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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2021 11:38:13 GMT
I know this is an unpopular opinion.
1981-1986 Larry Bird
I don’t think any player in any sport did more by himself in a small stretch of their career.
If Larry Bird keeps this up for 10 more years, he’s better than Jordan, Kobe, LeBron etc...
Stats in this 6 Year Stretch:
3x NBA Champion (81, 84, 86)
2x Finals MVP
3x NBA League MVP (1984-1986) ONLY Player EVER to do this (not even MJ won 3 in a row)
6x All NBA First Team
1986 AP Athlete of the Year
In the 1981 NBA Playoffs, Bird had to get through Dr J’s 76ers. In his second season as well as Moses Malone with the Rockets.
In 1984, Larry had to beat Magic, Kareem, and what could be the greatest Superstar team ever assembled (on an NBA team).
In 1985, Larry lost to the Lakers 4-3 in the Finals.
In 1986, Larry had to beat Hakeem in his prime and the Rockets as well as Jordan and the Bulls and Dominique and the Hawks.
Look, it’s not just what he accomplished, it’s who he played. He was DOMINANT in a league full of Hall of Famers. The Showtime Lakers were probably the most talented team ever assembled in the regular season, and he beat them. Often playing games left handed just to challenge himself.
Too bad Bird got that back injury between 1986-1987. Otherwise I fully believe he would have been the GOAT.
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Post by Shane Falco on Feb 19, 2021 12:34:08 GMT
Greg Maddux from 1992 - 1998.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2021 12:48:29 GMT
Baily Cargill. Last Tuesday. 7:12pm to 7:35pm.  |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Feb 19, 2021 13:35:41 GMT
I know this is an unpopular opinion. 1981-1986 Larry Bird I don’t think any player in any sport did more by himself in a small stretch of their career. If Larry Bird keeps this up for 10 more years, he’s better than Jordan, Kobe, LeBron etc... Stats in this 6 Year Stretch: 3x NBA Champion (81, 84, 86) 2x Finals MVP 3x NBA League MVP (1984-1986) ONLY Player EVER to do this (not even MJ won 3 in a row) 6x All NBA First Team 1986 AP Athlete of the Year In the 1981 NBA Playoffs, Bird had to get through Dr J’s 76ers. In his second season as well as Moses Malone with the Rockets. In 1984, Larry had to beat Magic, Kareem, and what could be the greatest Superstar team ever assembled (on an NBA team). In 1985, Larry lost to the Lakers 4-3 in the Finals. In 1986, Larry had to beat Hakeem in his prime and the Rockets as well as Jordan and the Bulls and Dominique and the Hawks. Look, it’s not just what he accomplished, it’s who he played. He was DOMINANT in a league full of Hall of Famers. The Showtime Lakers were probably the most talented team ever assembled in the regular season, and he beat them. Often playing games left handed just to challenge himself. Too bad Bird got that back injury between 1986-1987. Otherwise I fully believe he would have been the GOAT. Michael Jordan from 1991-1993 3x NBA Champion 3x NBA Finals MVP 2x NBA MVP (1991, 1992) 3x All Star 3x All Defensive NBA First Team 3x NBA Scoring Champion 1x NBA Steals Leader (1993) 3x All NBA First Team 3x AP Athlete of the Year In 1991, the Bulls swept the two time defending champion Pistons in the ECF and beat Magic's Lakers 4-1 in the Finals In 1992, the Bulls beat the 51 win Knicks in the second round, the 57 win Cavs in the ECF, and the 57 win Trail Blazers led by Clyde Drexler (in 6 games) In 1993, the Bulls swept the first two rounds of the playoffs, beat the 60 win Knicks in 6 games in the ECF, and beat a loaded, 62 win Suns team featuring MVP Charles Barkley (in 6 games) Michael Jordan from 1996-1998 3x NBA Champion 3x NBA Finals MVP 2x NBA MVP (1996, 1998) 3x All Star 2x All Star MVP (1996, 1998) 3x All Defensive NBA First Team 3x NBA Scoring Champion 3x All NBA First Team In 1996 the Bulls went 72-10 in the regular season, went 12-1 in the EC playoff bracket (including a sweep of the Shaq/Penny defending EC champion Magic) and beat the 64 win Payton/Kemp Sonics (in 6 games) In 1997, the Bulls went 69-13 in the regular season, beat the 56 win Mutombo/Smith/Blaylock Hawks in 5 games, the 61 win Mourning/Hardaway Heat in 5 games and the 64 win Malone/Stockton Jazz (in 6 games) In 1998, the Bulls beat the 58 win Miller/Smits/Jackson Pacers in the ECF and the 62 win Stockton/Malone Jazz (in 6 games) Jordan played in 82 of 82 games in all three seasons, averaging over 37 MPG, and obviously played every post season game. The man played at the elite of the elite level at both ends of the floor, every single night, for three seasons and won the title each year. He beat multiple 60 win teams featuring HOF players in the playoffs en route to a second threepeat. If that's not dominance, I don't know what is. (Or course, the real answer to this question is: Bill Russell throughout the entirety of his career.)
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Post by FrankSobotka1514 on Feb 19, 2021 13:39:09 GMT
In basketball maybe. Gretzky, Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle can make claims of their own.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Feb 19, 2021 14:02:14 GMT
In basketball maybe. Gretzky, Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle can make claims of their own. Or Tom Brady from 2016-2018. To me, hockey and basketball players have the best arguments head to head against other athletes because they get the most playing time, thus can impose their will on any given game more often.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2021 14:19:20 GMT
I know this is an unpopular opinion. 1981-1986 Larry Bird I don’t think any player in any sport did more by himself in a small stretch of their career. If Larry Bird keeps this up for 10 more years, he’s better than Jordan, Kobe, LeBron etc... Stats in this 6 Year Stretch: 3x NBA Champion (81, 84, 86) 2x Finals MVP 3x NBA League MVP (1984-1986) ONLY Player EVER to do this (not even MJ won 3 in a row) 6x All NBA First Team 1986 AP Athlete of the Year In the 1981 NBA Playoffs, Bird had to get through Dr J’s 76ers. In his second season as well as Moses Malone with the Rockets. In 1984, Larry had to beat Magic, Kareem, and what could be the greatest Superstar team ever assembled (on an NBA team). In 1985, Larry lost to the Lakers 4-3 in the Finals. In 1986, Larry had to beat Hakeem in his prime and the Rockets as well as Jordan and the Bulls and Dominique and the Hawks. Look, it’s not just what he accomplished, it’s who he played. He was DOMINANT in a league full of Hall of Famers. The Showtime Lakers were probably the most talented team ever assembled in the regular season, and he beat them. Often playing games left handed just to challenge himself. Too bad Bird got that back injury between 1986-1987. Otherwise I fully believe he would have been the GOAT. Michael Jordan from 1991-1993 3x NBA Champion 3x NBA Finals MVP 2x NBA MVP (1991, 1992) 3x All Star 3x All Defensive NBA First Team 3x NBA Scoring Champion 1x NBA Steals Leader (1993) 3x All NBA First Team 3x AP Athlete of the Year In 1991, the Bulls swept the two time defending champion Pistons in the ECF and beat Magic's Lakers 4-1 in the Finals In 1992, the Bulls beat the 51 win Knicks in the second round, the 57 win Cavs in the ECF, and the 57 win Trail Blazers led by Clyde Drexler (in 6 games) In 1993, the Bulls swept the first two rounds of the playoffs, beat the 60 win Knicks in 6 games in the ECF, and beat a loaded, 62 win Suns team featuring MVP Charles Barkley (in 6 games) Michael Jordan from 1996-1998 3x NBA Champion 3x NBA Finals MVP 2x NBA MVP (1996, 1998)3x All Star 2x All Star MVP (1996, 1998) 3x All Defensive NBA First Team 3x NBA Scoring Champion 3x All NBA First Team In 1996 the Bulls went 72-10 in the regular season, went 12-1 in the EC playoff bracket (including a sweep of the Shaq/Penny defending EC champion Magic) and beat the 64 win Payton/Kemp Sonics (in 6 games) In 1997, the Bulls went 69-13 in the regular season, beat the 56 win Mutombo/Smith/Blaylock Hawks in 5 games, the 61 win Mourning/Hardaway Heat in 5 games and the 64 win Malone/Stockton Jazz (in 6 games) In 1998, the Bulls beat the 58 win Miller/Smits/Jackson Pacers in the ECF and the 62 win Stockton/Malone Jazz (in 6 games) Jordan played in 82 of 82 games in all three seasons, averaging over 37 MPG, and obviously played every post season game. The man played at the elite of the elite level at both ends of the floor, every single night, for three seasons and won the title each year. He beat multiple 60 win teams featuring HOF players in the playoffs en route to a second threepeat. If that's not dominance, I don't know what is. (Or course, the real answer to this question is: Bill Russell throughout the entirety of his career.) True, but I’m talking about the challenges he faced. Look at the NBA during Bill Russels time. Mostly unathletic white guys. So it would be like Shaq playing against 5’11’’ - 6’1’’ slow guys. And nothing against Jordan, but he didn’t do all of that until Bird and Magic got old and retired. Bird was doing that with less talent around him against bigger opponents. Every round he faced some team with Hall of Famers. |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Feb 19, 2021 14:48:37 GMT
True, but I’m talking about the challenges he faced. Look at the NBA during Bill Russels time. Mostly unathletic white guys. So it would be like Shaq playing against 5’11’’ - 6’1’’ slow guys. And nothing against Jordan, but he didn’t do all of that until Bird and Magic got old and retired.
Bird was doing that with less talent around him against bigger opponents. Every round he faced some team with Hall of Famers. Bird called Jordan God-- and that was during the 86 playoffs. And you're dead wrong about the 80s Celtics, those were some of the most talented teams in the history of basketball. Particularly 1986, which was, other than the 92 Dream Team, probably the greatest collection of talent ever assembled. Bird, McHale, Parish, Walton, DJ, (HOFers), Ainge (1x all star), (Wedman (2x all star), Carlisle (future NBA coach of the year). As a Celtics fan I find your commentary embarrassing, you're losing credibility by the post. Less talent?! Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Bob Petit were among the 50 greatest players in NBA history as announced by the league itself in 1996. Russell & Co. went through them all on a regular basis. Chamberlain is one of the most dominant players of all time-- they literally changed the rules of basketball to try to stop him; and Russell's teams were 87-60 against him. Russell won 11 championships in 13 NBA seasons playing against elite level talent. He wasn't playing against a bunch of bums he was a foot taller than, as your goofy comparison suggests. This is a fun topic, we don't have to agree on who was the best. But you should probably learn more about the history of basketball. SMH
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Post by klawrencio79 on Feb 19, 2021 14:52:22 GMT
Probably not quite as high as some of the other ones mentioned, but Randy Johnson's 4 year stretch from 1999-2002 with the Diamondbacks is worthy of a mention.
4 straights Cy Young Awards
2001 WS ring and co-MVP award (going 3-0 against the vaunted Yankees, giving up just 2 earned runs across 17.1 inning)
In 140 games (139 starts), he went 81-27, 2.48 ERA, 1.044 WHIP, 187 ERA+, 1,417 Ks.
He lead the league in ERA 3 times (all of MLB in 2001), Ks all 4 years, ERA+ all 4 years (all of MLB in 2001)
Oh, and all of this was during the height of the steroid era.
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Post by hoskotafe3 on Feb 19, 2021 18:31:45 GMT
Sir Donald Bradman had a pretty good run between 1928 and 1948: averaged 99.94.
Best run in there was probably in 1930 where he notched 974 runs at 139. Honourable mention to Wally Hammond who scored 1000 runs in his first 8 tests, only one behind Bradman.
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Post by tristramshandy on Feb 19, 2021 18:49:48 GMT
Orel Hershiser: September 5, 1988 to October 20, 1988.
How much has baseball changed since 1988? In Hershiser's last 17 games that season, counting playoffs, he threw 15 complete games (one of which was a 10 inning complete game). Nine of them were shutouts. The two in which he didn't throw a complete game he went 8.1 and 7 innings.
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Feb 19, 2021 21:19:31 GMT
The Left Arm of God, Sanford Koufax
From 1962-66
111-34, 5 ERA titles, three Cy Young Awards, three pitching Triple Crowns, three times in the top two in MVP voting (won one).
Opposing batters watched him warm up and knew that they didn't have a prayer that game.
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Post by Rufus-T on Feb 19, 2021 21:25:37 GMT
Don Mattingly had a 6 years HOF stretch from 1984-1989.
Eric Gagne may have the best stretch of any closers from 2002-2004 with his 84 consecutive saves.
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Post by Rufus-T on Feb 19, 2021 21:30:35 GMT
I got to bring up Pedro Martinez's stretch. His run beginning with his last year with the Expos through his years with the Red Sox from 1997-2003 was one of the most dominant I have seen.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Feb 19, 2021 21:59:48 GMT
Shane Falco's entire college career just before the Sugar Bowl.
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Post by Mulder and Scully on Feb 19, 2021 22:24:41 GMT
Lebron James.
From 2011-2020, he made 9 finals appearances. He led the Cavaliers against the 73-9 Warriors from being down 3-1 in finals. The only time it ever happened in the finals.
In 2018, he led a trash roster to the finals. That 2018 Cavaliers team were a lottery team without him.
Not to mention playing on an MVP level since 2006. Probably one of the most durable athletes of all time. He's still in his prime.
Rafael Nadal's dominance at the French Open. Since 2005, he has won the title 13 times. That's unreal.
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Post by Mulder and Scully on Feb 19, 2021 22:31:16 GMT
Shane Falco's entire college career just before the Sugar Bowl. Falco has to be one of the biggest what ifs. If that Sugar Bowl fiasco didn't happen, Falco would have been G.O.A.T. |
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Post by FrankSobotka1514 on Feb 19, 2021 22:42:24 GMT
Shane Falco's entire college career just before the Sugar Bowl. Falco has to be one of the biggest what ifs. If that Sugar Bowl fiasco didn't happen, Falco would have been G.O.A.T. The question is - Shane Falco or Johnny Utah? |
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Post by Mulder and Scully on Feb 19, 2021 22:48:36 GMT
Falco has to be one of the biggest what ifs. If that Sugar Bowl fiasco didn't happen, Falco would have been G.O.A.T. The question is - Shane Falco or Johnny Utah? Falco since we actually see him play with the Washington Sentinels. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2021 23:01:40 GMT
Falco has to be one of the biggest what ifs. If that Sugar Bowl fiasco didn't happen, Falco would have been G.O.A.T. The question is - Shane Falco or Johnny Utah? I think Johnny Utah is the biggest “what if” because Shane Falco had his chance of redemption at Washington. |
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