Dominique Wilkins responds to JJ Redick and Dennis Rodman’s critiques of Larry Bird.

Dominique Wilkins responds to JJ Redick and Dennis Rodman’s critiques of Larry Bird.

Famous for his altercations with fellow Boston Celtics alum Larry Bird during his time with the Atlanta Hawks, Hall of Fame forward Dominique Wilkins recently stood up for Bird in the face of criticism from former NBA player Dennis Rodman. Even with their notorious trash-talking, Wilkins and Bird eventually grew to respect one another, which is still evident in the Human Highlight Reel today.

Wilkins challenged Rodman over his assertion that Bird couldn’t succeed in the modern NBA in a recent interview with Vlad TV, which was broadcast by Owen Crisafulli of the Basketball Network. “I know Dennis well and I have a lot of respect for him, but that’s delusional,” Wilkins remarked.

Larry Bird was able to do the same type of play in any era as he did in ours. He was too much for the players of today to handle.

Wilkins didn’t only target The Worm; he also took aim at JJ Redick, the host of the podcast “Old Man and the 3,” who had implied that Bird wouldn’t be able to handle the roughness of the current game. Larry Bird commented, “It’s a stupid comment because he played in the most physically demanding era ever.”

“He was physically strong, standing at 6’10, nearly 6’11… What league (are) you watching, sort of thing? Physicality has vanished; things are not what they were in the past. The silliest thing I’ve ever heard is that.

Last-minute reversed 3-pointer against the Warriors shocked LeBron.

LeBron was perplexed by the late reversed 3-pointer against the Warriors when it was aired on NBC Sports Bay Area.

LeBron James was not pleased with the officiating in the closing moments of the Warriors’ Saturday 128-121 victory over the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.

With 2:12 left in the fourth quarter and Golden State leading 124-117, James, under Steph Curry’s tutelage, drained an off-balance 3-pointer in the corner to cut Los Angeles’ deficit to four points.

Officials reviewed the play and found that James had only narrowly strayed outside the bounds and wiped off the clutch basket.

The picture on the left is from James’ game-winning 3-pointer that he scored in the closing seconds of the Lakers’ previous season loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. James’ basket was called a conventional field goal, which cost the team one point. The picture to the right is from the Warriors’ defeat on Saturday. Was he stepping on thin ice? You decide what to judge:

Yes, clearly there was good momentum,” James remarked. “I’ve never seen that be called at that specific moment before. That was strange, to be sure, but it gave us less momentum.

“Obviously, I didn’t think I crossed the line. It’s difficult for me to have a heel down because I shoot on my tiptoes and I was aware of the space I had there, but that’s life.”

There were other stops that halted momentum besides the contentious call. With 1:42 left in the game, a strange shot-clock error caused long delays that eventually let Golden State pull away with the win.

After their thrilling victory on Saturday, the Warriors moved up to the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference rankings. Since both teams are fighting for a postseason spot, every victory counts, and this one was not without controversy.