“Didn’t appreciate it the first time, it was too easy” - Larry Bird never recognized how hard it was to win championships until he met the LA Lakers

Larry Bird ’s NBA career started with immediate success. Not only did he transform a 29-53 Boston Celtics team into a league-best record-boasting team in his rookie year, but he also earned the Rookie of the Year award and was selected into the All-NBA First team.

By his second year, the Indiana native was already an NBA Champ after he averaged a 15.3-point and 15.3-rebound double-double in the championship round against the Houston Rockets. As a result, the grind of being the best in the world seemed ‘too easy’ for him until he faced the LA Lakers in the 1984 NBA Finals.

Bird knew beating the Lakers in ‘84 would be special

The Celtics entered the 1981 NBA Finals as clear favorites, boasting the league-best record in the regular season and among the top five teams in both offensive and defensive rating. Unsurprisingly, they lived up to their expectations and easily defeated the Rockets in six games.

However, Larry Legend’s perspective on championship difficulty changed dramatically when the Celtics faced their arch-rivals in the 1984 Finals. This time, despite the Celtics’ superior regular-season record, they found themselves being perceived as underdogs, particularly after the Lakers took a 2-1 lead.

"The first is always sweet, but I think this will mean more than when we beat Houston because we are underdogs against the ‘unbeatable’ Lakers," Bird said sarcastically about the hyped-up Lakers before Game 7. " I didn't appreciate it the first time. It was too easy. This will be a lot different."

If the stakes of beating the Showtime Lakers weren’t high enough, the three-time MVP knew that the glory of winning the title from behind would hold greater significance. Furthermore, after being clean-swept against the Milwaukee Bucks in the previous playoffs, this could have been the perfect redemption story for coach KC Jones’ team.

Related: When Bird predicted MJ would become the future of the NBA during his rookie year: "Pretty soon, this place will be packed every night, not just when the Celtics come to town"

Bird’s Celtics beat the arch-rivals at home

Recognizing that defeating the Lakers was a high-risk, high-reward situation, Bird and his teammates were fortunate that the Purple and Gold were unable to capitalize on the Celtics’ poor 39.5% field goal shooting. Instead, Pat Riley’s team struggled, managing only 64.3% from the free-throw line compared to the Celtics' 84.3% from the charity stripe, which ultimately made the difference.

While Larry and his teammates found satisfaction in beating Magic Johnson & Co. in their first meeting in the championship round, this incredible rivalry was only just beginning. When the stakes were even higher in the subsequent NBA Finals, Boston, unfortunately, couldn’t repeat history in besting their arch-rivals at home.

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