BREAKING NEWS: The legendary Larry Bird of the Celtics made sure Shawn Kemp would remember their first encounter.

Just put, Hall of Famer Larry Bird and former NBA star Shawn Kemp faced up on the wrong night.

In 1989, Kemp made his professional debut for the Seattle Supersonics, having joined the league immediately following his high school graduation. Bird was fully motivated to give the young Kemp a rough night.

Although Kemp was regarded by some as the best player to come out of Indiana, both players were raised there. Kemp claimed that when an article published in USA Today suggesting that Bird was declining, things became even more difficult.

“He came out that night to make a statement and I was just a prime candidate,” Kemp stated in a recent podcast interview with All The Smoke. “Before the game, he shook his head at me and said, `It is going to be [expletive] up night for you.” ‘

Kemp was already at a disadvantage because he said Sonics star Xavier McDaniel was dealing with knee pain. It left Kemp with the assignment of defending Bird.

“First of all, we got to Boston that night and X had some knee pain,” Kemp said. “I was like, `This is a hell of a time for you to come up with some knee pain.”‘

Before long, Bird was calling out bank shots. He told Kemp when he was going to pump fake. None of it mattered. Bird still finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

And this was after Kemp felt he played solid defense.

“I guarded his ass so tough that after the game he sent a little letter over there to me,” Kemp said. “He said, `I’ve had nobody play defense that hard on me.”