Young Larry Bird DOMiNATES Rockets In His NBA Finals Debut | 1981 NBA Finals Game 1 | VintageDawkins 

Man, Larry Bird was so fast! He was everywhere....he shoots, rebound, hustle, and pass. What a legend!

I don't care what anyone says. This man is top 5 of all time. One of the best players to play the game.

The degree of difficulty of the two left hand shots from the base line (including the famous tip in) is soooo high, and Bird does that effortlessly. Amazing.

A young healthy Bird is a joy to behold!

One of the smartest, skilled players ever to play basketball with the heart and will to win second to none.

The 4:37 rebound finger roll is one of the best single plays in nba history

The intangibles Larry Bird brought to the floor each night shouldn't go without mention. In an era of tough ballplayers, Bird was THE toughest. His determination was contagious and to be the greatest passer in the game, he had to have teammates who knew they needed to be ready to get the ball at any time, from any spot on the floor, whether Bird was looking in their direction or not. Watching the Boston Celtics TEAM, with Bird in his prime, was a joy. Bird made everyone better: his teammates, his coaches and his opponents. In doing so, he made himself better as he had to challenge himself to excel as those around him were challenging themselves to play at Bird's level. #NoOneBetter

I know this is a bird tribute video but the kids these days need to know that moses malone at this stage of his career was as dominant of a center as any in history. He practically carried the rockets to the finals

4:39 I remember watrching this game and thinking "Did I just see that?" As great a play as I'll ever see.

Good to see actual basketball game, and not a 3 point shooting contest.

This was an excellent example: people have always called Bird slow, couldn't jump, and was un-athletic. This may be true when it came to running the court from end to end. But Bird was always FAST, especially under the basket. He had a great sense of positioning for rebounds, and timing for going up to rebound the ball. And he typically out-quicked taller players for the ball - usually left them flat-footed. The first half of his career he never failed to average above 10.0 rebounds per game, and he had several seasons of averaging around 11.0 rebounds per game. He was lightning quick in going up for the ball, and putting it back up for layups when they were offensive boards. He often out-jumped bigger true centers like Malone, Dawkins, Abdul-Jabbar who could have taken rebounds away from him by just reaching over him. Also, people have said that Bird was a poor one-on-one defender, and there may be truth to this. But he was also arguably the best all-time TEAM defender in NBA history. The ability to roam the paint and sneak up behind opponents who were dealing with Parrish, McHale, or Maxwell who were all great defenders and shot blockers in their own right, and steal the ball, intercept a pass, or block a shot from behind. In fact, there are so many of these type of team defensive plays that Bird made in his career that impacted games, that a highlight reel of all of them could be made, and there are so many of them, that someone who didn't know Bird from his playing days and watched the video, would surmise from it that Bird was one of the top all-time greatest DEFENSIVE players in NBA history.....

The rebound layup @4:37 is one of the best ever... His passing and court Vision was amazing.

Thanks for sharing this video. Bird should been FMVP but Maxwell was more liked by the press and a more lively interview. Respect to Maxwell but lets look at the game by game stats. Game 1 Bird 18 pts, 21 reb and 9 assists to Max at 10 pts 9 reb and 5 assists. Game 2 was Bird at 19 pts, 21 reb and 3 assists to Max at 6 pts 4 reb and 2 assists. Game 3 was Bird at 8 points 13 reb and 10 assists and 5 steals to Max at 19 points 10 reb and zero assists. Game 4 was Bird at 8 points and 12 reb and 7 assists to Max at 24 points and 14 reb and 1 assist. For Game 5 Bird was 12 points and 12 reb and 8 assists to Max at 28 points and 15 reb and 3 assists and game 6 Bird was 27 points and 13 reb and 5 assists to Max at 19 points and 5 reb and 6 assists. SO in summary Bird clearly outplayed Maxwell in games 1 and 2 and 6. Maxwell clearly outplayed Bird in games 4 and 5. And if we look at game 3 Bird was the better player in that game as well ( Bird had 5 steals), which means Bird actually outplayed Maxwell in 4 of the 6 games. Bird did not shoot the ball as well as the previous series vs Sixers but Houston made a concerted effort to defend Bird and Bird used that to his team's advantage by passing the ball to Maxwell for inside the paint scoring. Bird almost outrebounded Moses Malone in this series. Coach Bill Fitch even remarked after this series that Bird was the best player in this series.

How he didn't get Finals MVP for this game and the closeout game alone is unreal.

Look how Bird did put extreme effort in defending starts 06:53, he jumped everywhere the ball goes. He jumped 5 times tried to steal, steal, block, rebound/block, rebound the ball, all in 10 seconds only.

Healthy Bird was not to be denied. Rebounds, scoring, passing, assists and even defensively Larry was out to win.

BIRD in his prime ! Nobody better !

Wish we could have seen that version of Bird on The Dream Team

..there are three things i regret i missed in my life , Elvis Presley , Frank Zappa concerts and the parquet Boston Garden 85' a lifetime emotional attendance that never happened to be , while living in Boston......well in fact it was a lovely Dorchester ...with love to MA from Poland , ....how i miss Boston.........

Bird was the goat in his NBA Finals championships. The man was amazing.

The pace of the game was so much faster back then these men were more durable and better stamina than players today

Holy moly! How much more enjoyable it is to watch LB’s game than ALL of the slaps that play today, frankly since the 90’s early early 00’s. 😌

18 points 21 rebounds and what half a dozen assists....WOW

Larry Legend in the making

Nice to see a different slow mo angle of "the rebound shot" @4:54 Fundamentals baby, fundamentals

I didn't understand why they gave the Finals MVP to Maxwell because Larry Bird was the leading rebounder in the series and had 2 games with 21 boards in each, his passing was next level, his hustle was so motivating, and Larry was clutch. Bird also had 28 points in the deciding game, so clutch. Overall, Bird didn't have a high scoring series but his all around play was great. With that said, I think it was obvious Bird was the best player on the floor. 💪

Moses Malone was at his best with the Rockets. He was the star of that Rockets team.

Greatest SF ever

If a magic basketball genie said I could start a team, and seed it with any player ever as my first pick, I'd choose Larry. You know everybody on the squad will go all out, think team first, be hard AF, talk the talk and walk the walk. And win.

Extremely physical basketball, here! Bird should’ve been named FMVP but he was the opposite of a media darling…

Always enjoyed Bird's game - dominant in so many ways. But the most enjoyable thing about this clip was just watching this style of finals basketball. Everybody hustling, a physical contest, a fast break that looks like a fast break. Lanes clogged with big men fighting for the rebounds....

And I still think he is better than magic. Although I respect magic. Larry bird done more things better than Vice versa

Look at Larry Bird, He is everywhere , You need me? ,he said" Here I am, just give it to me , There goes two now, I'll give some more in the end as a bonus , Go Bird, Go.

LARRY BIRD WAS THE BEST ALL-AROUND PLAYER IN NBA HISTORY.

Never realized this is where Bird and DJ got the whip it off the backboard pass they ran several years later (to better success than the attempt shown here by Houston)

I don't care what anyone says, Larry is THE GOAT.

this is terrific video quality

Actually while the series was going on Robert Reid was getting a lot of praise for shutting down Larry in Games #4 and #5. Then came Game #6.....the critics were wrong again!

This has to be one of my new favourite Channels!!!!!

Bird the stylist and my fav all time

I have officially nominated Mr. Bird to be 'King of the Universe'

All these guys together had 1 more championships than Bill Russell by himself.

Refs threw the whistles away in that forth quarter.

I can't believe the Kansas City Kings were one game away from playing in the Finals lol.

These passes while he adjusts are crazy

Averaged 15 boards per game vs a prime in this series! Along with 15ppg an 7ast.

Interesting to contrast this first game of the 1981 finals to the first game of the 2022 finals. In the former game the emphasis for both teams was to pound the ball inside, while in the latter game it looked like a 3-point shooting contest. But in both games the winner was the team that passed the ball more effectively.

That intro theme music: “They say that cat Bird is a baaaaddd moth - shut your mouth! I’m talkin’ ‘bout Bird! Then we can dig it!”

This was one of my favorite teams!

The Bird is the word.

As for me, I have this Top 6 Basketball Players of All Time. 1. Earvin Magic Johnson 2. Larry The Legend Bird 3. Jerry the Logo West 4. Oscar Big O Robertson 5. Michael Jordan 6. Kobe Bryant 7 Kareem Abdul Jabbar 8. Wilt Chamberlain 9. Shaquille O' Neal 10.

Love watching old school basketball. They move the ball around a lot more than today's nba. U hardly see any 1 on 1. They shoot 15 footers when they are open which is what ur supposed to do. Not today. Today its let me take it into the defender and see if I can dunk it so I can get a commercial.

The rebounding insane

After magic his first ring you can tell bird was hungry to get his doing everything

4:57 insane

Nice to see Robert Reid. He was a fun player to watch; good on offense.

21 rebounds is not a joke.

What a passer he was.

4:33 top play

Larry Bird is 5th in my all time great book

Lets play a pickup game, you get first pick, you take mike, i take magic, you take lebron, i take.. Wait a second, i got Larry AND magic? GAME OVER!

Dominated? Larry in game 3, 4 and 5 scored 8, 8 and 12. It's a miracle the Celtics were able to overcome his bad play

Larry Bird was as good as anyone ever. Just doesn’t have the rings and MVPs to move up on the GOAT debate. But,the eye test has him up there with everyone

@0:40 Dr J was free underneath if the pass was on point. Man, what a series.

Don't get it twisted don't forget old Cornbread Maxwell.

So much less perimeter offence back then

King Larry,was too high for this Time 💪

Stylistically the best basketball ever played. Fast break at every opportunity and unsettle the defense with the pass. Iso is cute, but easy baskets prolong careers and win championships

I never knew ML Carr got so much playing time, lol.

Calvin Murphy was good with the rockets, as the shortest player in the NBA.

Jordan wins the point race but bird wins the games. Winning is everything in war and sports.

bird got robbed of FMVP

Did you see the rebounds by Bird at 6:33 ?

10 years later the shorts would be twice as long

The flew coach to get to games. Remember they are tall! How they did this is unknown.

2:15 This was something the Rockets did more than once?

Nate "Tiny" Archibald....saweeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Bird was Money!

Requested video: Giannis 50 pts 14 rebs and 5 blks in game 6 of 2021 finals

This was before Mchale joined the team?

PG: 1 Magic 2 J Stockton SG: 1 MJ 2 Kobe SF: 1 Bird 2 LBJ PF: 1 T Duncan 2 K Malone C: 1 Kareem 2 Wilt this is the hardest position as you have Russell, The Dream, Moses, Ewing, Admiral and probably missed some here. Dr J and Sir Charles at pf and sf just miss. Same for logo J West and the chef at Sg and pg. Those top 2 at each position hard to argue thus you have a top 10 of all 5 positions leaving the GOAT 🐐 discussion moot as LBJ isn't better than Bird as a player, athletic yes. MJ beats out Kareem as the GOAT 🐐 Imo from the best 5 at each position. Double digit all NBA, scoring champ, all-star selections, all Defense 9 times. Best to do to date!

Always so shocking seeing how bad basketball players used to be

Luka Doncic and Larry Bird have very few in common style wise and yet they constantly get compared. So stupid.

why does it say vs kansas city?

He was 100 times better than Jordan Best shooter in the world

Lol. 21 boards. Some play as well as Larry. But, you can’t play that game better. As good as it gets.

Not that it matters but why in god's name weren't they running a play to get it into Bird's hands during that last trip down?

Rockets had no business playing in this Finals 😂😂😂L

if only his right index finger was fixed,maybe he can even broke Hondo's scoring average.

As a Rockets fan this shit is unwatchable: Reid's prowess wasted, Malone's career squandered, minutes given to inferior white hope #5, giant ass first quarter lead bled away, Bird and that goddamn should have been boxed out off hand put back.....

all of maxwells points came from Birds creation. pathetic finals mvp pick.

So many fouls that weren't called. lol Not haymakers necessarily, but tons of fumbling and tumbling about. Nice.

The Rockets record was 40-42. Overrated finals win by the 3rd best SF ever.

The only 24 ppg 10 rpg and 6 apg for Bird's career averages in NBA history.