“I could care less, let him have one” – Larry Bird had the most “Larry Legend” answer ever when they asked him about Michael Jordan winning the 1988 MVP over him originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Michael Jordan had what many say was the greatest individual season ever in 1987-88. That season, Jordan did not just win his first MVP award but he was also named the Defensive Player of the Year and won All-Star Game MVP honors. MJ was also the winner of that year’s Dunk Contest at All-Star weekend.
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Given how good he was that year, it was hard to deny Mike of the majority of those trophies. However, the MVP race was a lot tighter than what the media votes said. Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird, who won three straight MVP awards from 1984-86, had the best scoring season of his career while his Boston Celtics were the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference.
Bird outdueled MJ at Boston Garden
On April 21, 1988, Bird’s Celtics hosted Jordan’s Bulls at the Boston Garden in a duel between the top two MVP contenders. In that game, Bird lit up the Bulls with 44 points on 19-29 shooting while also pulling down 10 rebounds and issuing nine assists with three steals and one blocked shot.
Meanwhile, Jordan had his own big game with 39 points on 17-33 shooting. MJ also had three rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block for the Bulls. However, the most important numbers in the game was the score and it was 126-119 in favor of the Celtics.
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That loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Bulls. Chicago also fell to 49-31 and third place in the East. On the other hand, the Celtics had already clinched homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference. When asked about Jordan saying he deserves the MVP, Bird gave the most Larry Legend answer.
“Now that I’ve got a couple under my belt, I could care less,” Bird nonchalantly said. “Let him have one.”
It was closer than the voting results
There was no doubt that MJ had a great year, though. Jordan finished the 1987-88 season averaging 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. He also led the NBA in scoring and steals that year.
“The MVP would cap off a great season for me. Larry’s had a great season, but I’d like to win it,” MJ said.
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Bird was not to be outdone as he put up a career-high 29.9 points per game. Larry Legend also averaged 9.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game that season for the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference.
However, when it was time to vote, it wasn’t as close as some thought. Jordan received 47 first-place votes and a total of 665 points. Meanwhile, Bird and Magic Johnson each had 16 first-place votes. Bird ended up with 527 points and Johnson 508 points to finish second and third, respectively, in the MVP race.
Jordan got his wish as he won his first MVP award and he also became the first player in NBA history to win both the MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year trophy in the same season. The media hailed it as the greatest season ever and for some, like Gilbert Arenas, it was the year when they crowned MJ as the GOAT. But for Larry Bird, he did not care at all.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.