-Nets swingman Kendall Gill recalls the normally taciturn David Robinson of the Spurs telling New Jersey's Armon Gilliam, after blocking one of his shots, "You can't bring that into Mr. Robinson's neighborhood."
-Grizzlies guard Chris Robinson, then a rookie, was playing in a preseason game against the SuperSonics in October 1996 when Seattle guard Gary Payton yelled at him from the bench, "Young fella, you can't play any defense."
-Larry Legend (Bird) was well known for his competitive fire and high bball IQ, but it is rare that people expose Larry as one of the NBA`s alltime greatest smack talkers. Stories have been told of Larry pointing out the spots on the court he was going to score from, BEGGING his defender to "try and make it tough on me this time" Then he would dribble to that spot and stick the jumper in the defenders face. I remember Rodman telling a story about Larry`s trash talk---
"I would be all over him, trying to deny him the ball, and all Larry was doing was yelling at his teammates, I`M OPEN!!! HURRY UP BEFORE THEY NOTICE NOBODY IS GUARDING ME!!!!!!!" then he would stick an elbow in my jaw and stick the jumper in my face, then he would start in on my coach"Coach you better get this guy out and send in somebody who`s going to D me up, becuase its too easy when I`m wide open like this"
-Jordan was a great trash talker. But when he got angry he took it to a higher level and really tore people apart, psychologically. Jayson Williams (before he shot his driver) said that any time he scored he would intentionally look right at the floor and run back and never make eye contact with Jordan, who might be inclined to take that as a sign of disrespect and explode for 50 or so points.
-In the Hardwood Classics video, they put a mic on Jordan in a Pistons game, and he was trash talking Lindsay Hunter all over the offensive end. ("I'll give you a jump shot, right here. Go ahead, take it. You don't want it?!?" etc.)
-Larry Bird trash talk moment in a game against Seattle. He told Xavier McDaniel where he'd score from, got the ball, and scored with 2 seconds left on the clock. He said, "Damn! I didn't mean to leave any time left on the clock."
- During one game on Christmas Day against the Indiana Pacers, before the game Bird told Chuck Person that he would give him a Christmas present. During the game, when Person was on the bench, Bird shot a three-pointer on the baseline right in front of Person. Immediately after the shot, Bird said to Person, "Merry Christmas!", and then the shot went in
- During the three-point shooting contest on All-Star Weekend 1986, Bird came in, started looking around without saying a word, then finally said "I'm just looking around to see who's gonna finish up second." He indeed won the shooting contest
- In a game against the Seattle SuperSonics with the game all tied up, Bird told Supersonics forward Xavier McDaniel, who was guarding him, exactly where he would hit the game winning shot. After a timeout, Bird made two baseline cuts, then posted in the exact spot he had indicated to McDaniel, paused and turned and hit the shot in his face.
- On a night in 1984 versus Philadelphia where Larry Bird was outscoring Julius Erving by a margin of 42–6, he continuously informed Erving of their tallies every chance he got, which resulted in first a shoving match, then swings taken by both players and culminated in a bench-clearing brawl
- On a night in 1984 versus Philadelphia where Larry Bird was outscoring Julius Erving by a margin of 42–6, he continuously informed Erving of their tallies every chance he got, which resulted in first a shoving match, then swings taken by both players and culminated in a bench-clearing brawl
Xavier McDaniel Story of Larry Bird
I remember Shawn Kemp was guarding Larry Bird one night, and during the time out, Shawn shared Bird’s comment. On the last three-pointer, Larry Shot in Kemp’s face and he said, ‘I’m the best damn player from Indiana.’ We ended up hearing this story during the time out and started laughing. He was on fire that night; he ended up with 50-plus points.
-Lebron to Arenas at Game 6 playoffs, while Arenas is lining up for 2 free throw shots, Washington up by 1: "If you miss these, you know who's gonna hit the game winner", in which Arenas does end up missing both free throws, and King James does indeed grab the rebound n lay in the game winner
