"When I get down there, I want to touch it more" - Young Larry Bird had a direct message for his Hall of Fame point guard

Most fans immediately recall Dennis Johnson as the Boston Celtics ' point guard in the 1980s. However, Tiny Archibald , not DJ, was instrumental in leading the franchise to victory in 1981. Despite Larry Bird's arrival dramatically altering the Celtics' trajectory, his confidence occasionally bordered on audacity, as evidenced by informing the six-time All-Star about his wishes in his early days.

Bird's message to Archibald

By the time Bird entered the NBA, Archibald had already cemented his status as one of the league's premier playmakers. Despite being an undersized point guard at 6'11", Nate possessed exceptional quickness and agility. Interestingly, he remains one of the only seven players in NAB history to lead the league in scoring and assists in a single season (he averaged 34 points and 11.4 assists per game with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in the '72-73 campaign).

However, Larry could not have cared less about Archibald's reputation and resume. The Indiana native asserted his expectations of the veteran point guard.

"He told me, 'It's your ball. Make sure you know who gave you the ball. When I get down there, I want to touch it more,'" Archibald on Bird's message to him as per Mass Live .

Tiny didn't take Larry's demands the wrong way

The audacious approach of the three-time MVP, demanding so much from a more established star at that point, could have potentially caused friction. It's safe to say that had Nate harbored a larger ego, Larry's brashness could have caused tensions. However, the New York native only took things in the right way.

In his five seasons playing alongside Bird, Nate averaged 7.1 assists and 12.5 points per game. This starkly contrasted his scoring averages during his first six seasons, where he averaged 25.2 points per game, and his single season with the Knicks, where he averaged 20.5 points per game.

Notably, Nate had a better efficiency rate during his five-year tenure with the Celtics, shooting 46.9% from the field compared to his other two stints. He understood Bird's message that the team needed him to facilitate more than score, a role that Archibald embraced perfectly.

Related: "That's not why I play" - When Larry Bird denied himself a historical feat because he always focused on winning never on stats