Somewhere, Larry Bird was enjoying his holiday weekend as ESPN play-by-play announcer Mark Jones accidentally buried him alive on Christmas Day.
Yes, Bird is still alive and yes, Jones knows Bird is still alive. But that doesn’t take away from his Christmas blunder being a pretty glaring one.
Sunday evening, Jones and Doris Burke were on the call for the ESPN/ABC broadcast of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. As they welcomed viewers to the broadcast and awaited tipoff, Burke touted superstar forward Jayson Tatum, noting he’s currently on pace to become the first Celtic to average 30 points per game in a season.
That’s right, Paul Pierce didn’t do it. John Havlicek and Bob Cousy didn’t do it, although they were hindered by not having a three-point line.
“Not even the late” Jones quickly chimed in before taking a brief awkward pause, “the great Larry Bird did that.”
Amazingly, Bird never averaged 30 points per game in a season, topping out at 29.9, despite being one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. And while Bird certainly qualifies as “great,” the 66-year-old Basketball Hall-of-Famer thankfully doesn’t fall into the “late great” category.
Well aware that Bird is still alive, Jones recognized his blunder as he stammered from “late” to “great” and attempted to catch himself. But the gaffe already happened with Jones appearing to accidentally combine “great” and “Larry,” falling victim to a spoonerism like so many broadcasters before him.
[ESPN on ABC]