Michael Jordan giving it to Larry Bird in 'The Last Dance' is A-plus trash talk
If you’re gonna dish it, you’ve got to be able to take it.
Larry Bird personified that mantra in footage released during the final episodes of “The Last Dance.”
Sunday’s episodes featured footage from the 1998 Eastern Conference finals that saw the Indiana Pacers push the Chicago Bulls to Game 7 before losing the series finale.
Classic Bird-MJ interaction
After the game that saw the Bulls clinch a third straight NBA Finals berth, cameras caught Jordan approaching former on-court rival and then-Pacers coach Larry Bird in the bowels of the United Center.
It went down exactly how you would expect it.
(This footage contains language that is definitely NSFW)
THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE BETWEEN LARRY BIRD AND MICHAEL JORDAN!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 #LastDance pic.twitter.com/hDuVr7h2XP
— Darren M. Haynes (@DarrenMHaynes) May 18, 2020
“Enjoy yourself, dog,” Jordan said while embracing Bird. “You b----, f--- you. Y’all gave us a run for our money.”
Bird just smiled.
“I’ll see you,” Bird quipped.
Jordan, unable to contain himself, didn’t stop there, letting Larry Legend have some more as he walked away.
“All right, take care. Now you can work on that golf game of yours,” Jordan continued in an almost-certain reference to money Jordan won off Bird on the golf course and a definite reference to the end of his season.
Two of the all-time great trash talkers
Bird was notorious for his trash-talk as an NBA player, a mantle Jordan happily and effectively inherited as he took Bird’s place atop the NBA food chain.
This interaction was just a prime example of game respecting game, on and off the court.
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