Before the scoring explosions, before the bravado and the highlight reels, there was Larry Bird — stoic, surgical and maddeningly precise. He cut through ... still carving out his place in ...

"You f—ing stars don't start playing in five minutes I'm gonna take your a— out" - Chris Mullin recalled Larry ... cut straight through. And they responded. In the 1999-2000 season, Bird's ...

"He could never say anything that would outdo me" - Gary Payton on why Larry Bird's trash talk ... and then delivering it flawlessly. Bird's words cut because they were rooted in inevitability.

But while Larry accomplished it all, the only thing he could not do was go out on his own terms. Bird's glorious NBA career was cut short by injuries. And it wasn't like one major surgery suddenly ...

Larry Bird was a tireless trash-talker ... He spoke with quiet confidence, throwing out lines that cut deep but didn't beg for attention. For example, in the 1984-85 season, he averaged 28.7 ...

“A lot of people would come and say, ‘Hey, I just think you should cut him, because he’s slowing ... To be the best American-born white player since Larry Bird. At first, that seems like ...

"I can go out myself and take one thousand shots anywhere I want" - Larry Bird saw no benefit in playing three-on-three ...