Basketball legend Larry Bird, reflecting on his storied career, often revisits a pivotal early encounter with another icon: Michael Jordan. This moment, frozen in the summer of 1984, reveals a fascinating glimpse of Jordan before he became a global phenomenon, seen through the eyes of an already-established champion.
The 1984 Exhibition: A Clash of Generations
The setting was a series of exhibition games in 1984. Larry Bird was at the peak of his powers, having just secured his second NBA championship with the Boston Celtics and claimed his first Most Valuable Player award. On the other side was the USA Olympic basketball team, a squad brimming with the nation's top college talent. Among them was a 21-year-old Michael Jordan, then known as a stellar college player from North Carolina, preparing for the Los Angeles Olympics.
For Bird, this was not a marquee event. He viewed it simply as another game against promising young athletes. There was no grand anticipation of witnessing history in the making.
First Impressions: Talent, But Not Transcendence
When Bird first watched Jordan on the court, his assessment was measured. He immediately recognised Jordan's raw tools: the athleticism, the inherent confidence, and an aggressive scoring mentality. Bird later noted that the young Jordan displayed a fearless, sometimes impatient, approach, constantly looking to shoot and assert himself.
However, the Celtics star admitted that while Jordan could jump, pass, and perform at a high level, he did not see a player who demanded non-stop attention. Jordan did not stand out dramatically from the other elite prospects on that Olympic team. No one left the gym that day believing they had just seen the future undisputed king of the NBA. It was, in Bird's eyes, a display of great potential, not yet realised greatness.
A Lesson Delivered: The Ball Incident
Before mutual respect was cemented, Bird made a point to establish the hierarchy. In a now-iconic pre-game moment, a basketball rolled towards the group of professional NBA players during warmups. The young Jordan went to retrieve it, but Bird got to it first. Instead of handing the ball to the eager rookie, Bird deliberately kicked it away.
This small act carried immense symbolic weight. Bird intended to send a clear message: this was the serious business of the professional league, and Jordan had not yet earned his place. Jordan himself would later acknowledge that he never forgot that slight. It stoked a fiercer fire within him, amplifying his desire to prove himself against the world's best.
The Game and a Future Realisation
During the actual exhibition game, Bird and his veteran Celtics teammates did not play with playoff-level intensity. Jordan, however, competed with a distinct purpose. He was determined to show he could battle and hold his own against grown men and reigning NBA champions, not just fellow college players. In that effort, flashes of the confidence and fearlessness that would define his career were evident.
Years later, Bird's perspective transformed completely. The player he saw as merely one among many talented youngsters in 1984 evolved into the force that reshaped basketball. Bird's later praise for Jordan became legendary, most notably after Jordan's historic 63-point playoff performance against the Celtics in 1986. Bird famously told The Boston Globe, "I think he's God disguised as Michael Jordan." He reflected that he would never have called Jordan the greatest player he'd ever seen if he didn't truly believe it.
This 1984 episode remains a powerful reminder that even the sharpest basketball minds could not fully predict the meteoric rise of Michael Jordan. It underscores how greatness is often a seed that grows in plain sight, recognised fully only in hindsight.
