When it came to finding small ways to get himself motivated for a game, Larry Legend would always go above and above.
This generation will never comprehend the level of competition that Larry Bird attained on the basketball floor. Similar to the legendary Kobe Bryant, Bird possessed what is now commonly called the “Mamba Mentality.”
Actually, one of the greatest trash talkers in NBA history, according to some, was Bird, and he always had the evidence to back up his claims. Similar to Michael Jordan, Larry Legend would constantly go above and beyond to discover small methods to inspire himself before a game.
similar to asking the mop boy to do his research
The three-time champion frequently gave the ball boy in the arena he was about to play in the responsibility of researching some facts before to the game, according to Bird’s former teammate Danny Ainge (yep, the current executive of the Utah Jazz). According to Ainge, Bird used it as a kind of self-motivation and self-challenge to perform at a high level each and every night
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“Hey mop boy, go find the scoring record in this building,” Larry would say as he entered the changing rooms to have his ankles bandaged. In an NBA TV tribute to Larry Bird, Ainge once said, “He needed those kinds of challenges.”
This is only one of the numerous methods that Bird employed to energize himself prior to a game. He once acknowledged that he had to compete at a high level every night, thus this was something he had to do. Bird was always trying to stay one step ahead of his rivals, whether that meant playing mind games, finding out who held the record in the arena, or trash-talking rivals or even colleagues.
Indeed, Bird was always one step ahead.
What made Larry Legend unique besides his 3-point shooting was the variety of ways he altered the game. His strongest attributes were his passing, footwork, defense, hustle, and clutch gene. However, as Ainge emphasized, if it weren’t for his mindset and spirit of competition, which made him become the renowned Hall-of-Famer that he is, he would not have had those abilities
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It follows that Larry’s reputation as one of the best superstars to play for the Celtics, if not the greatest, is not surprising. After the Celtics struggled with bad performance and low attendance in the late 1970s, he led the team to its greatest turnaround in franchise history by making them relevant again in the 1980s.
Similar to Jordan and Bryant, Bird is regarded as a unique great who we will likely never see again.
