The other day my cousin and I were discussing our favorite Larry Bird moments when we were youths. "You remember that time in Madison when all of us were crowded around your TV watching the fifth game of the '87 Eastern finals. You and your friend Steve were yelling at the TV. You guys were yelling, 'Get the ball to Larry!' Well, he made his move to the basket to win the game and his shot got blocked and it ended up being the Pistons ball. There was only 4 seconds left and it looked like the Celtics were going to lose. You started cussing and Steve punched a hole in the wall." I remember my cousins statement like it was yesterday. I also remember what happened after that.
Larry Bird never quits and he ended up stealing the ensuing inbound pass from the Pistons. He then fed it perfectly to a teammate streaking to the basket and the Celtics wound up winning the game by one point at the buzzer. That's probably my favorite all time Larry Bird moment. My cousin and I shared a laugh and then he asked me if I remembered when Larry won the inaugural three-point shooting contest at the NBA all star game in 1986. "Come on Joel, how could I forget that." Larry actually won the contest three years in a row, but the '86 win was his most memorable. He ended up making his last ten shots to nose out his challenger. His last shot will be forever sketched in my memory.
He had made his previous nine shots and the final shot was for all the marbles. He lets loose of it and everyone in the world knew that it was going in. As a matter of fact, his last shot was taken from the baseline three point spot and by the time it swished through the basket: Larry was already standing at the top of the key with the #1 finger on his right hand sticking straight in the air. The truth of the matter is they're so many Larry Bird moments from my youth that I would have to write a book to do all of them justice.
I like to end every post of mine with a thought I'm having...Call it the village idiot thought of the day. "My cousin Joel told me that I should relabel myself as the 'Larry Bird of Chinatown.' I like that moniker, but it would be a slap to the face of Larry Bird and his legion of fans. See, Larry is a finisher, a closer, a winner. Whenever an obstacle got in his way, he ran right through it. Me, on the other hand, would be fortunate to make a free throw nowadays."
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