Getty Kevin Garnett pinpoints the time when he realized Celtics legend Larry Bird was more than just a great basketball player.
As the Boston Celtics gear up for the 2024 NBA Finals, Kevin Garnett, the leader of the last Celtics championship team in 2008, spoke about how people are drawing comparisons between Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Boston legend Larry Bird.
Speaking on the May 31 “Ticket & the Truth” podcast, Garnett initially went off topic when talking about the Luka/Bird comparisons. He talked about Bird’s famous trash-talking during his playing days. Garnett said he remembered the exact moment when he realized Bird was a “beast” on the basketball court.
“I knew Larry Bird was a beast when he was talking [expletive] to Xavier McDaniel,” Garnett said. “If everybody don’t know who X-Man is, go back and watch X and [Charles Oakley] fighting in [Madison Square Garden]. Ain’t nobody trying to break it up.”
Xavier McDaniel Recalled the Night Larry Bird Beat Him
Garnett referred to a December 1986 game (when Garnett was 10 years old) when Bird hit a game-winning shot over McDaniel to beat the Seattle SuperSonics 104-102.
The game was tied with 13 seconds left. Boston called a timeout, and the plan was to get Bird the ball. That was no secret.
In fact, Bird even told McDaniel, who was guarding him, that he was about to get the ball. He told the Seattle forward where he was getting the ball and how he’d score. Sure enough, Bird hit the game-winning shot over McDaniel, who had nothing but respect for the Celtics forward.
“He talked [expletive],” McDaniel told Sportscasting in 2022. “I remember my second year in the league we were going at it all night. You could see us talking. He hit a shot, like he said he would, and then looks at me and says, ‘I didn’t mean to leave time on the clock.’ There was something like .9 seconds left. He was a (expletive)-talking dude.”
Kevin Garnett Said Larry Bird Talked Trash to Everyone
Garnett played down comparisons between Bird and Doncic.
“You see they talking about Luka, comparing him to Larry Bird?” Garnett asked co-host and former Celtics star and teammate Paul Pierce. “Larry Bird used to talk [expletive] to [expletive], white boys, Asians. He didn’t give a [expletive] who you was. You understand?
“Larry Bird played during an era where if you was talking [expletive], a fight might come with that [expletive]. You understand? You remember that?” said Garnett, who was once ranked among NBA’s toughest players all-time, according to Bleacher Report.
He came to the Celtics via trade before the 2007-2008 season after playing 12 years — 10 as an All-Star — with the Minnesota Timberwolves.. In his first season with the Celtics, he helped bring home a championship after winning Defensive Player of the Year and finishing third in the MVP voting. Boston’s 2008 title was the first for Boston since Bird led the way in 1986.
Bird won three championships in the 1980s and was named the NBA’s MVP in three straight seasons during the decade.
McDaniel and Bird were completely different types of NBA players. McDaniel’s game was physicality. He’d back his opponent down in the post and he’d muscle them on defense. Bird was more finesse. He could beat you from the inside and outside. His passing game was top-notch. Bird could beat you in a number of ways.