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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2021 20:38:17 GMT
People compare LeBron and MJ all the time as the GOAT. Here is a comparison of Larry Bird and LeBron… This is after Larry Bird had a back injury where he dislocated his spine paving his mother’s driveway. He had to go to a chiropractor to realign his spine and wear a back brace for 4 hours before he could play a game. LeBron hasn’t even passed Bird. With his back injury and everything. 
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Sept 16, 2021 23:17:22 GMT
I don't know if you're trying to frame this as a LeBron hit piece or not, but you aren't wrong. Bird was also one of the great shooters, passers and scorers despite a bad finger due to a softball injury. Both top five players of all time in my book, but I'd have to give the edge to Larry for the clutch factor and the champion's mindset. LeBron is great, Bird could kill you in a hundred different ways. And tell you what he was going to do before he did it. Anyone who disagrees, point me to the game where LeBron plays almost the entire game left handed just to challenge himself, against a team that had beaten them earlier that season. Only Larry Bird did that. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2021 1:12:33 GMT
I don't know if you're trying to frame this as a LeBron hit piece or not, but you aren't wrong. Bird was also one of the great shooters, passers and scorers despite a bad finger due to a softball injury. Both top five players of all time in my book, but I'd have to give the edge to Larry for the clutch factor and the champion's mindset. LeBron is great, Bird could kill you in a hundred different ways. And tell you what he was going to do before he did it. Anyone who disagrees, point me to the game where LeBron plays almost the entire game left handed just to challenge himself, against a team that had beaten them earlier that season. Only Larry Bird did that. Not to mention, Bird was clutch in many ways. Not just scoring the last shot. But stealing the inbounds pass from Isiah Thomas with 5 seconds left and passing a perfect dart to DJ for a last second win. Psychologically dominated people. Dennis Rodman (one of the greatest defensive players in NBA history) was guarding Larry. He kept shouting “I’m open” even when Rodman was draped over him. He proceed to score 4 shots in a row on him. Then said to the coach of the Pistons “who’s guarding me? If you don’t put someone on me, I’m going for 60 tonight” just to get in his head. He averaged more rebounds in his career than Patrick Ewing. A 7 foot center in the Hall of Fame who lived in the paint. And a SF Larry Bird with back problems out rebounded him for his career. 12x all defensive team and he played for 13 seasons. He passed better than Magic Johnson. Literally the most complete player ever. And no, it’s not a slight on LeBron. I’m just tired of everyone saying it’s either MJ or LeBron, when I don’t think James has passed Magic, Larry, or even Kareem. Much less MJ. I used Larry as an example because they played the same position and Larry gets overlooked today. |
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Post by klawrencio79 on Sept 17, 2021 1:18:48 GMT
No horse in this race, but is that really meant to be considered Lebron’s best season for the purpose of this exercise? Because it isn’t. Statistically, that is one Lebron’s poorer seasons and, if we’re being honest, it was his first year back in Cleveland, playing with flat footed dipshits all around him. Just sayin.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2021 3:23:55 GMT
No horse in this race, but is that really meant to be considered Lebron’s best season for the purpose of this exercise? Because it isn’t. Statistically, that is one Lebron’s poorer seasons and, if we’re being honest, it was his first year back in Cleveland, playing with flat footed dipshits all around him. Just sayin. That wasn’t even Larry’s best season. What you have to understand is, I’m saying this is after Larry basically broke his back. LeBron is supposed to be the GOAT, and he isn’t even statistically better than Bird, with all of his injuries. |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Sept 17, 2021 13:08:07 GMT
No horse in this race, but is that really meant to be considered Lebron’s best season for the purpose of this exercise? Because it isn’t. Statistically, that is one Lebron’s poorer seasons and, if we’re being honest, it was his first year back in Cleveland, playing with flat footed dipshits all around him. Just sayin. I had the same thought regarding supporting cast. My next thought was, "Would Larry have taken that Cavs team to the Finals?" And then I thought about how weak the conference was during that span and I thought, "Absolutely."
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2021 14:52:52 GMT
No horse in this race, but is that really meant to be considered Lebron’s best season for the purpose of this exercise? Because it isn’t. Statistically, that is one Lebron’s poorer seasons and, if we’re being honest, it was his first year back in Cleveland, playing with flat footed dipshits all around him. Just sayin. I had the same thought regarding supporting cast. My next thought was, "Would Larry have taken that Cavs team to the Finals?" And then I thought about how weak the conference was during that span and I thought, "Absolutely." Larry took a mid level Indians St. Sycamores in their conference (much less the nation) and went 33-0 on his way to the National Championship. Only lost to Mich St because they had Magic and a stacked team. Larry played in the much tougher Eastern division in the 1980s. -Sidney Moncrief and the Bucks -Isiah Thomas, Laimbeer, Rodman and the bad boy Pistons -Dr. J, Moses Malone 76ers -Michael Jordan and the Bulls -Dominque Wilkins and the Hawks It’s as if each team had superstars, and they were spread out over the whole conference. Not on super teams… The East when LeBron was on the Cavs 2.0 was probably the weakest the Eastern division had ever been, in NBA history. Larry, a 6’9” shooter (better than KD) with eyes in the back of his head, averaging more rebounds than Patrick Ewing for a career, more blocks and steals than LeBron in his career (look it up) and all defensive player. Diving for loose balls, hitting game winners. In an era where you can’t touch anyone. Larry would be BETTER in 2021 than in the 1980s. He did all of this hurt. And ended up with the 2nd highest winning percentage in NBA history, only behind Magic. |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Sept 17, 2021 15:41:16 GMT
I had the same thought regarding supporting cast. My next thought was, "Would Larry have taken that Cavs team to the Finals?" And then I thought about how weak the conference was during that span and I thought, "Absolutely." Larry took a mid level Indians St. Sycamores in their conference (much less the nation) and went 33-0 on his way to the National Championship. Only lost to Mich St because they had Magic and a stacked team. Larry played in the much tougher Eastern division in the 1980s. -Sidney Moncrief and the Bucks -Isiah Thomas, Laimbeer, Rodman and the bad boy Pistons -Dr. J, Moses Malone 76ers -Michael Jordan and the Bulls -Dominque Wilkins and the Hawks It’s as if each team had superstars, and they were spread out over the whole conference. Not on super teams… The East when LeBron was on the Cavs 2.0 was probably the weakest the Eastern division had ever been, in NBA history. Larry, a 6’9” shooter (better than KD) with eyes in the back of his head, averaging more rebounds than Patrick Ewing for a career, more blocks and steals than LeBron in his career (look it up) and all defensive player. Diving for loose balls, hitting game winners. In an era where you can’t touch anyone. Larry would be BETTER in 2021 than in the 1980s. He did all of this hurt. And ended up with the 2nd highest winning percentage in NBA history, only behind Magic. It probably helps that Ewing played a couple of seasons where he was useless at the end, but it's still an insane stat. The fact that they were on par in the rebounding department is crazy, especially when you consider Bird played with Parish and McHale, and did much of his scoring from the perimeter, as opposed to Ewing gobbling up boards while camped in the paint. To be fair, Ewing had a good midrange game too, but a HOF center should've been dominating the boards more than Larry Bird, at least according to prevailing wisdom. A fun stat from that link I provided: The craziest part to me is looking at Bird's numbers in 91-92. That was his final season, and he was completely shot. Laying down on the sidelines to stretch his back out when he wasn't in the game, he still averaged 20 points, almost 10 rebounds, almost 7 assists. That was the year he had that insane 49 point triple double against Portland where he hit the game tying three to put it into OT at the buzzer, while looking at the floor to make sure his foot was behind the line. And that was for a first place team! This isn't Kobe scoring 60 points on 50 shots in a meaningless finale for a team not going to the postseason. Bird was a goddamn basketball animal. I'm sure you've heard the story about how he retired a few days before his contract automatically renewed. They told him to think about it for a week and come back. Larry said, "I know what day it is. I'm not going to take the money if I'm not going to play." No way a professional athlete does that today. No fucking way. And yeah, look at what Klay Thompson can do in today's wide open, three point crazy league, and imagine what Bird would do. I care less about comparing Bird to LeBron and more about making sure modern fans appreciate how good Bird actually was. Good stuff man, this is a great thread, filled with solid information as opposed to blindly biased commentary.
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