7 Times Larry Bird Absolutely OWNED His Competition

His ability to shoot the ball, depending upon the team he's on, like he can get anywhere he wants to be and shoot over smaller players. And he was one of the most crafty players the game has ever seen. So I think his game translates to any time period. All that trash that you were talking, you need to squash all that. This man is great. Whatever you were saying for a man who can't jump, he's demolishing everybody. That's what you want. Because when someone is telling you what they can do, and you can't stop it, you know they're a bad man. Larry Joe Byrd, aka Kodak, aka Larry Legend, aka The Great White Hope, is one of the greatest hoopers to ever step on a basketball court. If you ask anybody who knows basketball, they'll tell you he's one of the top 10 greatest players to ever play in the NBA. Today, we're going to look at five times when Larry Byrd absolutely owned his competition. And let me tell you something, I'm glad I wasn't at the receiving end of these punishments. The 1986 Celtics were considered one of the best teams in NBA history. They had arguably the first big three ever in NBA history with Byrd, Parrish, and McHale. They won 67 games, and Larry Byrd won his third consecutive MVP trophy. They were so unstoppable that Larry actually got bored. And so, in the middle of the season, on Valentine's Day against the Trailblazers, Byrd decided to create a challenge of his own to motivate himself. He was like, Tomorrow night's the last game of the trip, I'm going to play this one left-handed. Well, at least through three quarters. Now, for a right-handed shooter, shooting using your left hand in an actual NBA game is absolutely absurd, especially when you consider the level of competition, the in-game pressure, and all that. But see, Byrd isn't your average Joe, and uh, just look for yourself. A left-handed floater here, a left-handed push shot off the glass here, and a left-handed hook shot here. While mostly using his off-hand, Byrd absolutely destroyed the Trailblazers by dropping 47 points on 62% shooting. And then, on top of that, he also had 11 assists, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks to come away with a triple-double. Now, when the reporters asked why he refused to use his dominant right hand after the game, Byrd smirked a bit and said, I'm saving my right hand for the Lakers. Dang, if that isn't the definition of owning an opponent, I don't know what is. Anyway guys, aside from that story, here's another one when he completely owned the entire Hawks team, simply because of a petty and friendly challenge. You see, on the night of March 3rd, 1985, Byrd's teammate Kevin McHale played the game of his life when he dropped 56 points, along with 16 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 4 assists against their long-time rival, the Detroit Pistons. Now, prior to McHale's big game, Byrd was actually the Celtics record holder for the most points scored in a single game, with 53 points. And uh, although he was happy about McHale breaking his record, we all know that his competitive spirit wasn't gonna let that stand. Right after the game, he was like, There aren't too many times you have an opportunity to score that many points. Kevin will probably not score that many again. Today, he was awesome. He deserved it. He should have gone for 60. Indeed, McHale should have gone for 4 more, because uh, in the very next game... Well, actually, I'll just let Magic tell you the rest of the story here. Kevin McHale had just broke the Celtic record. He scored 60. And he went up to Kevin and said, You know you're not gonna hold that record too long. The next game against the Atlanta Hawks, he, Larry Byrd went out and scored 65 or something like that. Now, although the figures are a bit off, Byrd really did go off that night against the Hawks. He couldn't miss. Nobody could stop him. ...for Byrd. They want him to, they want him to keep scoring too. Byrd takes the jumper and hits it again. There's Byrd. Byrd, 14 seconds, he got fouled. He hit the shot! He was scorching hot. I mean, just check out how the Hawks bench reacted after he drilled those ridiculous shots. Anyway, it was just another day at the office for Byrd as he dropped 60 points on the Hawks and reclaimed the Celtic scoring record. Byrd's rival, Dominic Wilkins, was just in awe of what transpired, and here's what he actually said after the game. The way he was shooting the ball was like living in a video game. It couldn't be real, but it was. Now, moving on from here. For our next story, here's a legendary tale of when Larry Byrd absolutely owned the New York Knicks. See, after missing the finals for two straight years, Byrd and the rest of the Celtics were on a revenge tour during the 83-84 season. The Celtics got off to a hot start as they cruised their way to the top of the East by having the best record in the NBA with 62 wins. And after defeating the Washington Bullets in the first round, they got tested by a much tougher Knicks team in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It was a gritty series filled with intense physicality as both teams traded haymakers, and after Game 6, they found themselves tied three games apiece, which forced a deciding Game 7 at the Boston Garden. Now, with their backs against the wall, Byrd refused to lose and came to the rescue by delivering a masterful performance that no one would forget. In Game 7, Byrd was just everywhere on the floor as he tallied a triple-double of 39 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, along with three steals to rout the Kings in a dominating fashion. Immediately after the game, everyone was absolutely shell-shocked at what Byrd just did, and one of those guys was Knicks guard Rory Sparrow, who only had this to say about the crazy performance. You try to keep the ball out of his hands, but he is such a creative player that it's difficult to keep him down. He makes so many positive things happen, and he does it as though he was a point guard. But if you play him as a guard, he posts you up, and if play as a forward, he creates other problems. Now, this wasn't the only time when Byrd pulled a triple-double on a big stage, because two years later, he did almost the same exact thing at the expense of Hakeem Olajuwon. You see, just like the 84 season, the Celtics owned the competition during the regular season. This time though, they breezed through the first three rounds with ease as they only lost one game in 12 outings, and their strong performance in the playoffs led them to a finals clash against a young Hakeem Olajuwon in the Houston Rockets. Now, contrary to what many people think, the Rockets during this season were no pushovers, and in fact, they were the ones who booted Magic Johnson and the Lakers out of contention during the Western Conference Finals, with Hakeem leading the charge, averaging 31 points and 11 rebounds throughout the five-game series. But despite how strong they were, the Celtics weren't the Lakers, and Byrd wasn't Magic. The Rockets got schooled by the Celtics in six games, and the difference maker of that final series was none other than Larry Byrd, who completely dominated everyone. In the deciding sixth game, Byrd dropped 29-11-12 on the Rockets to grab his third ring as well as his second finals MVP, and he was a plus 15 in the plus minus category while the other starters were just average at best. Anyway guys, for the most part of this video, we've seen Byrd owning teams left and right because he's just that kind of savage, but in this last story, Byrd destroyed this guy plainly for treating him badly. In short, this one was personal. You see, before Larry Byrd became a Celtics legend, he played at Indiana University, where he donned a Hoosier uniform. At the time, however, Larry Byrd was shy, wasn't that sociable, and relative to his teammates, he was poor. This led to a disconnect between him and his teammates, and he actually felt a little bit disrespected by them, with Kent Benson being the worst offender. Anyway, eventually both Byrd and Benson were drafted into the NBA as lottery talents, but when they met on the court, let's just say that Byrd didn't forget how Benson treated him back at Indiana. You see, in 1985, around the time that the Celtics were at the height of their powers, Kent Benson and the Pistons had a game in Boston at the Boston Garden. I don't think Benson will ever forget that night. Anyway, Kent Benson was a center, so he wasn't guarding Byrd, but he was guarding Kevin McHale, Byrd's teammate and good friend. So what happened was every time Byrd brought the ball down the court, he fed McHale, who posted up Benson. This happened over and over and over again throughout the night because Byrd wanted to humiliate Benson for how he treated him back in Indiana. And this was actually the night that McHale got 56 points. Talk about absolutely owned. Sheesh.