Whether it’s Jayson Tatum playing Willy Wonka or Grant Williams enjoying a random FaceTime call with Mark Wahlberg, they are blessed with the gifts of both hoop and gab.
While the former was definitely true of Celtics legend Larry Bird, the latter was not always accurate. While Bird’s famous for his on-court trash talk, he’s not always as chatty when it comes to basketball outsiders.
I learned this myself a few years back when I wrote a “Tonight Show” bit for Larry Legend. And Massachusetts natives Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have an even cringier tale.
Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy interviewed the famous friends about their new film Air when they shared a story about Affleck (long before he was famous for being the face of Dunkin’) requesting an autograph from Bird for Damon’s birthday
Ray Allen, “He Got Game”
Ray Allen was so good as Jesus Shuttlesworth, you wonder why he didn’t keep acting (unless that’s what he was doing when he hugged Kevin Garnett last winter). Longtime Celtic Walter McCarty also appears in the films as “Mance.”
McHale appeared twice in Sam Malone’s cozy watering hole, only to find himself caught up in bar bets and obscure trivia that nearly ruined his career. McHale even scored the biggest laugh in one episode, likening the X-ray of an adult male ape to loathed Piston Bill Laimbeer.
From this film came the famous Bill Murray line: “Larry’s not white – he’s clear.” But the highlight comes when Murray pontificates about whether he could make it in the NBA – and Bird steals the scene like an Isiah Thomas inbounds pass.
“The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” by Cedric Maxwell.
In this 1979 film, the 1981 Finals MVP and longtime Celtics radio analyst plays himself. The movie is about a struggling team that hires players based only on their astrological sign—a strategy that the New York Knicks have ostensibly employed in real life for the previous 50 years.
