It’s a wordless man, Larry Bird. He doesn’t give too many interviews or express his opinions too frequently. Unlike his peers Magic, Dr.J, and Barkley, Bird is more reserved when it comes to the GOAT controversy.

Therefore, many believed that Larry Legend’s praise of Michael Jordan in the NBA 75 campaign video for the Chicago Bulls was his way of stating that Michael was, in fact, the best player of all time.

“Michael can beat you in a lot of ways,” began Bird. “He can beat you mentally, he can beat you physically, he can guard you, he can score. I know in my time he was better than all of us.”

Larry knew Michael well

Bird certainly had the authority to speak about Jordan. He was the league MVP when Mike entered the NBA. When the Hick from the French Lick retired in 1992, MJ won back-to-back NBA titles, so he saw how hard Mike had worked to turn the Bulls from a losing team into a winning franchise.

During his NBA career, Larry Legend faced His Airness 34 times. He went 17-11 against Mike during the regular season and 6-0 against the Bulls icon in the postseason. Jordan’s first two playoff appearances were against Bird’s Celtics, and they swept Mike’s Bulls in back-to-back seasons. But in one of those six playoff losses, Michael left a heavenly impression on Larry after dropping 63 points on the Celtics.

“I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan,” the C’s forward said at the time. “He is the most awesome player in the NBA. Today in Boston Garden, on national TV, in the playoffs, he put on one of the greatest shows of all time. I couldn’t believe anybody could do that against the Boston Celtics.”