Trash-talking is a lost art in the NBA today. Whereas guys used to frequently say whatever they could to get into their opponents' heads, many players in the league nowadays are friendly with each other to the point where trash-talking doesn't really exist like it once did.
One guy who is widely considered to be one of the greatest trash-talkers of all time is Larry Bird . According to Charles Barkley, Bird's trash-talking tendencies were why he got into his legendary fight with Julius Erving .
Barkley on the famous Erving-Bird fight
Once Bird entered the NBA in 1979, he and Erving faced off frequently as they played on the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. Naturally, the two built a rivalry, with some of their matchups getting heated.
That's precisely what happened in a regular-season contest between the two teams in 1984—Julius and Larry dropped the mitts and went at each other during the game. Looking back on the incident, Barkley , Erving's teammate at the time, claims that the legendary forward was getting sick of Bird's trash-talk and decided to finally retaliate.
"Larry Bird was a great trash talker," Chuck said on Club Shay Shay . "He's like, 'Charles, y'all better get this old man off me. I'm telling you.' And he's just roasting Doc… He's killing Doc. He's like, 'Chuck, I'm telling you for the last time, you better get over here because I'm gonna kill this old man.'"
"It goes on, up and down, and Larry is just killing him, and Doc had just had enough. They come together, and I just kind of grabbed Larry; I'm not even looking at Doc. When I went back and looked at tape, Doc's nailing his a**. I was just trying to pull guys apart…I grabbed Larry because I didn't want him hitting Doc," Barkley added.
Bird got the better of Erving
In 1984, Dr. J was nearing the end of his career, while Larry Legend was smack dab in his peak, so in some ways, this wasn't really a fair fight. Bird was torching Erving, constantly calling him old and telling Barkley they needed someone else to guard him.
Fortunately for the Celtics, Larry was able to back his trash-talk up. He finished the night with 42 points.
This wasn't the only fight Bird got into in his career because of his trash-talking ways, but it was eye-opening to see Erving, who didn't usually get into brawls, take down Boston's icon. He played into Bird's hand, though, because that's precisely what he was looking to get his opponents to do.
Larry Legend had quite a few legendary trash-talking stories, and this is just another one to add to the group. Barkley inadvertently was a part of it, and maybe if he had just listened to Bird and switched Erving off of him, this never would have happened.
Related: "Next thing I know now, he got my neck" - Julius Erving revisits his brawl with Larry Bird
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