin "Magic" Johnson was the phenom in high school and he decided to stay home and go to Michigan State. He could have gone anywhere. I said to my dad "Fuck it, I'm going to Michigan State" because I'll be at a school that wins the NCAA championship. We did. We beat Bird my sophomore year. Now yeah, there were better schools, and yeah I got in one that traditionally was the incorrect choice, but I'll tell you what, I wouldn't trade Magic beating Bird in the NCAA Championship for anything. /truestory. btw, subbed. Good luck guys.
These guys are fun to watch and it's comforting to know they are digging into the past to learn how great players were in other generations rather than just accepting present players as the best. It's great to see their raw reactions to just how good Bird was.
One of the great things about Larry was he knew there were four other guys on the court that could play basketball too. His passing game is a testament demonstrating that he wanted everyone to be involved.
My favorite part of people reacting to this particular video is occasionally you'll say "oh man I thought he was going to shoot that"... even though you know it's a video about his passing. Excellent reminder of just how good his shot fake was
Great reaction , Magic was point guard and he certainly has more assists than Bird but Birds court vision and eye-hand coordination was unparalleled in his own time and still to this day!!!-All around best player ever hit the wood! 3 MVPS IN A ROW AND THE ONLY FORWARD TO WIN IT OVER TWICE-only Wilt and Russell won 3 in a row and all most others where centers! Think that’s why they call him Larry Legend!!! I 🎉❤
There was a reason that sometimes he would pass the ball instead of taking the shot. A few of the videos tells how he would do this if he thought one of his teammates wasn’t getting enough chances to be involved in the game.
Larry Joe Bird. In the 9 years before his back/foot injuries... 3 rings (5 finals), 3 MVPs, 2 Finals MVPs, averaged 25/10/6. Had the first 2 40/50/90 seasons ever and was fractions away from 2 more before those. His team won 60+ games 6 times, never winning less than 56 and once going 67-15, 4th best ever at the time before expansion. He is still the fastest to reach 10k points, 5k rebounds and 3k assists. That's quite a peak.
Imagine how alert EVERY TEAMMATE of Bird's had to be. The reason that other teams had a terrible time defending against Bird is because there was literally no way to tell if he was going to pass or shoot. His shooting was ALSO unbelievable. And if he was passing, you KNOW his boys had to watch him just as closely as the defenders.
Did y’all peep at the 13:00 minute mark Pete Maravich catching Larry’s longball pass and making the AND1 finish? This was Pete’s last season and Larry’s first-they played half a season together. Larry begged Pete to come back for one more season but his injured knees and disappointment with basketball pushed him to retire. Celtics ended up winning the championship in 1981, right after Pete retired. Two of the greatest players ever.
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 OMFG!!!!!! I love this reaction!!!! I watched these games with my Grandmother who worshiped Bird. Much love but there's a reason all us white folks bring up Larry Legend lol. Haven't watched the NBA since Larry retired, but definitely will check out more of your vids. ❤️❤️❤️
I love your reactions. Having grown up in Boston, Bird was the man. For me, Magic was a close second. But all respect. Both teams left it all on the court, and we fans were spoiled for life.
And that is how you gain legend status, the man was phenomenal to watch. Thanks to guys like him, Magic and Jordan that basketball was revived. Without the Magic/ Bird rivalry in the 80's, you may not be watching the NBA on primetime TV today
I think the craziest part about these is that every now and then you see the jerseys or hear a name from the shoutcasters and realize bird wasnt just doing this, he was doing it against jordan, thomas, barkley, kareem, magic, reggie, dominique, etc
He did a lot of this stuff to keep himself interested and challenged, like: "Wonder if I could do such-and-such?" And he was also a Team guy; he wanted to give his guys their due.
I came back to watch y'all's reaction to my favorite NBA player of all time - once again I laughed my ass off at the reactions... LOL "Adult diapers" hahahaha
That last behind the back pass when you guys said “he didn’t even need to” was a tribute to Magic, that was the day he was told Magic had AIDS and Bird was paying homage to his rival
I love love love your reactions, you make me laugh your going to do really good as reactors 🐐🐐 I love it Check out NBA Legends and players saying how scary good Larry Legend was THX guys best reactions ty Larry Legend 🐐☘️👍🏀🏀🏀🐐☘️
Larry Bird is so underrated. All you hear about today is. MJ, Kobe, Lebron, Magic, Steph Curry. But you never hear Larry Bird. Bird had a disadvantage in my opinion. Because he wasn't as athletic as those guys. But he used every ounce of athletic ability he had. Every single game.
Thanks for the reaction. That passing video is one of my favorite yt videos. I see new things every time 🙂. You are right tho, it doesn't show any of his off the backboard passes. Love those full court passes.
I think you guys just gave him a new nickname - Larry "WTF" Bird. I knew this loop would break your minds! fwiw: 20 yrs old and a 76ers fan when he was big.
A few things here: Bird got everyone involved in the game by passing like this, cuz if you weren't, you were eating a basketball. Next, Robert Parrish benefitted greatly by Bird's passing. Last, players were expected to finish the play after those laser passes, miss and you look the fool.
Offense, defense, play making ability and a hard nosed work ethic made this dude a legend. He wasn’t the strongest, fastest or most athletic. But he was mentally tougher than you
Larry tells his teammates "you get open, I'll find you" and he did again and again and againand againand againand againand againand againand againand again. He didn't throw it at the player, He "placed the ball in their hands".
Adult diapers bro I was rollin'. That looked exactly like that. That was a good one. Larry was GOAT in my book. His passing was above next level as well as the rest of his game
Most common thing I see people reacting to these Bird videos comment on is when someone falls and there doesn't seem to be a reason for them to have fallen. The reason is because Bird is already in their head and they failed to predict him and stumble trying to correct their mistake. If you were defending Bird, you had to outthink him. What is he going to do? The guy was a sharpshooter, could do crazy passes, would fake out the best defenders, and he is trash-talking to you the whole time. On top of all of that, he knew where everyone was, made decisions pretty much instantly and was even capable of changing tactics even after he already started making his move. By the time you decide what you think he is going to do, he is already moving and you realize in that split second that you were wrong. He was all-around a nightmare to defend.
