Bird made the decision to quit the game as he was about to make history that would never be repeated.
In 1985, with the Utah Jazz standing in his way of a rare quadruple-double, Larry Bird decided he had “done too much damage to them” and would not return to the game to steal his tenth steal.
In February of 1985, the Boston Celtics, who were one theft away from making history, faced the Jazz, and after three quarters with a comfortable lead of twenty-four points, Bird did not return to the game
.
A satisfied bird with a triple-double
Despite having already scored thirty points, pulled down twelve rebounds, and given out ten assists in his thirty-three minutes on the court, Larry Legend felt that his dominance was sufficient.
He gave the coolest response imaginable when asked why he hadn’t checked himself back into the competition after the game.
“Why? I’ve already caused them enough harm,” he murmured.
The majority of players would continue playing since they needed only one more steal to complete a quadruple-double, but Larry was an exception.
He was not blind to the show.
Later in the season, Bird was at it again, dominating the Atlanta Hawks with an all-time performance that included a season-high 60 points.
Many considered Bird’s 60-point explosion to be possibly his best individual performance of his career, with him calling his shots and trash-talking anyone who would listen. To everyone’s surprise, Bird declared that his near-quadruple double against the Jazz was better than his previous game after a great scoring night.
Sixty points is quite a few. Do not misunderstand me. I can’t remember ever making shots against the Hawks until that particular game. It is not a simple task. However, there was a game against the Jazz a bit earlier in the season where I finished with a triple-double and several steals in around thirty minutes. That was complete. That was a fantastic game, in my opinion. Should you wish to discuss that one,” he said.
Being able to select between a nearly quadruple-double and a 60-point explosion as the best performance in a single season is a unique kind of luxury, but Bird was created differently and clearly valued his all-around game more than just making baskets.
