"You can’t believe what Larry Bird does to me" - Skip Bayless reveals Mark Aguirre's fear of Larry Bird due to his talent and trash-talking abilities

According to Skip Bayless, Mark Aguirre admitted to him that he was terrorized by Larry Bird's abilities and trash-talking. [Photo: Duke Basketball Report]

Larry Bird’s dominance in the NBA, at the peak of his abilities in the 80s, was something to behold. He was never as physically gifted as many of his rivals but made it for it with almost unmatched competitiveness, basketball IQ and legendary trash talking.

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, and Isiah Thomas all swear by “Larry Legend’s” ability to get inside the head of his foes. On more than one occasion, he has gotten the better of opponents simply by intimidating them with what he says.

Skip Bayless, who covered the Dallas Mavericks at the beginning of his career in sports writing, recalled a Bird story related to him by Mark Aguirre. Here’s what the former Maverick revealed to the then rising journalist:

“Mark Aguirre used to tell me as a Maverick, ‘You can’t believe what Larry Bird does to me. He just terrorizes me. He trash-talks me like nobody’s ever trash-talked me. He leans into my ear and whispers stuff I can’t even repeat to you. And he backs it up. I’m gonna do this to you, and he does it!’ This is Mark Aguirre, who’s an All-Star, the heart and soul of those Dallas Mavericks.”

.@RealSkipBayless says that discounting Larry Bird’s stardom was the “biggest mistake of my career” https://t.co/ek4e2b5NAA

Prime Larry Bird was as good as anyone in the history of the NBA. He never finished below third in the MVP voting for eight straight years, winning the award three straight times. What made him feared was his ability to hit clutch shots when it mattered the most. He is also the master of messing up rivals not just with his impressive play, but also with what comes out of his mouth.

. @MagicJohnson tells a story about Larry Bird's trash talking during Bird's retirement ceremony 🗣️🏀💪 https://t.co/zEtOB6flF6

Not many players admitted it, but several of them didn’t want to have anything to do with the “Hick from French Lick. Bird’s brilliant basketball mind and relentless trash-talking regularly wore people out. If some of the biggest stars could be affected by his verbal jabs, one could only imagine how lesser players felt about him.

Larry Bird had one of his best games for the Boston Celtics against Mark Aguirre’s Dallas Mavericks

Larry Bird often had his way against the Dallas Mavericks in his career. [Photo: NBA.com]

Before he was traded to the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys era, Mark Aguirre was an incredibly good player for the Dallas Mavericks. He was a three-time All-Star who averaged 24.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 566 games for the Mavericks. Aguirre was Dallas’ best player and an unquestioned leader at that time.

On February 12, 1988, he went toe-to-toe against Larry Bird and the mighty Boston Celtics. Aguirre dropped 38 points against the Celtics in that game, including a sizzling 17-point third quarter. Dallas’ best player hit 16-32 shots and kept the Celtics at bay until the final quarter.

As good as Aguirre played the game, Larry Bird still trumped him. “Larry Legend” dropped 39 points of his own, the last three of them being the game-winner. He also scored the Celtics' last 7 points to rally the team to another win. Bird made 16-25 field goal attempts to go with 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.

Bird’s vintage performance stunned the Dallas home crowd and left the Mavericks players shaking their heads in disbelief after the Celtics great made another game-winning shot. One could easily argue that Bird could have said something to Aguirre right after the final buzzer.