Larry Bird once complimented Dennis Johnson the most while disparaging the other members of his team.

Larry Bird once complimented Dennis Johnson the most while disparaging the other members of his team.

Larry Bird rose to fame in the Association thanks to his extraordinary talent and endearing demeanor. The forward remained the same no matter how much success and wealth he gained in Beantown. He dressed in the same clothes, kept things simple, and occasionally came up with a statement that showed off his sardonic humor and ability to make fun of nearly anybody.

Consider an interview with Chick Hearn to illustrate this.

Bird was questioned about Dennis Johnson’s contribution to the Celtics’ success throughout the conversation. Although Larry Legend gave the guard the highest praise possible, calling him the best player he had ever suited up with, he couldn’t help but poke fun at the other players on the team.

Dennis Johnson played an important role in the Celtics’ 1984 championship run, even though he never got the same recognition as other of the team’s more well-known players. Nobody knew that more clearly than Larry Bird.

Dennis, though, is essential to our group. In an interview that has been preserved on YouTube, Bird said to Chick Hearn, “I knew last year that we were going to win a championship once we picked up Dennis and saw how good he is.” Although we were aware that there were many strong teams out there, we needed Dennis’ style of play. We needed someone who could play solid defense, get shots like he does, and contribute to the team overall.

Even though that was already quite lovely.

As one can assume, Hearn was taken aback and asked the forward straight away if he was serious. Bird, who never missed an opportunity to deliver a bit of smack talk and display his dry humor, had a clever way of making it clear that he wasn’t.

He laughed and said, “Well, I haven’t played with very many good ones.”

Johnson was crucial to the Celtics’ victory, even though it’s clear that Bird was having a little fun—he played with some of the greatest players of all time in Boston. The Pepperdine product relocated to the northeast and developed into a more traditional point guard, as Larry Legend pointed out. As he helped set the pace for a strong offensive squad, his assist total increased, but he was still able to.

of playing some lockdown defense and netting goals on his own. During the 1980s, the Celtics had many big moments, and he also had a propensity for stepping up in those situations.