Larry “The Legend” Bird

Paul George talks about how there’s nothing better than watching Larry Bird shoot a basketball. From Nima Zarrabi at SLAM Online:

SLAM: I believe you had talked about seeing Larry shoot in the gym.

Paul George: He picked a ball up that had rolled over. 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.

SLAM: How did you and the rest of the team react?

Paul George: We were speechless. We didn’t know whether to keep shooting or just to end practice. It was sweet, man.

I don’t recall who said it, and it’s possible that this is an apocryphal story, but I remember hearing about a sportswriter that, upon watching Bird practice and swish jumper after jumper in the hours before a game, tell a passerby that it was “like watching a fish practice swimming.”

An apt line. And yes, you’re allowed to end practice to watch Larry Bird keep shooting a basketball. Outside of the fish/swimming analogy, I can’t really think of any other proper comparisons. It’s not quite like watching B.B. King utilize vibrato, because there are a lot of great guitar players out there. It’s not quite like watching Lauren Hutton strut down a runway, because there are a lot of beautiful women out there. Lots of people can paint some pretty, pretty pictures. Many great books have been written by thousands of brilliant authors. Sliced bread has already been invented.

Larry Bird … shooting a basketball? That’s on another level. You should always call off practice if it results in a chance to watch the Legend work on his stroke.