The 1984 NBA Finals were never meant to be just another championship series. From the moment the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were set to collide, the weight of history leaned on both franchises. This was the first of three Finals they met in that decade.
Game 3 at The Forum in Los Angeles turned into a Celtics collapse so profound that the word “embarrassment” hardly did it justice. Larry Bird couldn’t stomach it. On a night when his team suffered a 33-point blowout, he said that they played like a “bunch of sissies.”
Bird’s frustration
For Bird, this wasn’t only about banners or trophies but something more personal. After all, he had been waiting five long years for a shot at revenge against Magic Johnson. That loss didn’t sit well with him.
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“Everything just came back to 1979 and how Earvin got the best of us,” Bird said. “Finally got a rematch with him and thought I’d beat him. I meant it. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”
That loss in the NCAA title game still burned inside him. And when the Lakers opened the Finals with a 115–109 win at Boston Garden — behind Johnson’s control — it became clear that history might just repeat itself.
But Game 2 spun the narrative in Boston’s favor, though barely. Gerald Henderson’s clutch steal from James Worthy and the game-tying layup with just 18 seconds left turned a potential 0–2 deficit into an overtime thriller. Bird knocked down free throws to seal the 124–121 win and suddenly Boston had life again. Still, the celebration was short-lived.
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The Lakers romped to a 137–104 victory in Game 3. It was the worst playoff defeat Boston had ever suffered at the time. Johnson dished out a record-breaking 21 assists, carving up Boston’s defense.
Getting back to win
Bird’s comments about his teammates after Game 3 weren’t a calculated attempt at motivation. It might have come out that way, but the three-time Finals MVP was visibly angry the way they fell to the Lakers.
“I felt that way,” Bird said. “They had us down 38 … We can’t catch ’em.”
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At the time, Bird’s scathing public criticism was seen by some as a sign of internal division. But within the Celtics locker room, it triggered a transformation. The physicality of Boston’s play ratcheted up. Elbows flew, tempers flared and every possession began to feel like a brawl.
Kevin McHale’s infamous clothesline of Kurt Rambis in Game 4 set the tone for a new style of warfare. Boston became serious about winning. Game 4 went into overtime again and Boston clawed their way to victory, evening the series 2–2. Game 5 brought the Finals back to Boston Garden, where the Celtics took their first lead in the series.
The bruises were piling up, and so was the tension. What had started as a display of finesse by the Lakers was now a grindhouse series where every loose ball was a test of will.
Even after Los Angeles evened things up again in Game 6, the momentum felt different. Bird’s words had lit a fire beneath his teammates that could no longer be ignored. The Celtics dug deep in Game 7, finishing off the Lakers in a 111–102 win and capturing their 15th NBA title.
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Bird got his revenge. He got his validation. Named Finals MVP, he averaged 27.4 points, 14 rebounds and 3.6 assists across the seven games. More importantly, he forced a cultural shift mid-series, demanding toughness from his teammates.