I'll give you three good Bird stories.
1.) Regular season game vs. the Seattle Sonics. Close game, comes down to the end... just a few seconds left. As anyone who follows basketball knows, Bird is one of the greatest, if not the best, clutch shooter ever. Xavier McDaniel, Seattle's star player, comes out to guard him. Bird tells him straight up, "I'm going to get the ball right here", points to a spot about 15-18 feet away near the FT line, and tells Xavier he's going to make the shot. They fight for position, they inbound it, Bird gets the ball, right near the spot, Xavier in his face, turns, shoots, drains it. Celtics win.
2.) In 1985, Kevin McHale had the game of his life. Caught fire, hit everything. In the 4th quarter, he had 56 points, a Boston Celtics record. Which obviously is quite an accomplishment with their history. Bird tells McHale he should go for 60. McHale, being the good sport and nice guy, still passes on the opportunity. Nine days later, Larry Bird drops 60 points on the Atlanta Hawks. Maybe the best shooting performance of his career, he was hitting so many shots that the Hawks players on the bench were actually laughing and high fiving each other. After the game he is quoted as saying. "It's Kevin's own fault," Bird says. "He should have gone for 60 that day, and I told him that."
3.) 1988 All-Star Three point competition. Final round, Bird goes around the arc, he gets to the last rack, and he must make his last three shots to win the competition. He hits the first shot, makes the 2nd. Puts the final ball up in the air. After the ball leaves his hand, Bird walks toward midcourt holding up one finger
with the ball still in the air.
And he drained it. That is balls.