re: Where does Larry Bird rank All Time?

"Larry Bird was a basketball genius." - Dr. J

Allow Doc Rivers to tell the story:

“Bird got in the zone and he started calling the shots, he started saying “off the glass”, that was the one game I think he tortured Dominique.

“He saw Dominique as this up and coming player and he just tortured him, mentally. He tortured all of us, he was calling shots,”off the glass” “who’s next”, “where you want this one from” and he just made one after another. When he got to about the 55th point you knew it was something special.”

“Even as a player, and that usually doesn’t happen, but we were down so much at the time, you got time to realize the game. The last shot, he said “in the trainer’s lap” coming down the court, which meant it was going to be a three and it was going to from deep, and then he said “who wants it?”. Then I think Reggie Brown, I’m not sure who it was, ran out after him, he shot this high rainbow, it goes in, Reggie bumps into him and accidentally knocks him on our trainer’s lap.

“So it was exactly what he said, it was an accident but it was almost fate. They show a shot of our bench, Cliff Livingston and Eddie Johnson are standing up giving each other high fives, it was pretty awesome.

“That night was not awesome. We had to go back to the room, and Mike Fratello, instead of going out to eat, he had a team meeting and put the film in and says “it’s one thing to be in awe, it’s another thing to cheer for the other team”. And he shows this back and forth, and kept rewinding the high five. It was awesome.”

Those having Bird ahead of Bron:

Are you retarded?

Old as shite?

Racist?

Trolling?

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Bird

24.3 pts, 6.3 asst, 10reb, 49.6pct, 24.5 PER

Bron

27.1 pts, 7 asst, 7.1 reb, 50.0pct, 27.6 PER

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Stats don't really tell any story.

As Kevin McHale once said...Bird controlled every game...and he could do it with just 12 shots.

But I brought up the subject because it seems Bird has sort of become "re-maligned" over the years.

Everyone said he was too slow and couldn't jump and made fun of him first entering the league...then he made everyone fools...and he was labeled GOAT while he actually played (which is rare). I mean he was called the greatest player of all-time while he played.

Then...with millennials...it became...once again..."he was too slow and couldn't jump" blah-blah-blah...etc.

It's like Bird has been attacked twice from a 40 year old stereotype. I wonder if he ever overcomes that...once the 80's people die out.

I mean, I heard someone mention Bird on ESPN and immediately they compare him to Dirk Nowitzki!

Are fricking kidding me? Why? Just because they are both white and forwards? Dirk in Bird's league?

That's how marginalized Bird seems to have become.

Agreed

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There really is nothing like what was going on with Bird and Magic and the Celtics-Lakers.

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I truly am jealous of those who got to watch that era play out.

He's pretty inarguably a top 5 player of all time. I feel like he's usually included in such list. If he isn't, the person making said list is dumb and doesn't know what he's talking about.

Everything posted about Lakers-Celtics in the 80s is true.

It was just pure awesome. Flat-out wars.

Magic and Bird saved the NBA.

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Nate fricking Archibald

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You mean the Nate Archibald who was responsible for the 2nd most points ever accounted for in a single season?