Few men could ever be compared to Larry Bird.The NBA great won three championships with the Boston Celtics and went toe-to-toe with Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan in the 1980s.Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kevin Durant, left to right, didn’t win a ring with the ThunderA three-time MVP, he is one of the best ever to do it.Bird was known for a fierce competitive streak, once threatening to retire if MJ dropped 77 points on his team.Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren was compared to Bird before going second overall in the 2022 NBA Draft.But it is former icon Russell Westbrook, who is returning to help build OKC’s new stadium, that earned the respect of Larry Legend himself.“Here’s a young man that has had serious injuries — bad knee injuries throughout his career — yet every time he walks on the court, you know you’re going to get 100 percent from him,” he said in 2015.“He attacks, he’s fearless and he plays the way it should be played, so I’m all for him. I hope he wins 10 MVPs in a row. “I just love players that compete on a nightly basis and really take the challenge to their opponents.“Westbrook, who represented the Thunder for over a decade, and the Hick from French Lick play different positions.But in terms of sheer desire, Bird sees plenty of himself in the fashionista.“I just think that my opinion about basketball, the way I was taught, was when you step on the court, you play to win,” he added.Westbrook says OKC will always feel like homeBird vs Magic was one of the NBA’s great rivalriesGetty“Now, if you’re not supposed to play to win, then they shouldn’t keep score. If they didn’t keep score in these games, I wouldn’t have played as hard as I did. “But I do think this is our job. We know that we’re going to be hurting years down the road. He knows that he’s going to be hurting years down the road, but he can’t help it. He has to play that way to be effective, and he knows that.“Westbrook’s Denver Nuggets lost out to the Thunder in the postseason.OKC will look to erase a 1-0 deficit against the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday.Bird previously compared himself to former Pacer Chris Mullin after taking over as Indiana head coach in 1997.“He plays the game the way I liked to play,” Bird said in a 1998 edition of SLAM Magazine.NBA's GreatestGreatest NBA players in the world right now – from Luka Doncic to Spurs phenom Victor WembanyamaBest players in NBA history to never win a championship – James Harden and Carmelo Anthony to Allen Iverson and Karl Malone10 richest owners in the NBA – family empires, media moguls and investment gurusMichael Jordan’s top 10 scoring games – counting down MJ’s most extraordinary totals“He knows when to pass and when to shoot and when to cut…he fills a big hole for us.”Bird coached the Pacers from 1997 to 2000, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals three times and the NBA Finals in 2000.Center Rik Smits was on the roster throughout that spell and admitted he was surprised by Larry Legend’s coaching style.“He was not what I expected,” The Dunking Dutchman told Legends Magazine. “Not at all. “I mean, he was a great guy. But the first thing he did was hire [assistant coaches] Dick Harter and Rick Carlisle. “Dick Harter was the defensive coach, Rick Carlisle was the offensive coach, and they basically did all the coaching. Larry just clapped his hands and said, ‘Let’s go guys!’ “Larry made the substitutions, but we knew the exact second we would come out of the game because every game was the same. [When] he came in, he ran the heck out of us. “He said, ‘Hey, you guys know what you’re doing, you’re in the NBA for a reason. I’m gonna make sure you’re in the best shape possible.’ And he did! I mean, our shootarounds on the day of the game were probably harder than some of the practices we had with past coaches. “He ran the heck out of us. We were in great shape. But as far as coaching, the assistants did most of the coaching during the game. He was more of a motivator. “He might’ve given a pointer here or there, but I was expecting him to be more of a teacher, you know? And he wasn’t.”Named NBA Coach of the Year in 2002, Carlisle won a championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 having earned one alongside Bird as a player in 1986.He is currently the head coach of the Pacers, and a road victory in Game 2 would put him in the driving seat as he aims to secure a third ring.