For the last couple of years I have started to enjoy the NBA again. Friday nights watching the 7pm and 930pm games on ESPN is something that I look forward to. I picked up Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball earlier this month and this has only enhanced my appreciation for the league. This book is a 600+ page storybook of the entire history of the NBA. Unbelievable and entertaining and I can't stop reading it. I forgot how much I love Larry Bird and Celtics/Lakers playoff epics and Isaiah Thomas, Dominque Wilkens, Celtics/Rockets fistfights. Here is Larry Bird's 60 point game against the Hawks. I put it on here for a couple reasons. One, you don't see anyone shoot like Larry anymore, even if it looks like Atlanta is playing All Star Weekend defense after a night of drinking Jim Beam from the bottle. He glides in like a 40 year old at the Y and hits everything in sight. The second, and maybe the greatest thing I have ever seen from an opposing crowd and opposing teams bench; at around the 4:15 mark in the video you see Hawk bench players getting excited, nudging each other, slapping five. At the 5:10 mark you see an all out Def Comedy Jam, high five slapping, knee raising show of fandom, better than you would see from the Celtics bench. The Hawk players are loving it. I wonder if Fratello could even discipline these guys...I think I saw him throw a fist pump as Larry approached 54 points. If you have 7 minutes today check out the highlights. If you are in a rush, fast forward to around the 5 minute mark. Funny, awesome, amazing shit. I am glad I got to grow up in Indiana shooting free throws until dinner time, with only the thought of becoming Larry Bird as my greatest motivator.
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