Larry Bird on deflategate: 'That's just something Kravitz came up with'

Pacers president Larry Bird remains a beloved sports hero in New England so when the Pacers play the Celtics the Boston media normally touches base. Since everyone has given an opinion on the New England Patriots on the deflated football story, Bird weighed in with his hilarious take to the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, taking full advantage of the opportunity to take a good-natured shot at Bob Kravitz.

"I thought it was a bunch of lying, if you want to know the truth," said Bird. "That's something [Bob] Kravitz [Indianapolis sports columnist] came up with, and I never believed any of it.

"It doesn't really matter. It was written about a lot around the country, but here in Indianapolis, most people knew. We knew the Patriots was going to beat them anyway. I thought it was pretty chintzy. People finally realized they would have beat us anyway. I just laughed about it.

"They got the footballs they played with and we got our footballs. And their footballs beat our footballs.

"I watch every one of the Colts games. I really like them. But my son loves all things about the Patriots. And I never root against the Patriots."

After Bird re-assured all of the fans and teams in Boston that he still loves them, he also shared his thoughts on the challenges of developing a young team in the NBA. Not as entertaining, but still interesting. Check it out.