Moses Malone had said enough to Larry Bird. Before the Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets in the 1981 NBA Finals, Malone, the center for the Houston Rockets, tore into Bird and the team. During a victory celebration known as Boston Celtics Day, Bird had the last laugh.
While tens of thousands of supporters were yelling during the parade, Bird brought up Malone, much to the amusement of both media teams and Malone himself. Television crews were not amused by Bird’s use of a four-letter slur while referring to the Rockets big man.
In 1981, Larry Bird defeated Moses Malone and the Rockets to win his first NBA championship.
Even in his second NBA season, Bird had already contributed to the Celtics’ renown. In his debut season, Bird averaged 21.3 points and 10.4 rebounds, which helped the struggling team turn things around. The Celtics concluded the next season with a 62-20 record.
In the meantime, the Kansas City Kings shocked the Phoenix Suns, who led the Western Conference with a record of 57-25, in a seven-game series. Following that, the Rockets and Kings squared off in the Western Conference Finals, which pitted two 40-42 clubs against one another. To get to the NBA Finals, Houston overcame Kansas City in five games.
The opening four games of their series were shared between Boston and Houston. In Game 5, Cedric Maxwell scored 28 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 109-80 victory over the Rockets. With 27 points from Bird, Boston won Game 6 102-91 to wrap out the series in six games.
Moses Malone was ripped by Larry Bird on Boston Celtics Day.
In the 1981 NBA Finals, it was expected that the Celtics would defeat the Rockets. The Celtics shouldn’t have been in the championship series, according to Malone. He thought the Philadelphia 76ers were the superior club, having tied the Celtics with 62 regular-season victories. He expressed his feelings to the Celtics.
Malone had reportedly stated of the Celtics, “I could take four guys off the streets of Petersburg (Malone’s Virginia hometown) and beat them,” according to United Press International. In addition, he called the Celtics “chumps.”
It seems that Bird wasn’t too fond of that.
Bird reacted to an anti-Malone placard in the crowd on Boston Celtics Day at City Hall.
He addressed the assembly, saying, “I think after all the hollering and screaming, I look out in the crowd and see one thing that typifies our season.” “Yes, Moses consumes s***.”
Even while the audience cheered, TV teams providing live coverage of the event weren’t too happy. Bird later expressed regret for the language he used.
Bird stated, “I guess I was just so naturally happy with everything that I wanted to agree with the fans. There were signs in the crowd saying the same thing.” I became enmeshed in the mood. I didn’t want to cause anyone any offense.
