Lakers’ assistant coach Kurt Rambis on Larry Bird: ‘F–k Bird!’
By Ryan Donoho
For some of you younger readers who may not know, the Lakers and Celtics have a historic rivalry that dates back to the days of Wilt Chamberlin and Jerry West. These teams genuinely hate each other, but the rivalry has softened in the last few years, and that has been a sad trend in the NBA.
Back in the 1980’s the rivalry was at it’s best and we saw moments like this:
In the classic video above, the guy who got clotheslined is none other than former Laker player and current assistant head coach, Kurt Rambis. He was known as the hustle guy for the Lakers back when he played, and his style epitomized the hate between these two teams.
The Lakers and Celtics will face off on Friday night, and this time it has a different feel. Both teams are well under .500, and are in a transitional period. The current players on the roster may not feel the animosity that the ’80’s players did, but it’s clear that those older guys haven’t moved on. Just check out what Rambis had to say about his former foe:
As Kurt Rambis was walking off the court in Boston, Nick Young was talking about Larry Bird. Rambis interjected, jokingly: "F--- Bird!"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 17, 2014
Clearly, Rambis doesn’t think fondly of Larry Bird. I love seeing things like this, and I wish the NBA would be more like this today. Here’s hoping that the Lakers-Celtics rivalry will return to what it once was.