When Larry Bird was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998, Nolan Richardson gave a famous speech about driving and listening to a game between Indiana State and New Mexico State and having no idea who Bird was.
He got pulled in though because the announcer kept saying Bird! this and Bird! that and did you see the pass by Bird? Can you believe what Bird did there?
Richardson just went on about how great Bird was playing and imagining it in his mind’s eye, saying “damn! That brother can play!”
Then the punch line is seeing Bird’s picture in the morning newspaper and realizing that he’s white.
It’s a funny speech which is why we linked it, but we also wanted to link some video of that game that Richardson could only listen to.
People knew when he was in college that Bird was special, but there were always questions about his athleticism. People think he couldn’t play today but the truth is that the game is even more suited to his strengths today than it was in the 1980’s and ‘90’s.