In a podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, retired NBA legend Shawn Kemp revealed his encounter with Larry Bird. Kemp shared his encounters with Bird and his art of trash-talking.
During this encounter, Shawn Kemp was assumed to be in the prime of his rookie season facing the Celtics star Larry Bird in his 11th season in the NBA. He explained how Bird was all geared up and motivated and pumped up to put out a statement.
I was rubbing my hands and looking at him and the Celtics and saying I am about to get your a** up tonight.Shawn Kemp said
Shawn further revealed that earlier that day in the morning there was an article from USA Today about Larry and his performance. The Celtics legend wanting to prove a point to his critics, decided to target Kemp.
It's going to be a f**ked up night for you!Larry came up and said to the rookie Shawn Kemp
Later that night Larry Bird put up a statement with his game when we put up 46 points against the Seattle SuperSonics. Kemp also mentioned how Bird was calling out banked shots. Bird ended up playing 75 games in total that season while averaging 24.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. Surely he made sure USA Today’s narrative was grounded but rookie Kemp had to pay for it that night.
Larry Bird reveals REAL reason for talking trash
Larry Bird recently addressed his ‘art of trash talking’ in a podcast with Reggie Miller and Isiah Thomas.
A lot of people do that to demean others, I used to do it for fun.Larry Bird revealed
Larry Bird also added that he used to trash talk only with the people he loved in the NBA. He further shared an instant about talking to players like Elvin Hayes and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about trash-talking during games.
There are multiple instances of Bird influencing the momentum of the game with his trash-talking. One such instance was when Bird trash-talked Charles Barkley and challenged him to drain a 3-pointer right from the Philadelphia 76ers bench to which the latter responded “Merry Christmas.”
Isiah Thomas mentioned that trash-talking at that time was an art form to make players get out of their zone to force them to make mistakes or things that they didn’t want to do. Adding to this Reggie Miller recalled how Bird used to trash talk with his game like the 60-point record-breaking game for instance.
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