Do you think Larry Bird is an ******?

Question

Larry Bird is a hard man to deal with," O'Neal said. "He tries to make unfair trades. He wants to gut a team, but the Lakers are trying to get over the hump. I want Indiana to benefit, but with some nice young players and draft picks. I want to make it clear that I don't want to gut a team that I come to because then it'll be like I'm in Indiana all over again.

"If things don't work, I have an option in my contract next year and I will opt out and become a free agent."


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2963647

I know GMs want to get a better end of the deal when making trades but can Bird be this pathetic?

I was born right around the time he retired so I dunno much about his playing days.i've seen videos on youtube about some of his performances:passing, shootin, playing hurt, etc etc putting up hall of fame type stats....but was he an A-S-S as a player like he is one as a GM?

I mean he put up a good team that made the east finals twice a row and when adversity comes around dude just acts like a jerk...i mean look where the pacers have gone since the brawl...NOWHERE

its like he's afraid to take risks and makes dumb internal decisions to somehow make himself feel better



could it also be that he's still seething over the fact that the lakers beat him so many times in the 80s? could he still hold that grudge? could he still hold that grudge against other teams/franchises as well?

Answer 1

Yes he is but Larry Bird was and is ultra-competitive. His will to win is legendary. He talked more crap than any other player in the league but almost always backed it up.

As a GM, he doesn't care about anything than winning a title. Jermaine's time has come and gone. Bird does not have much respect for Jermaine O'Neal. In a recent interview Bird called Jermaine "a very good player" but eluded to "very good players" getting superstar max contracts and not being able to handle the responsibility of the team. He basically said that JO is not a superstar.

He wants all that he can get because he saw that even though Boston gave themselves a more realistic chance for a title in 1 to 4 years, they have a small window to gel and get it together. In addition, Boston now has no supporting cast. The NBA is an 8 to 10 on 10 league. Boston only has three great players and 7 scrubs right now. Larry Bird wants to do the Lakers even worse. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Danny Ainge will always hate the Lakers and try whatever they can to dog them. He will not give up Jermaine O'Neal for anything less than Odom and Bynum. Quite frankly he's not worth it.

Answer 2

Nope! Why the hell would he want to make the crappy Lakers a better team while his best player goes somewhere else and he gets nothing in return. The only trade that should involve Jermaine O'neal to the Lakers is Kobe Bryant, but that won't happen because Indiana is smart enough to know just because you have Kobe doesn't mean you will win. Also, they don't want his cry baby antics oh man my team sucks, I don't have a big guy, boo hoo! So you all are retarded to think he's an *** for wanting good talent to replace his best player!

Answer 3

Larry Bird was a great player - one of the greatest. He was a decent coach - good enough to lead the Pacers to the Finals in just his 3rd year on the bench. As a GM, well, I think the guy is doing his job, and he is just doing his job that Jermaine O'Neal has no business talking like that to the media. His job is to play, whether he's hurt or not, and as the Pacers' franchise player, he's got that unwritten duty to lead his team to the playoffs every year, regardless of the quality of team he has. If he has some problems with management, he should talk to them in private and shut his mouth in front of the press. If there's one A_ _-HOLE out there, it's Jermaine O'Neal. He's done nothing for the league and has yet to accomplish anything that would give him any right to talk like that...about a legend at that!

Answer 4

I don't buy this. I think this is a case of a player (like Kobe) who is just complaining that he doesn't have enough help around him and doesn't see his team spending millions to bring some in. Indiana is trying to rebuild and has traded away most of the highly paid veteran help he used to have. He is just like Kobe in that he thinks he needs to make unflattering comments to people in order to get out of the situation that he is in. Remember this paragraph in the article....

"Me and Kobe have talked a lot this summer about getting me here," O'Neal says. "We've been on each other since we were 15, playing AAU basketball, adidas All-American Camp, Nike All-American Camp. It's been a long relationship. We've been trying to make this happen all summer. He understands the desire that I have right now. Mentally, we're on the same page. "Kobe's in a position right now where he knows he needs some help. He's the world's best player, and he's got a good group of guys around him, but he needs somebody to come in there and give him some support. He knows I want to get back onto the court and prove the naysayers wrong. "

Two buddies playing the same game with their teams. Personally, I would like O'Neal to go to the Lakers and watch these two guys blow away the Lakers salary cap room so they wouldn't be able to get any quality role players.Then, these two stars can just point fingers at each other when things go bad. The problem is that the Lakers horribly over value their players..you have said it Phashant how bad you think Bynum is and everyone knows how beat up and injury prone Odom is...and that's all the Lakers are rumored to want to give up for O'Neal. So, why would Larry Bird want either of these players...I believe he is shooping O'Neal around right now to see what his best offer is. O'Neal's line about Bird wanting to "gut teams" and make unfair trades" is his way of trying to push Larry to settle for less in return. What GM is going to try to settle for less? Give me a break Jermaine and quit complaining. You have cried about things youe whole career..starting in Portland when you thought you should start your second year in the league when you where only the third best forward forward on the team. Larry is no more an ****** then any other GM trying to get the most for his team. Larry is a great guy and a fierce competitor. He is friends with many of his biggest competitors including Magic and MJ.
It just another case of a professional athlete "CRYING" for attention...

Answer 5

Honestly he is no ******. A GM's job is to make the club benefit in anyway possible. If he is going to trade away his best player he needs a couple insurance policies down the line. Youth and draft picks are never truly expendable but at the same time you don't know what you are getting from them. A draft pick can turn out to be the next Ryan Leaf and youth players may take years to pan out and become big time players (if at all). Jermaine is already a big time player and we know he will produce in that system with Kobe. Youth and draft picks are a gigantic question mark.

Jermaine O'neal is too good for him to just get a couple bench riders in return. That would put his career as a GM in jeopardy. As for him not dealing to the lakers purposely, it is unlikely. He just wants to do his job and assemble a good team. I think if he wanted to get rid of O'Neal so badly and he had this sort of grudge/unresting feelings for his rival then O'Neal would be the fourth member of the Fearsome Foursome in Boston. But he isn't....

Answer 6

I pity you for not seeing Bird play during his prime. By your own admission, you don't know much about him.

Its Basketball sacrilege to even imply what you're asking to an NBA legend like Larry.

You are young & you grew up watching pampered prima donnas like Kobe asking for the moon in terms of salary & then whining when the team doesn't have much money left to build a decent team around him.

Its a GMs job to get the best possible deal for his team, just because your superstar has stated that he wouldn't mind getting traded doesn't mean you give him away.

Larry Bird gained notoriety during his playing days not just for his talent & skills but because of his competitiveness & will to win. The same drive he brings to his current job as GM of the Pacers.

Answer 7

Competitors are, by nature, asses. Keep in mind that Bird has to do some damage control as an indirect result of the brawl and the off-the-court problems that Idiots #1 and #2 (Artest and Jackson, respectively) caused while in Indiana. He needs to get rid of Tinsley, who also had an off-the-court incident last season involving a gun. If he can get anything for O'Neal, I say go for it.

Answer 8

maybe after getting raped by GS in the 8 player trade, bird wants to gain some respect back, so he wants to make a lopsided offer just like the one he took.

Answer 9

Why so much hate on the Larry Bird all of the sudden?

Answer 10

Bird was a great player..........but he is asking too much for a hurt-JO