Do you remember the days when American professional athletes weren’t a bunch of whiny spoiled prima donnas? It doesn’t seem that long ago when we had warriors in those roles even as recently as the 1990s in all of American professional sports.
Those days are long gone now though.
Larry Bird was one of those no-nonsense type of players and he is furious with how this mural artist depicted him.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are two of the most storied franchises – not just in the NBA – but also in the pantheon of sports. Not even the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys can rival those two storied organizations.
The Boston Celtics dominated the late 1950s and 1960s winning 11 championships in a 13-year span and star center Bill Russell (who played in every one of them) not only remains one of the greatest Celtics of all time but also deserves to be up on the Mount Rushmore of all-time NBA players.
During the 1970s it was a sprinkling of different teams that included the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Washington Bullets, Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks and the Seattle Supersonics.
Then came the 1980s and that’s when everything changed. Arguably the biggest shift in the NBA status quo came that year when Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league as rookies on the Lakers and Celtics respectively.
It was a duel of the fates between Johnson and Bird. It’s the stuff of legend. In fact, their battles are so legendary that there have been books written about them and there was even a Broadway play based on their relationship over the years.
But Larry Bird was understandably annoyed when a mural popped up of the hall of famer.
The reason why the Boston Celtics legend was because the mural depicting him had tattoos all over his body and Bird doesn’t have any.
After seeing the mural in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis, Bird’s attorney issued a statement announcing his disapproval of the mural.
Bird’s attorney Gary Sallee said, “Larry’s position is he has elevated himself from where he began to where he is now through a lot of hard work. He has developed a brand that is marketable and he needs to protect that brand. The mural, as originally painted, was a departure from that brand.”
Here’s what it looked like.
this larry bird mural lmao pic.twitter.com/isdPZjqQFR
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) August 20, 2019
Yahoo! Sports reported, “The mural was painted by graffiti and street artist Jules Muck, who was simply tasked with painting something on the side of the building. She said that many people reached out suggesting she painted Bird, and then had the cover of a Sports Illustrated from 1977 with Bird on it sent to her — which is what sealed the deal.”
It is kind of weird to take liberties with Larry Bird’s mural image, no?
Also, it’s objectively funny that Bird’s first thought after seeing this mural was to call his lawyer to try and get it removed.
