I don’t really care about the LeBron/Brooks “poking the bear” trash talk or why it’s a big deal to the media. LeBron isn’t Larry Bird, and he’s probably fine motivating himself for a playoff game, but I don’t see Larry Legend taking “He old. I don’t respect someone until they put 40 on me” and not responding.
I don’t know if LeBron has 40 in him, or if he thinks it would disrupt the Lakers team game too much, but I think Larry would be putting up 40 today.