 How Larry Bird went from disrespecting Michael Jordan to calling him God in just two years? As we all know Larry Bird is one of the most savage plays in NBA history The shots the trash talk the passing and his overall swagger helped transform the league Along with his partner in crime magic Johnson So this story looks at how Larry Bird went from disrespecting MJ to calling him a God in just two years a Look at the first time Larry Bird met Jordan and trash talked him even before playing an NBA game You guys seem to love these types of videos where I include interviews stories and highlights all mixed in together And I think this one is a great story. So if you'd like to support the channel I'd love if you could hit that like button as it helps me out so much and it only takes one second of your time Lastly, I hope everybody's doing okay within this tough time. Stay strong I know some families are doing it really hard at the moment So hopefully this video will take your mind off everything for just a few minutes. Anyway, here's the story We begin all the way back in 1984 before being a member of the Chicago Bulls Jordan would actually participate in the 1984 Olympic team This is where he'd first be able to showcase how great of an elite talent. He truly was he would play up against NBA players NBA superstars and future legends of the game He would dominate them at that time Larry Bird was coming off an MVP season during the 1983-84 season with averages of 24 points 10 rebounds six and a half assists and nearly two steals per game He along with Magic Johnson were the stars of the league Bird at this time in his career was an NBA champion. He was named the finals MVP and the regular season MVP There was nobody in the league who was better than him He was 27 years of age by this stage and he was on top of the NBA landscape But he was hearing about this kid named Mike Jordan the kid out of North Carolina with freakish athleticism We all know Jordan has been one of the most ruthless and cutthroat plays ever But at this stage in his career, it was Larry Bird who wanted to make a point It was at this time that bird was on top of the NBA landscape He was the man and the one who had seen success in the league most recently the Celtics were again ready to follow their leader in the battle We knew we had the best play in the world of a team. We knew Larry was a no question about it the best play in the world and Their strategy was straightforward The game was very simple get the ball to Larry and get out of the way So entering the 1984 NBA season the league had agreed it would have the Olympic team versus the NBA All-stars team during the off-season to prepare the college kids that would go on to play for gold in the 1984 Olympics and the 1984 Olympic team was interesting because future Hall of Famer's Charles Barkley, John Stockton and Carl Malone Were all cut from the team leaving the main star MJ to dominate the 1984 Olympics And there's a story going around that Charles Barkley getting cut was because of head coach Bobby Knight Who knew that Charles Barkley was the second greatest player on that roster so I go there So we go we got a hundred and twenty and like I said, it's probably 30 or 40 Hall of Famer's Everybody ever played and then being the last 30 years was there but to prove to me that you want to play on this team You're gonna have to lose nine more times Charles Barkley Was a RPIA Royal Painer And then they finally cut me and I was pissed at Bobby Knight because he never gave me a fair chance I was the best second best player there by far So I'm going to the airport is me, Carl Malone, John Stockton and Terry Porter and Sunday says hey I talked to John Thompson. I see what he says. You were the second best player there I say I see a coach. I was the second best player there and he says who was the best player there I said coach. I just saw the best basketball player I ever seen in my life His name is Michael Jordan. He's from North Carolina and the story goes that Bobby Knight clashed with Charles Barkley and was worried that he'd mess up his plan to make Jordan the main guy and the star of the 1984 Olympics, which is the reason why he got cut and Jordan did become that star Coach Knight even at that time thought that MJ was the greatest player he'd ever seen Before even playing an NBA game He's the best athlete. He's one of the best competitors He's one of the most skilled players and that to me makes him the best basketball player that I've ever seen play You have to understand that back in 1984 the Olympic teams used to consist of college players due to the Olympic teams Not allowing NBA players to be a part of it until 1992 where NBA players were eligible to play and therefore We saw the dream team so they used to have scrimmages with NBA all-stars versus NBA college kids to prepare the college kids to play in the Olympics This is where bird and Jordan had their first interaction bird had heard of a kid a kid named Mike Jordan But didn't truly know how good he was. Well until this night Beyond an acute awareness of his own commercial potential bird waged psychological warfare at the drop of a ball the 84 Olympic teams playing an exhibition game against a bunch of pros including Larry Bird and they are in the warm-ups and a ball bounced down from the college end of the court to the pro end and Michael Jordan went down to chase it. The ball happened to be picked up by Larry Bird And Michael went up a few feet away from Larry Bird and held out his hands and bird took the ball and fired it back down the court over Jordan's head as if to say you're not only not getting this ball. I don't give it Damn who you are Larry Bird knows exactly who this guy is and what's gonna happen in the next few years And he wants to get every edge you can get right now Knowing Jordan this would have fueled him Michael Jordan is the type of player that fuels off energy like this And Larry Bird was the star player in the league Nothing was more exciting than a bird vs. Jordan face-off before even playing in an NBA game Live from the Hoosier dome in Indianapolis, Indiana It's the Olympic basketball team versus the NBA star. Let's take a look at these starting lineups out here now Bobby's been changing around you see Jordan, Tisdale, Perkins, Robertson and Fleming one change from what he did there in the Second half yesterday and for the NBA all-stars at Guire bird Paris Thomas and Paxson not a bad lineup for any NBA team These weren't just any NBA players that that 1984 Olympic team was playing up against these teams had players like Magic Johnson Larry Bird Kevin McHale Isaiah Thomas James Worthy Clyde Drexler and many others these were the best players in the league But it was Michael Jordan who was the one that showed out even before he'd entered the league And this is when Larry Bird first took real notice about how great Jordan would eventually become The way they did it it was to me too because I didn't expect him to play this well after that game yesterday Michael Jordan did lead the team the 17 points per game and Bobby Knight coached the team to an A to no record and Another Olympic gold medal, but overall it was their historic exhibition games against NBA all-stars that were better Remembered outside of the actual Olympics fast forward to the next season Bird and Jordan would match up against each other for the first time in their careers in the NBA Bird finished with 34 points 8 rebounds and 5 assists whilst Jordan in his rookie year finished with 26 4 and 7 But once again, this is Larry legend in his prime years along with the Celtics who were dominant Bird was still once again the MVP of the league but the Celtics had lost in the NBA finals to the Lakers and Bird could see Jordan quickly becoming dominant in the league with 28 points per game and averaging his rookie year Which has never been replicated By Jordan's second season he had broken his foot allowing him to miss majority of the season But this was actually one of the most important seasons for the bird and Jordan rivalry We know what happened next in the 1986 playoffs. We've all seen it This was the series where Jordan became what Larry Bird would call that was God disguised as Michael Jordan God disguised as Michael Jordan and the rest is history Larry Bird and Jordan played against each other for 228 games during the regular season Larry Bird won 17 of those games and Jordan only won 11 But you can't really compare the two players They both would play exceptionally well against each other Jordan averaging 33 and a half points per game six rebounds and six assists Whilst Larry Bird would average 27 points eight and a half rebounds and six and a half assists They would meet twice in the playoffs and the Chicago Bulls got swept each time despite Jordan Obliterating the Boston Celtics, but as we all know we can't compare them because obviously Larry Bird was getting older And he phased out basically after the 1988 season where he started to have back issues Jordan started to dominate the league during that time and obviously Larry Bird was surrounded by excellent teammates and he won rings Jordan came into a bottom rebuilding franchise that hadn't won So the two were in completely different situations and yes bird one more But it's unfair to rank them at this point in their respective careers This video was to show the level of respect that arguably the greatest player at the time had for this sophomore kid Just making his way through the league Larry Bird went from trash talking Jordan during the 1984 Olympics to calling him God disguises Michael Jordan and the best player he'd ever seen Nobody like him Point blank. I never seen him. I play like he plays and And you can include all of them That's how the player can go to another level anytime he wants to probably the greatest player in the game right now And this was all in just the span of two years to put that into perspective Imagine LeBron James trash talking some college kid now and then two years later He's calling him the greatest player that he's ever seen in just his sophomore season Not to mention after missing majority of the year with a broken foot if that doesn't scream out goat I don't know what does and I hope you guys enjoy the video Let me know what you think about this trash talking story Larry bird vs. MJ You guys seem to love these types of videos where I include interview stories and highlights So I think this one was a great story and hopefully you guys enjoyed it If you're new around here be sure to hit that subscribe button for NBA content every single week And I'd really appreciate if you guys could hit that like button takes one second of your time And it helps the channel grow so much with that said I'll catch you guys in my next video. I am out peace