"You, Michael and me might have been better off playing individual sports" - Larry Bird's advice to Kobe Bryant amid his leadership struggles
Virgil Villanueva
Sun, Sep 21, 2025, 1:43 PM EDT
When Shaquille O'Neal left Tinseltown in 2004, Kobe Bryant was appointed the new leader and captain of the Los Angeles Lakers. His marching orders were simple: win as many championships as possible. It was a mission Bryant embraced fully, given his supreme goal of becoming one of the greats.
Bringing people together and guiding them to titles is not a walk in the park. The Black Mamba learned that not everyone on his team shared his mission. Some were content cashing in paycheck to paycheck.
But he wasn't the first leader to face this challenge.
Bird's words to Bryant
As a diligent scholar of the game, Bryant looked back in NBA history to see how legends dealt with teammates who didn't share his intensity. His curiosity led him to Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird, who had a similar experience in the 1984 NBA Finals.
Following their embarrassing 137-104 defeat in Game 3, Bird said his teammates played like a "bunch of sissies." Some say he was just playing mind games — he uttered such harsh words to motivate his teammates to perform better in the next games. However, Bird asserted he meant every word, as it reminded him of a horrible experience.
"Everything just came back to 1979 and how Earvin got the best of us," Bird said. "Finally got a rematch with him and thought I'd beat him. I meant it. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."
The Celtics won the 1984 NBA Championship in seven games, tangible proof that Bird and his words had an impact in the locker room. Bryant wanted to achieve the same level of success. And so he called up the Celtics legend, who was in the middle of playing golf. He expected to hear some words of wisdom or a thorough lecture on human psychology. Instead, Bird reminded him that some players are simply built differently.
"Larry said, 'You know what? That's why you, Michael and me might have been better off playing individual sports,'" Kobe said, per ESPN.
Glory road
Bird may have said other things that cleared things up for the Mamba. After all, a few years after his conversation with the three-time NBA champion, Bryant boosted his ring count to five.
While the Lakers' superstar still had a penchant for taking over the game, for the most part, he played within Phil Jackson's triangle. He patiently waited for the right time to strike and always made sure to get his teammates involved in the process.
He took time to understand their personal histories and what made them tick. It was through understanding them as human beings that Bryant discovered how to motivate them.
Bird remained a keen spectator of the shooting guard's career. He was in awe of how Bryant navigated through the ups and downs of life. No matter what life threw at him, the Lakers legend remained resolute about being the best possible person he could be.
"Kobe is one of the toughest human beings I ever seen because I know what he's been through, and he's played a hell of lot more minutes than me, and he just finally figured out, 'Hey, I'm gonna get hurt, I'm just going to play through it.' And that's the mentality of a great player," Bird said.
Bryant was indeed a great player. And when he had the right roster around him, the end result was (almost) always a championship. His individuality still shone, but in a context of a collective. The same was the case for Bird and Michael Jordan.
