Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird was one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, but he is 56 years old now. Most men in their 50s have to start thinking about things like reading glasses and blood pressure medication. Bird could be tending to needs like those, but apparently he has not entirely lost his shooting ability.
During an interview with SLAM Online last week (via NBA.com’s All Ball), Indiana Pacers forward Paul George told a story about how Bird blew him away one day in practice when he picked up a ball and began shooting.
“He picked a ball up that had rolled over,” George said. “He rolled up his sleeves and made about 15 in a row and just walked out like nothing just happened. It was the craziest thing I’ve seen. … We were speechless. We didn’t know whether to keep shooting or just to end practice. It was sweet, man.”
Celtics fans who watched Bird dominate in the 1980s probably aren’t surprised. There’s a reason Kobe Bryant recently noted that Larry Legend is one of the most underrated players to ever play when he listed his all-time starting five. Either he hasn’t lost the touch, or he still throws up plenty of jumpshots in his spare time.
