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"It makes guys soft" - When Larry Bird took a shot at NBA stars switching teams for more money
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- "It makes guys soft" - When Larry Bird took a shot at NBA stars switching teams for more money
While today's fans and media view players frequently switching teams as a standard byproduct of modern sports business, Larry Bird holds a more nuanced, albeit critical, perspective on this trend. As a player who epitomized loyalty during his playing years with the Boston Celtics , Larry Legend once expressed his disapproval of players abandoning their original franchises for money.
Bird's hot take regarding the subject was not just a reaction to the norm in the modern NBA era. He actually noticed players prioritizing financial gain over loyalty, a trend that began as early as the late '90s.
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Even though Bird understood the business side, he never liked seeing players part ways with the team that drafted them to maximize their earnings. For Larry, it speaks volumes about a player's lack of trust and mental toughness.
"I think that's a shame, and I hope it's something the league addresses soon... There's no question the money in the NBA has gotten out of control, but I'm not going to sit here and criticize the players for that… The guaranteed money is a good thing, but it makes guys soft," Bird wrote in his 1998 book, " Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love ." "It makes them lazy. It happened when I played too. The only difference is now they're being lazy for millions, instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Bird gave these players a name
As the years progressed, the trickle of player movement that Bird disdained in the late '90s swelled into a tidal wave. The trend ultimately gave rise to the modern "super team" era in the league.
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Superstars and big-name All-Stars are now routinely collaborating to orchestrate trades or free-agent pairings, aiming to build dominant rosters. Amused and somewhat unimpressed by this practice , Bird once gave these modern-day players a catchy and biting moniker: "The Cocktail Guys."
The way Bird sees it, LeBron James may have been one of the main reasons for the super-team fascination that has plagued the entire league.
"Free agency started all that. When LeBron decided to go back to Cleveland, you've seen a number of players rallying around him wanting to go to Cleveland. I call them cocktail guys; they all want to be where the action is, and you really can't blame them. This league is all about doing your best, make a lot of money and win, that is all it comes down too. If you have the chance to play with LeBron James or Kevin Durant, you take that opportunity. The priority is to make a lot of money and be on a winning team and have all the pressure on another player, that's how it works in this league," he explained.
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Bird still likes to watch today's NBA talent
Like most old-timers, Larry also didn't shy away from accusing modern-day NBA players of preferring the easy way over the thrill and agony of facing the toughest opponents en route to an NBA title. The three-time MVP implied that these players' mentalities have softened over time.
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However, Bird's criticisms do not stem from a place of bitter jealousy. Instead, it comes from a romanticized devotion to the fierce, unyielding competition that made his era truly legendary. In fact, Larry has expressed on more than one occasion how he admires the talent of today's NBA stars.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 31, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
