0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
HASTINGS: It’s the second game I ever played in where I saw the guys on the bench become fans of the opponent. Both times Larry Bird was involved. The other time was my first NBA pro game with the Knicks.We’re playing the Celtics in an exhibition game in Portland, Maine. Larry had one of the rookies guarding him, real athletic kid, and he was getting down low in his stance and was ready to get in Larry’s jock. Larry takes the ball like he’s going to make a pass and fakes like he’s throwing it over this guy’s head, then he pulls it back.And the kid does about a 180-degree jump-turn and takes about two steps across the lane. And Larry just sits there and looks at him with that, you know, kind of that Larry look. He’s like, ‘Really?’The kid tries to recover and takes a step toward and him and Larry steps back, takes a shot, hits it, and says, ‘Too late.’ We’re all on the bench going , ‘Oh my god, oh my god,’ and then all of a sudden I remembered, dude, I’m not in college anymore watching Larry Bird. I’m an opponent playing against him. So it happened twice.