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Isiah Thomas Once Said Larry Bird ‘Would Only Be Another Good Player’ If He Was Black

Together with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird was the dominant force in the NBA during the 1980s. The 3-time MVP was one of the greatest basketball players and greatest shooters of all time and should find his place on every Top-10 of all time list… well, maybe aside from Isiah Thomas’.

Thomas, who still holds a grudge against many of the NBA’s stars of that era, wasn’t the biggest fan of Bird during their active playing days.

In the 1980s the ever existing racism in basketball came out of the closet, due to many of the black players speaking up – one of which being Isiah Thomas, who said that Bird would have only been another good player, if he had been black.

Per Tony Kornheiser’s Washington Post article ‘A HUE AND CRY OF CELTICS’ GAIN’ in 1987:

“If [Bird] was black, he’d be just another good player.”

“When Bird makes a great play, it’s due to his thinking and his work habits. It’s all planned out by him . . . All we do is run and jump. We never practice or give a thought to how we play. It’s like I came dribbling out of my mother’s womb.”

Now to Isiah’s expansive comments about how racism is perpetuated through euphemisms and code words: Speaking of the stereotypical way black players and white players are categorized, Isiah said, sardonically, “When Bird makes a great play, it’s due to his thinking and his work habits. It’s all planned out by him . . . All we do is run and jump. We never practice or give a thought to how we play. It’s like I came dribbling out of my mother’s womb.”

Isiah took deserved umbrage at the euphemistic use of the word “athlete” to connote blacks. “Magic and Michael Jordan and me, we’re playing on God-given talent, like we’re animals — lions and tigers who run around wild in a jungle, while Larry’s success is due to intelligence and hard work.”