re: Prime Bird better than prime Magic

I was Celtic's season ticket holder during all of Bird's career. If you look at the Celtics record the year prior to drafting Bird (they drafted him and retained his rights) and the record his first year, he turned a franchise around.
The difference in my opinion viewing him, was he could carry a team. M Johnson needed decent players around him. Both were great players. Bird just imposed his will to win by any means.

Carrying a team was Bird's defining trademark trait on any team he played for and the heights they reached were legendary. People don't discuss that enough when discussing his legacy, that's probably a HUGE reason Bird and Hakeem should be ranked incredibly high on the greatest players ever list.

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Shaq - physically the most dominant player that has ever stepped foot on a basketball court. Had Shaq had Kobe or Jordan’s drive to win this would not even be an argument. He would be the number 1 guy. As it was, at his absolute best…….he might be the guy you fear the most in a seven game series with a title on the line.

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He wouldn't even need their drive. Just enough humility to be willing to granny shoot his free throws.

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I thought it was decided in 1979. Magic beat Bird.

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One played for a Big10 team, the other played for a team that was Division II a decade earlier...Bird's Sycamores is the deepest run by a first-time participant in the Division I tournament. They would not have another postseason appearance until 2000.

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One played for a Big10 team

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The 78 Michigan State team which lost to eventual champion Kentucky in the Elite 8 was probably better than the 79 team in totality, the 78 team won the Big 10 outright that season and the 79 team tied for it 3 ways with Iowa and Purdue but got blazing hot in March and dominated arguably as talented or more talented competition with LSU and Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8

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the other played for a team that was Division II a decade earlier...Bird's Sycamores is the deepest run by a first-time participant in the Division I tournament. They would not have another postseason appearance until 2000.

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Indiana State before and after Bird is a completely irrelevant basketball program in Indiana and the country writ-large, how they didn't build off the success Bird brought them in his 3 years playing there is more a reflection of their incompetency as an athletic department than anything else. They truly are the Little Sisters of the Poor. As we saw with Pete Maravich before him and Michael Jordan's early Bulls after him, great basketball TEAMS can always beat a great singular player with sidemen most if not all days. Not an indicator that Magic is somehow better than Bird.

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Just stating what Bird himself SAID about Magic Johnson.

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Again - Bird never had to play against Bird.

How many championships would Bobby Knight have won if he had Bird for 4 years? A lot of people dont know this but he originally was at Indiana, but got homesick and went home after a month on campus. Spent a year being a garbage man before enrolling at Indiana St.

I wanted to drop in this thread and say that anyone who thinks Magic Johnson, at any point in his entire fricking life, was better than PRIME Larry Bird, they know frick-all about basketball and potentially life in general. And their opinions should be ignored henceforth.

Magic had a longer career.

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I was Celtic's season ticket holder during all of Bird's career. I

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if true I am pretty jealous

You are correct.
When he first moved to Boston as a rookie, he was homesick and became buddies with Rick Robbie who was from Kentucky.
They both drove pickups and drank beer all day long. They would go to local pubs around old Boston Garden and get loaded together. Good Old Boys! Just wanted to be left alone. BPD looked other way and so did Celtics.
They were harmless. Fun times back in 80's. Ask Cornbread Maxwell thoughts on Bird he's really funny!!