Few people could go toe-to-toe with Michael Jordan on a basketball court.
Larry Bird was one of them.
12-time All-Star Larry Legend is a three-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP and three-time MVP who, along with Magic Johnson, is credited with reviving the NBA in the 1980s and reigniting the once-dormant rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
Jordan entered the league in 1984 and crossed paths with Bird and the high-flying Cs in the 1986 playoffs.
Bird got to witness a 23-year-old MJ’s greatness first-hand when His Airness dropped a playoff record 63 points in Game 2 of the Chicago Bulls‘ first-round series against Boston.
“God disguised as Michael Jordan,” was Bird’s only explanation for his opponent’s heroics.
When the 1990s rolled around, the NBA was very much Jordan’s league and Bird’s time in the spotlight was all but over.
Bird retired in 1992 while Jordan’s Bulls won three straight championships between 1991-1993.
MJ abruptly stepped away in his prime to play Minor League Baseball, but returned to the NBA in 1995 to find Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller had taken the mantle of the Eastern Conference’s best shooting guard in his absence.
Miller and the Pacers were a powerhouse out East in the mid 90s but failed to get over the hump, losing to the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic in the 1994 and 1995 Eastern Conference Finals, respectively.
The Bulls, meanwhile, were back to being The Association’s pre-eminent force with Jordan’s return spearheading their triangle offense, winning back-to-back world titles in 1996 and 1997.
The Pacers, like every other team in the NBA, needed something special to overcome MJ and the genius of head coach Phil Jackson.
Jordan and teammate Scottie Pippen were unstoppable in the 1990sGetty Reggie Miller was a big rival of MJ in the Eastern Conference, but came up shortGettyIn 1997, the franchise appointed Indy-native Larry Bird as their head coach, despite the fact he had no previous coaching experience.
That season, the Pacers had Miller, Rik Smits, Chris Mullin, Antonio Davis, Dale Davis, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose, Travis Best, and Austin Croshere.
With Bird at the helm, Indiana’s talented squad finished with a 58–24 record – the franchise’s best as an NBA team at the time – and locked up the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
They dropped one game to the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first round series and lost just one more one game in the second round to the Knicks.
That put them on a collision course with Jordan and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, who were in the midst of their Last Dance run and one title away from a second three-peat.
The Bulls won Games 1 and 2 of the 1998 ECFs but Indy bounced back in Games 3 and 4 to even the series at 2-2.
Miller’s Pacers were one of MJ’s toughest challenges in the 90sGetty They were two of the best shooting guards in the NBAGettyGame 4 featured Miller’s iconic game-winning shot over Jordan with 2.9 seconds on the clock.
Miller got free from Jordan, caught the inbound pass from Derrick McKey, turned and made a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds to go.
Game 5 was a blowout for the Bulls but Bird’s Pacers bounced back in Game 6 to squeak out a close 92-89 win.
With the series locked at 3-3, the 1998 ECFs would be decided by a Game 7 at United Center — forcing the Bulls into only their second elimination game in six title runs (the first came in the second round against the Knicks in 1992, which they won).
The Pacers led by 10 at one stage but the Bulls rallied and led for most of the second and third quarters.
Indy eventually took a 72-69 fourth quarter lead on a Smits and-one with 8:54 remaining.
It was nip and tuck from there but future Warriors head coach Steve Kerr hit a huge 3-pointer to tie the game and the Pacers faded.
The Bulls retook the lead with 4:45 left and held on to win 88-83.
In 1998, Bird and Miller pushed Jordan to Game 7 for only the second time in his careerGetty But they were eventually beaten by the Bulls in the 1998 ECFsGettyBird, Miller and the Pacers were a whisker away from ending the Bulls dynasty and pushed Michael Jordan closer than anybody ever had in the playoffs.
Chicago went on to win the title that year, beating the Utah Jazz in six games to claim their second three-peat and Jordan’s sixth title overall.
However, it was Bird and Miller’s Pacers that provided MJ’s toughest postseason challenge of the 90s.
“That was the scariest game we ever faced,” Kerr later said.
Jordan won six NBA championships as a player, with the final one coming in 1998“Indiana was probably the toughest, outside of Detroit,” Jordan once admitted. “They were tough. Every time I’d go in that f***ing game and come out, I got a new scratch.
“It became personal with me.”
Bird and Miller stuck around in the late 90s and early 00s after Jordan retired and the Bulls dynasty broke up.
Their Pacers squad made the 2000 NBA Finals but were bested 4-2 by Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bird left his role as head coach of the Pacers after the 2000 seasonBird resigned his head coaching position shortly after the end of the 2000 season while Miller retired in 2005.
Fast forward to 2025, and the Bulls are largely irrelevant while Tyrese Haliburton’s Pacers are looking to book a place in the NBA Finals.
Indiana are 2-0 up in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Knicks, led by ‘clutch king’ Tyrese Haliburton who is laughing in the face of his haters.
The Pacers have picked up both of their wins so far on the road, and the series heads to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3 on Sunday night.
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