Jayson Tatum And Larry Bird Meet For The First Time At All-Star 2024

Tatum himself had revealed that this was the first time he had met Bird.

"I ain't gonna lie. I met Larry Bird tonight for the first time. I never met Larry Bird in my life. So I got to meet him. I was anxious."

Tatum scored 20 points in the All-Star game as the Eastern Conference beat the West 211-186.

While franchise legends often take an active role in mentoring future players to put on the same jersey, it doesn't seem Bird has been advising Tatum on what to do to maximize his success on the Celtics. Given that Bird spent years working as an executive on the Indiana Pacers, it makes sense that Larry was trying not to be too friendly with the franchise where he won three titles.

Tatum has had a sensational start to his career on the Celtics but is still miles off from coming close to what Bird achieved. Tatum is a five-time All-Star with three All-NBA Selections so far, leading the team to one Finals appearance in 2022. Bird went to four NBA Finals in his first seven seasons, winning three titles, and three NBA MVPs, and made every single All-Star team and All-NBA First Team in this span.

Larry Bird And Other NBA Legends Tried Motivating Players To Compete At The All-Star Game

We know Tatum and Bird got to have a 1-on-1 interaction on the court, but Bird reportedly was a part of a group of NBA legends that the league sent in to talk to the 2024 All-Stars and motivate them into putting on a competitive game. 

Bird went into the locker room with Andre Iguodala and Julius Erving to motivate the players. While this worked when Iggy spoke to the rookies before the Rising Stars Challenge, the NBA All-Stars didn't seem affected.

"NBPA Executive Director Andre Iguodala, Larry Bird, and Julius Erving went to the locker rooms before the game to stress having a competitive game. Iguodala went to the rookies Friday, message received. Sunday? Not so much." 

Bird had also expressed the desire to see a competitive All-Star game in a speech the night before.

“The one thing I would really like to see is they play hard tonight in this All-Star Game. I think it’s very important when you have the best players in the world together, you’ve gotta compete, and you’ve gotta play hard, and you’ve gotta show the fans how good they really are.”

These pleas fell on deaf ears as some fans called the 2024 All-Star Game a farce. The history-making 200 points by the Eastern Conference in the game won't be remembered as an achievement but as a sign of the death of competitive basketball being played in the exhibition game that is NBA All-Star.