Larry Bird really cooked his college teammates while wearing jeans, like in Winning Time
Editor's note: All interviews for this story were completed prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. This is Layup Lines, by Bryan Kalbrosky.
During the third episode of the second season of HBO's Winning Time, Larry Bird plays an intense basketball scrimmage while wearing blue jeans.
While the show was criticized for inaccuracies by some of the real-life individuals portrayed in the show (including Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson), this scene was actually based on true events that happened before Bird was drafted in the NBA.
Here is how the story goes: Bird was originally on scholarship to play basketball at Indiana University for head coach Bob Knight. But he dropped out of college after a month and returned to his hometown. He was then recruited by Bill Hodges, an assistant coach at Indiana State, to play for the Sycamores.
Hodges eventually convinced Bird to come scrimmage against the varsity team. Bird eventually agreed and even though it was the summer, he insisted on wearing denim.
"That scene, in particular, I was very excited to shoot," Small told For The Win.
RELATED: See the cast of HBO's Winning Time compared to their real-life counterparts
"I had read about that in my research about him going to Indiana State and Bill Hodges literally asking him if he wanted basketball shorts and he was like, no, I play better in this. His brother actually told Bill Hodges: He does play better in this outfit than in actual basketball clothes."
This small detail added some fantastic background about Bird, who would eventually play three successful seasons at Indiana State and become a main rival to Magic Johnson.
Bird is the main villain in this series about Johnson and the Lakers. But in this second season, showrunner Max Borenstein explained that they wanted to go a bit deeper than just a cartoonish antagonist.
"One thing that is really out there is the way that this season is able to explore Larry Bird in a way that peels back a layer of him as a human being," Borenstein said.
"In the first season, he's Magic's rival and we see him from that perspective," Borenstein continued. "This season, we get to know a little bit of who he is as a person and it turns out that he's a human being every bit as nuanced and fascinating and challenging as Magic and any other character."
RELATED: HBO's Winning Time is a delicate dance of intention and improv, not unlike the 1980s Lakers
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the Paste BN Sports network.
HoopsHype's Alberto de Roa looked at each of the NBA players participating in the FIBA World Cup:
The 2023 FIBA World Cup is quickly approaching. While we still don’t have the final rosters for most of the National Teams taking part, we have a good idea of who’s going to be balling in Japan, Philippines and Indonesia.
As of now, there are 57 players under NBA contract projected to play in the World Cup. That includes the full Team USA 12-player roster, nine players from Australia and seven players from Canada leading the way.
Shootaround
— Tyrese Haliburton looked like he was levitating while enjoying an Austin Reaves dunk for Team USA
— The Bahamas had a super fun celebration after winning an Olympic basketball qualifying tournament
— Steph Curry called himself the best point guard ever with a shoutout to Magic Johnson
— Ky Carlin: What exactly are the Sixers looking for in a James Harden trade?