Tom Brady has another Boston sports legend on his side in the Deflategate saga: Larry Bird.
Bird, an NBA Hall of Famer who won three championships with the Celtics in the 1980s, told Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe that he thought Deflategate was “a bunch of lying” and he “never believed any of it.”
Now that Bird is the president of the Indiana Pacers, he has both Boston and Indianapolis ties and he indicated that he’s a Colts fan even though his son loves the Patriots. So his stance on the topic is particularly interesting.
It’s not surprising Bird dismisses the notion that Brady and the Patriots are cheaters. The air pressure on balls is nothing compared to some of the visiting teams’ complaints in the old Boston Garden.
That building had no air conditioning. So the Celtics would bring air blowers into their locker room, but not the visitors’ locker room, for those NBA Finals games in the June heat.
Lakers coach Pat Riley talked about “chainsaws” suddenly coming out and security people appearing when his team started practicing, according to SI.com. The Lakers had to hold a couple of practices in a hotel ballroom during the 1984 NBA Finals.
And of course there were the dead spots on the old parquet floor.
In those days they called it gamesmanship.
Even though Bird says he doesn’t believe Brady masterminded any scheme to deflate footballs, his support likely comes with a little wink.