Larry Bird’s three-point contest: A walk down memory lane

If you follow Celtics basketball, you’ve probably heard the story:

Larry Bird strolls into the locker room. He looks around at his fellow participants in the NBA Three-Point shootout. He asks nobody in particular — but, at the same time, everyone in the room — “Who’s coming in second?” Some contestants laugh, others ignore it, others probably get a little intimidated. Thirty minutes later, the contest starts. Bird wins it, proving his initial point…

Everyone else was simply fighting for second place.

But, if you’re like me, that basic outline of the story is all you know. You don’t know any more details.

Now, you can. ESPNDallas’ Jeff Caplan gives the entire story with commentary from participants, including Bird. Bird said he wasn’t even going to participate in the contest but, after Ropert Parrish told him he couldn’t win it, the challenge kicked in and Bird felt the need to prove himself.

“I wasn’t going to do it all, but my teammates, especially [Robert] Parrish, said I couldn’t win it anyway, so that’s why I went down there and did it,” Bird said. “I figured after what Robert said, I thought, ‘Well hell, I’m going to be there anyway, I might as well go out there and win it.’”

Read the rest of Caplan’s story HERE. Just do it.