"All those muscles aren't gonna help you tonight" - Kevin McHale recalls when Bird trash-talked young and overly-muscular Anthony Mason

Yahoo

11-07-2025

"All those muscles aren't gonna help you tonight" - Kevin McHale recalls when Bird trash-talked young and overly-muscular Anthony Mason originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When we talk about Larry Bird's legacy, we usually start with the three MVPs, the championship rings, the clutch gene and the unprecedented feel for the game. His passing, shooting, rebounding, competitiveness, it's all Hall of Fame material, and there is no doubt about it.
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But there's one lane where Larry Legend might be head and shoulders above everyone else in NBA history: trash talk.
Bird didn't just talk to opponents — he dismantled them psychologically before, during or after the game.
The stories are endless, and they're almost all verified by people who were there to witness them. One such gem was recently told by Kevin McHale, Bird's longtime running mate during the Boston Celtics' dynastic run in the '80s. This one featured a young, muscular Anthony Mason as the unsuspecting target.
"Remember Anthony Mason? Just kind of a point forward guy, big, strong guy. We are playing, he is in New Jersey now, they call him up from the D-League or the CBA, whatever it was called back then. And he is sitting out there, and this guy is got like, you know, muscles everywhere," McHale, Bird's longtime partner in Beantown, recalled.
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It didn't take long for Bird to notice.
"So, before the game, Larry looks at him and goes, 'Hey, Kevin, look at this guy, look at all those muscles.' And Anthony Mason is right there, kind of posing and Larry just goes, 'All those muscles aren't gonna help you tonight. I'm gonna bust you up.' And Larry would shoot the ball and yell 'Muscles!' as he was shooting. I was just laughing," the retired big man added joyfully.
Mason found himself in a Bird's classic
Most fans remember Mason as the bruising, undersized forward who was a key part of those early '90s Knicks teams. He won Sixth Man of the Year in 1995 and earned All-NBA and All-Defense honors by the end of his career. But in 1989, Mason was a 3rd-round pick, selected 53rd overall in the NBA Draft, and trying to stick in the league. He got a call-up to the New Jersey Nets during the 1989–90 season, and that's when he ran into Bird on what would be the tail end of the Celtics legend's career.
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Larry's back was already a serious issue at that point. He was no longer gliding across the floor or filling up box scores with the same ease.
But his mind, as well as his shooting stroke, was as pure as ever.
Mason didn't know it yet, but he had become the latest entry in Larry's book of one-liners, his physicality on full display, but no match for Bird's mental warfare.
Related: Rick Fox explains why Kobe never hung out with other teammates: "He was on a course and any minute or day wasted doing something else was going to slow him down getting to that point"
Different breed of trash-talkers
What made Bird's trash talk different from so many others was that it never crossed a line of good taste. He never got personal and ugly with his "victims." He'd tell you exactly what he was going to do, then go out and do it, with a smirk, a shrug, or in this case, a sarcastic "Muscles!" as he drained jumpers.
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For McHale, who'd seen Bird humiliate countless defenders over the years, and especially during his three-peat of being the Most Valuable Player, this one was just as special. Because it wasn't about Mason, it was about Larry being Larry.
He could barely walk some nights, but if he saw an opening, especially against a kid trying to make his name with "physique alone," he was going to pounce. That was the Bird effect. He didn't just beat you, he made you remember it. And three decades later, McHale (and Mason surely!) is.
Related: When K.C. Jones called Larry Bird the best of all time after just six seasons: "Go down the list of the greats and I doubt you'll come up with anyone with all those credentials"
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.