Don't ever talk smack to Larry Bird.
That's something Jamal Mashburn and his fellow aspiring NBA stars in the early 90s learned the hard way.
The exhibition game between the Dream Team and a group of college studs ahead of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics has been heavily documented. Mashburn, who starred for Kentucky at that time, was part of the young crew of challengers hoping to give Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, etc. a competitive workout.
But even before they stepped on the floor, words were already exchanged between Bird and Mashburn's teammate, the late Rodney Rogers (via The Players' Tribune).
“We checked in at the Marriot go up to our floor and we're walking in the corridor, and we see this tall white guy coming out the hall, ‘Man, that's Larry Bird.' He walked by us and he says, ‘Y'all those college guys?' And we was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.' And he looked at us and he said, ‘Get some f****** rest, it's gonna be a long week' and walked off.”
That story already sounds awesome in itself. But the next day, during their first exhibition game, Mashburn and company embarrassed the Dream Team. This is when Rodgers, who starred for Wake Forest, felt extra good about himself and dished smack back to the iconic Bird, according to Mashburn.
“We get back to the hotel, Rodney Rogers said something to a group of them, it's Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, everybody shooting their s***, and Rodney Rogers said ‘Hey Larry, you ain't hit a jumper since '84.”
The following day, during their rematch, Mashburn said Bird sank eight or nine shots in a row while telling Rogers every move he's gonna make before shooting. Team USA cruised to a dominating victory and then Bird dropped the microphone on Rogers.
“He said ‘Young fella, look like '84, huh?'”
Legend.
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