The Celtics great engaged in that banter with many fellow Hall of Famers such as Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Bernard King. However, the Celtics great held tremendous respect for his opponent, anchored by his fear of guarding the former 76ers star.īird knew when to pick and choose his spots to trash-talk opposing players, and Erving didn’t fall into that window. The physical altercation between Bird and Erving certainly suggested otherwise. It was said I yelled things at him one night, but that was M.L. “Julius Erving also was a much better defensive player than most people gave him credit for. Well, when the good doctor was on the left side he had a very good bank shot, and I was scared to death of that, so that wasn’t necessarily the answer either,” Bird said via Basketball Network. “Some people said, ‘You should just give him the outside shot”.

J’īird developed a notorious reputation for his infamous trash-talking.Īlthough there are numerous stories regarding his legendary banter, Bird revealed in his autobiography entitledĭrive: The Story of My Life that he never attempted to engage in back-and-forth on-court chatter with Erving. Larry Bird surprisingly revealed Julius Erving was exempt from his infamous trash-talking: ‘Believe me, I never said a word to Dr. Despite the fierce rivalry, Bird made a surprising reveal concerning his on-court interactions with Erving. The incident only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to underline the heated nature of the competition. The frequent matchups led the divisional rivals to engage in a few on-court fights, most notably the physical altercations featuring Bird and Erving exchanging punches during a regular-season game in November 1984. The two teams faced off one last time in the 1985 conference finals, with Boston grabbing the edge in five games before falling to the Lakers in the Finals. Meanwhile, Bird led the Celtics to the 1981 NBA title over the Houston Rockets after topping the 76ers. Philadelphia faced Boston in three consecutive postseasons, getting the edge twice (1980, 1982) before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals both times. In the early 1980s, the Celtics and 76ers competed as the top teams in the Eastern Conference vying for NBA title contention. Like Michael Jordan, Bird has had some legendary trash-talking stories. Early in Bird’s career, he engaged in intense on-court battles with Erving that created many highly memorable moments. Larry Bird has a claim to be one of the greatest trash talkers ever as well.

Was larry bird a good trash talker