When K.C. Jones called Larry Bird the best of all time after just six seasons: "Go down the list of the greats and I doubt you'll come up with anyone with all those credentials" originally appeared on Basketball Network .
Two championships under his belt (1981 and 1984), a league MVP in '84, a Finals MVP, Rookie of the Year honors, five All-Star nods, and just as many All-NBA selections — all that, and Larry Bird hadn't even completed his sixth season in the league. And as if that resume wasn't impressive enough, the Boston Celtics legend reached yet another milestone on a cold January night in 1985.
With 33 points against the Washington Bullets , Bird crossed the 10,000-point mark.
It wasn't just the numbers or the clutch shots that kept the Celtics ahead in a tight 103-101 win. It was the way Bird usually did it — commanding the game, lifting his teammates, making the right play when it mattered most. And it was on that night that his head coach at the time, K.C. Jones , gave him the ultimate compliment.
"He's the best (of all time). Not just because of his scoring. He is getting floor burns, he is getting assists and he is getting rebounds. Go down the list of the greats and I doubt you'll come up with anyone with all those credentials," Jones said after the Celtics' win.
Bird's game only grew as the years went by. With each season, the hardware kept piling up, and so did the respect from fans, peers, and rivals.
By the time his career was in full bloom, Bird had added two more MVP trophies (1985, 1986), two more NBA titles (1986 being the crown jewel of the Celtics' 1980s dominance), and a Finals MVP in '86 to his legendary name. And it didn't stop there. Even in his twilight years, when the back pain started to take its toll, Bird delivered on the biggest stages — including at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he helped, if not with his game, but with his presence, the Dream Team capture gold.
Once a kid playing in the little town of French Lick, Indiana, became a legend and a man who made the NBA popular again, largely thanks to his iconic rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers and Magic Johnson.
Coach Jones shared a special type of connection with Larry Legend. And those words are not some kind that you would tell to your star player to feel better, K.C. meant every single bit.
This was a man who had earned Bird's respect as an assistant during Larry's early years, and then as head coach, guiding the Celtics to glory. Together, they climbed the NBA mountain, and Jones had a front-row seat to witness Bird's brilliance night in and night out. K.C. even believed Bird had the same approach to basketball as Muhammad Ali had to boxing .
"Larry has that Muhammad Ali kind of approach," the C's head coach said at the time, per the Boston Globe. "He gets to you and to your mind before the fight begins. By the time you step in the ring, you're 20 points down."
Jones knew greatness when he saw it. And in The Hick from The French Lick, he saw a player who wasn't just piling up numbers — he was changing the game for decades to come. In many ways, Larry's aura mirrored that of Ali. The confidence, the swagger and the ability to make opponents crumble even before the game started.
When K.C. called Bird the best of all time, he wasn't exaggerating. He was simply telling it like it was. Plain and simple.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
