Rosen: The Lakers were playing the Celtics at home and Magic wasn’t playing that game. He told him he was going to dunk in his face, and by dang it, he got the ball, drove down the lane and dunked right in his face. He gets in the game and starts talking to this guy. He was a really good player, and I’m sitting on the bench with Larry and he said, “When I get in the game, I’m going to tell this guy I’m going to dunk in his face.” As you well know, Larry doesn’t jump that well, so that was a little interesting. There was a big 7-foot-2 center from Russia. Judkins: We were roommates for eight weeks at the World Games. He hit it, looked at me and said, “Fuck, I didn’t mean to leave nothing on the clock.” He nudged me back with his shoulder a little bit to clear space. McDaniel: He went to the spot and got it. And he was playful and smart and funny, so that’s where the trash talking came from. Stan Kasten, opposing executive: Every player in the NBA is competitive, but Larry was otherworldly. Kevin McKenna, opponent: His confidence level was as high as anybody I’ve ever seen. Jeff Judkins, teammate: He really thought he could do anything he wanted at any time. Mike Gminski, opponent: He’d drive down the lane and I’d try to go up and block his shot, and he’d say, “What are you jumping for? You’re not going to get this.” I got to the bench and told Clyde (Drexler) and he was like, “Yeah, he does that all the time.” I was sprinting to close out and he was in his famous form, and he shot it and as I was running out he said, “Too late, rookie.” I didn’t even know he was a trash talker. Terry Porter, opponent: My rookie year in Boston. Joe Kleine, teammate: I’d get in the car with my wife after the game and go, “Remember when he hit that shot? You wouldn’t believe what he said.” Lon Rosen, Magic Johnson’s agent: Earvin used to tell me, “I’ve never heard anybody talk more trash than Larry.” Now, Earvin talked a lot of trash, too, but he said there was nobody better than Larry.Ĭlark Kellogg, opponent: He was very discreet, almost like a ventriloquist.īutch Carter, opponent: But the guy guarding him fucking knew he was talking shit to him. Xavier McDaniel, opponent: You had to get up to play him because he was one of those guys that would torch you and talk shit until the end.

Hockey trash talkers