Larry Bird was an exceptional basketball player who knew how good he was. He refused to have players below 6'6" guard him on the court as they wouldn't be able to stop him. Larry took offense to anyone below this height guarding him, and his former teammate Jerry Sichting had warned opponents about this. When the Hornets put Kelly Tripucka (6'5") on him, Larry dominated the game and called his own plays. Another example of Larry's competitiveness was when he dropped 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists while calling every shot against rookie Shawn Kemp, who broke all his state records in Indiana.
