Watched Bird and carried a large two-person banner to Championship Parade #16. He really was that good. Remember what Magic, the best point, 2, 3,, but he said, "Larry Bird is the only player I truly fear on the basketball court. Because I know, right now, he's out there, working on getting better, last year he added a left-handed, one-handed shot. Classic Bird-MJ interaction. After the game that saw the Bulls clinch a third straight NBA Finals berth, cameras caught Jordan approaching former on-court rival and then-Pacers coach Larry Bird in Boston Celtics great Larry Bird doesn't need hyperbole to be a legend, so we fact-check some of the best stories about one of the greatest basketball players ever. Michael Jordan said that. Jordan. A couple of years back, Bird’s former teammate on the Boston Celtics, Kevin McHale, shared a ridiculous story about how Larry told the Phoenix bench what he was going to do for the final shot to win a game, went out and did it, and then yelled “told you so” at the Suns bench. Incredible. But that’s just Bird was one of those players. Even just in his second year, he became a leader of the Celtics. At the end of his career, Parish acknowledged that Bird was the ideal captain of the team. “We had Larry, which was a great offensive force,” Parish said in a video put out by the Boston Celtics last year to commemorate their 1986 championship Hall of Fame Boston Celtics small forward Larry Bird ‘s unique confidence and trash-talking prowess as a teammate left strong impressions on everyone who played with him, former Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge among them. The current Utah Jazz team president and onetime teammate of Bird’s in Boston made an appearance Larry Bird paid Dennis Johnson the best compliment when he said DJ was the best player he ever played with. Johnson was never the flashiest player in the NBA, nor was he a stats stuffer. He was the consummate professional who made his NBA living playing defense and making clutch shots. 26. “The best player I ever played with was Dennis Johnson.”—Larry Bird. 27. “I’ve been around a while. I kinda know these things.”—Lady Bird. 28. “The best players will play. That’s the way it will always be.”—Lady Bird. 29. “I like being by myself.”—Lady Bird. 30. Few players have ever matched James’ absurd basketball IQ, one that he’ll use to continue to dominate for the next few seasons as his career winds down. 2 Larry Bird The 1987 Finals was the culmination of Magic and Bird's decade-long rivalry that dominated the NBA. Between the two players, they won eight NBA titles, five Finals MVP awards, six league MVP 6Tc1.