The Boston Celtics legend faced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, ‘Dr. J’, and Moses Malone, but nobody impressed upon him quite like ‘His Airness’ did.
Bird got to witness a 23-year-old MJ’s greatness first-hand when his loaded C’s — boasting four other future Hall-of-Famers including Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Robert Parish and Bill Walton — met Jordan’s hungry young Bulls in the first-round of the 1986 playoffs.
K.C. Jones’ swashbuckling squad finished with the best record in the league at 67-15, including a 40-1 record at home.
They are considered the best Celtics team ever, and widely regarded among the greatest teams in NBA history, but Air Jordan wasn’t fazed coming up against a pantheon of Boston greats.
The offensive phenom scored 49 points in Game 1 of the best-of-three series — a 123-104 defeat — before dropping a playoff record 63 points in a 2-OT loss in Game 2.
Jordan stunned Bird and the wider basketball world by averaging 56 points in the first two games of the series.
“God disguised as Michael Jordan” was Bird’s only explanation for Jordan’s otherworldly heroics.
The three-time MVP was so in awe of Jordan’s scoring prowess that he humorously threatened to retire should the 1985 Rookie of the year drop 77 points on the Celtics in Game 3.
