Larry Bird Blames Indianna Pacers
Former Boston Celtic sets the standard for team behaviour.
Larry Bird is up to his old tricks. He's speaking with bravado and making demands. This time, though, Bird is not mocking opponents; he's calling out his Indiana Pacers.
It's been fourteen years since Larry Bird rained in three-pointers, like they were lay-ups, or made around-the-back passes that would bring a smile to the face of any Harlem Globetrotter.
It seems even longer since Bird mocked opponents on NBA basketball courts and glared at any referee with the guts to call a foul, when Bird charged to the boards, banging bodies haphazardly to snatch a rebound.
Bird was known around the NBA as a deadly sharpshooter and a consummate competitor. He was also regarded as a bit of a trash talker. Of course, unlike most of today's NBA talkers, Bird had the skill to back up his admonitions.
A three-time winner of the NBA's 3-point shootout, Bird was known to waltz into the locker-room prior to the event and ask his opponents, "Who's going to finish second this year?" They had no room to get upset, either, because everyone knew Bird would not lose. He was just that good.
Now, many years later, Bird is the president of the Indiana Pacers, and his hard-nosed, to-the-point approach has not changed. It seems that some of Bird's Pacers are talking a different kind of trash, since Indiana was dismissed in the first round of the 2006 NBA playoffs. Stephen Jackson, who showed off on the court on numerous occasions during the season has questioned his teammates, and star forward Jermaine O'Neal has been rumored to have requested a trade.
It's been suggested that the answer to the Pacers' problems may be to make some management changes. Bird won't hear of this, and his comments are the most refreshing kind of trash talking the NBA has seen in decades.
"(The players) are the ones that have to make the changes," Bird told ESPN. "If they can't make the changes, yes, we have to look to move them."
Bird was equally hard on Jackson saying, "I don't like our fans booing our players, but some of the things Stephen was doing out on the court frustrated me. I was embarrassed at times."
It's hard to imagine that one of the greatest champions the NBA has ever seen as a player will settle for anything less than a winner, as president of the Pacers.
So, there may be new faces in Indiana in the future. But in all likelihood, French Lick native, Larry Joe Bird, will remain.
Along with his familiar and refreshing brand of trash talking.
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