Top 10 Non-PG/SG Passers of All-time

[dhsilv2]

The thing that always strikes me with Bird's passing, is that it really showcases how much of a chess game he is playing. He isn't just playing into the flow of the game and letting it come to him, he is already several plays ahead making the pass he already anticipated in his mind up the court. As you said a lot of his assists come off the ball and are often him passing right away off the pass that just came to him bang bang. It is like the ball is already gone from him hands before it even reaches his hands on some of those passes, they are so quick and pin point. It is truely amazing to watch, and I don't see anyone do his type of touch passes in todays game where most of the passing is off the dribble.

In an era defined by space, it's hard to make touch passes like you could in a grossly congested era where space wasn't the primary objective of play positioning and ball movement. It's hard to do what bird did because the game isn't the same. Not the diminish bird, but it's just different today.

[rzzzzz]

It's hard to do what bird did because the game isn't the same. Not the diminish bird, but it's just different today.

the single play i most associate with bird was when he stole the ball from Isiah Thomas at the baseline, and got it to Dennis Johnson under the rim, like all in one motion. like he was already seeing that pass before he got the ball. which stole that playoff game, and ended up stealing the series from Detroit. Larry Legend! (DJ was no slouch his own self.)

[C3H6N6O6]

Nowhere near the top 10 (not even top 200), but Andrew Bogut comes to mind as an underrated big man passer. The Warriors first championship had him making an insane amount of passes, I really miss that offense. It's crazy when you look at his stats how few APG he had that year, tons of the offense flowed through him.

And in the 2016 Finals people like to bring up Draymond's suspension, but people forget Andrew Bogut got injured in Game 5 and had to miss Games 6 and 7. Huge loss for GSW on both defense and offense (missing his passing and had to play Ezeli in his place.)

People also like to forget that Andrew Bogut was playing a whopping 12 mins a game in those finals before he got injuured and had a negative +- for the series when he got injured.

[dhsilv2]

It's hard to do what bird did because the game isn't the same. Not the diminish bird, but it's just different today.

the single play i most associate with bird was when he stole the ball from Isiah Thomas at the baseline, and got it to Dennis Johnson under the rim, like all in one motion. like he was already seeing that pass before he got the ball. which stole that playoff game, and ended up stealing the series from Detroit. Larry Legend! (DJ was no slouch his own self.)

Certainly am not dismissing Bird's court vision or passing! The man was a legend.

[Greyhound]

LeBron doesn’t play PG on offense?

Time to get off the general board. Wow

Basketball, how do it work?

Lol

The answer to the OP’s question is Bird. That’s it. There is a reason Bird posters are saying it’s not close. Because it ain’t. Watch Bird passing. Watch James. Not close. Bird has a GOAT passer case. A damn good case.

Think about it like this: assists per minute of ball possession.

Not close.

Bird. Better vision, tougher passes and exponential more efficient per minute of possession.

LeBron is a better passer then Bird.

Try to rationalize it any way you like. Throw out cockamamie qualifiers to your hearts content. You can even continue your encyclopedia of made up fictitious positions.

LeBron is a SF by position and he is both the greatest passing non guard of all time and the GOAT SF.

Thanks for the input though.

[Pg81]

The thing that always strikes me with Bird's passing, is that it really showcases how much of a chess game he is playing. He isn't just playing into the flow of the game and letting it come to him, he is already several plays ahead making the pass he already anticipated in his mind up the court. As you said a lot of his assists come off the ball and are often him passing right away off the pass that just came to him bang bang. It is like the ball is already gone from him hands before it even reaches his hands on some of those passes, they are so quick and pin point. It is truely amazing to watch, and I don't see anyone do his type of touch passes in todays game where most of the passing is off the dribble.

In an era defined by space, it's hard to make touch passes like you could in a grossly congested era where space wasn't the primary objective of play positioning and ball movement. It's hard to do what bird did because the game isn't the same. Not the diminish bird, but it's just different today.

Do you seriously think Bird would struggle in this era which is basically tailor made for his game?
Just to make it clear, with play time management, advanced nutrition, techniques, heightened offensive focus by the rules, etc. there is no way that this era would have any negative effect on Bird in fact he might not only be more productive but also play longer thanks to modern sports medicine.

[dhsilv2]

The thing that always strikes me with Bird's passing, is that it really showcases how much of a chess game he is playing. He isn't just playing into the flow of the game and letting it come to him, he is already several plays ahead making the pass he already anticipated in his mind up the court. As you said a lot of his assists come off the ball and are often him passing right away off the pass that just came to him bang bang. It is like the ball is already gone from him hands before it even reaches his hands on some of those passes, they are so quick and pin point. It is truely amazing to watch, and I don't see anyone do his type of touch passes in todays game where most of the passing is off the dribble.

In an era defined by space, it's hard to make touch passes like you could in a grossly congested era where space wasn't the primary objective of play positioning and ball movement. It's hard to do what bird did because the game isn't the same. Not the diminish bird, but it's just different today.

Do you seriously think Bird would struggle in this era which is basically tailor made for his game?
Just to make it clear, with play time management, advanced nutrition, techniques, heightened offensive focus by the rules, etc. there is no way that this era would have any negative effect on Bird in fact he might not only be more productive but also play longer thanks to modern sports medicine.

Say what? I think you replied to the wrong person.

[SNPA]

LeBron doesn’t play PG on offense?

Time to get off the general board. Wow

Basketball, how do it work?

Lol

The answer to the OP’s question is Bird. That’s it. There is a reason Bird posters are saying it’s not close. Because it ain’t. Watch Bird passing. Watch James. Not close. Bird has a GOAT passer case. A damn good case.

Think about it like this: assists per minute of ball possession.

Not close.

Bird. Better vision, tougher passes and exponential more efficient per minute of possession.

LeBron is a better passer then Bird.

Try to rationalize it any way you like. Throw out cockamamie qualifiers to your hearts content. You can even continue your encyclopedia of made up fictitious positions.

LeBron is a SF by position and he is both the greatest passing non guard of all time and the GOAT SF.

Thanks for the input though.

How is he a better passer?

[KyRo23]

To me Bird is the best to ever do it and it's honestly not close.

Unless you think Lebron was a PG all his career, then no, Lebron is leaps and bounds better than Bird. LeGOAT is arguably a top 3 passer of all time. Easy top 5.

Top 5? For a primarily drive and kick player? Ok.

You're very misinformed lol
[video]

Watch on YouTube

[/video]

[SNPA]

Unless you think Lebron was a PG all his career, then no, Lebron is leaps and bounds better than Bird. LeGOAT is arguably a top 3 passer of all time. Easy top 5.

Top 5? For a primarily drive and kick player? Ok.

You're very misinformed lol
[video]

Watch on YouTube

[/video]

did I say he sucked at passing?

That video doesn’t even come close to proving what I think you intended it for. It takes a full minute into a nine minute video before he throws a decent pass. It takes till two minutes before he throws a good NBA pass. The only pass on peak Bird’s level comes at 3:14. There’s a lot of behind the back, lots of guys can do that. Hubie Brown coached guys to make that pass regularly. There’s some good pocket passes and bit more variety. James is a good passer. Nothing here is new to me. It just seems like you don’t know the competition. A Bird passing highlight package is more impressive than this.

[Pg81]

In an era defined by space, it's hard to make touch passes like you could in a grossly congested era where space wasn't the primary objective of play positioning and ball movement. It's hard to do what bird did because the game isn't the same. Not the diminish bird, but it's just different today.

Do you seriously think Bird would struggle in this era which is basically tailor made for his game?
Just to make it clear, with play time management, advanced nutrition, techniques, heightened offensive focus by the rules, etc. there is no way that this era would have any negative effect on Bird in fact he might not only be more productive but also play longer thanks to modern sports medicine.

Say what? I think you replied to the wrong person.

To me your post reads like you believe that Bird would be not as good now as he was back then because he would not be able to replicate the types of passes he did back then. So no I did not get the wrong person. At most I misunderstood you.

[Jersey Generals]

Bird is the best one outside of Magic to my eye. He makes hard things look easy, nad difficult things look like magic. That tap pass he did in that one All Star game? One of the best, "simple" passes I've ever seen.

[KyRo23]

Top 5? For a primarily drive and kick player? Ok.

You're very misinformed lol
[video]

Watch on YouTube

[/video]

did I say he sucked at passing?

That video doesn’t even come close to proving what I think you intended it for. It takes a full minute into a nine minute video before he throws a decent pass. It takes till two minutes before he throws a good NBA pass. The only pass on peak Bird’s level comes at 3:14. There’s a lot of behind the back, lots of guys can do that. Hubie Brown coached guys to make that pass regularly. There’s some good pocket passes and bit more variety. James is a good passer. Nothing here is new to me. It just seems like you don’t know the competition. A Bird passing highlight package is more impressive than this.

I was referring to "primarily drive and kick" which isn't even remotely true. Not sure what else you're babbling about.

[SNPA]

You're very misinformed lol
[video]

Watch on YouTube

[/video]

did I say he sucked at passing?

That video doesn’t even come close to proving what I think you intended it for. It takes a full minute into a nine minute video before he throws a decent pass. It takes till two minutes before he throws a good NBA pass. The only pass on peak Bird’s level comes at 3:14. There’s a lot of behind the back, lots of guys can do that. Hubie Brown coached guys to make that pass regularly. There’s some good pocket passes and bit more variety. James is a good passer. Nothing here is new to me. It just seems like you don’t know the competition. A Bird passing highlight package is more impressive than this.

I was referring to "primarily drive and kick" which isn't even remotely true. Not sure what else you're babbling about.

Nothing controversial about that statement. LeBron has been primarily a drive and kick passer for most of his career. Not sure what career you’re babbling about.

[JN61]

You're very misinformed lol
[video]

Watch on YouTube

[/video]

did I say he sucked at passing?

That video doesn’t even come close to proving what I think you intended it for. It takes a full minute into a nine minute video before he throws a decent pass. It takes till two minutes before he throws a good NBA pass. The only pass on peak Bird’s level comes at 3:14. There’s a lot of behind the back, lots of guys can do that. Hubie Brown coached guys to make that pass regularly. There’s some good pocket passes and bit more variety. James is a good passer. Nothing here is new to me. It just seems like you don’t know the competition. A Bird passing highlight package is more impressive than this.

I was referring to "primarily drive and kick" which isn't even remotely true. Not sure what else you're babbling about.

LeBron is drive and kick passer. Nothing wrong in that.

[getrichordie]

Shrempf
Noah

[dhsilv2]

Do you seriously think Bird would struggle in this era which is basically tailor made for his game?
Just to make it clear, with play time management, advanced nutrition, techniques, heightened offensive focus by the rules, etc. there is no way that this era would have any negative effect on Bird in fact he might not only be more productive but also play longer thanks to modern sports medicine.

Say what? I think you replied to the wrong person.

To me your post reads like you believe that Bird would be not as good now as he was back then because he would not be able to replicate the types of passes he did back then. So no I did not get the wrong person. At most I misunderstood you.

That's a MASSIVE leap from commentating on a style of passing and how the game is changing.

[wardjdim]

Kukoc
Jokic
Sabonis
Marc Gasol
Pau Gasol
Divac
Noah
Bird
LeBron
Webber

Doncic and Ginobili are SGs so they are not qualified

[Greyhound]

LeBron doesn’t play PG on offense?

Time to get off the general board. Wow

Basketball, how do it work?

Lol

The answer to the OP’s question is Bird. That’s it. There is a reason Bird posters are saying it’s not close. Because it ain’t. Watch Bird passing. Watch James. Not close. Bird has a GOAT passer case. A damn good case.

Think about it like this: assists per minute of ball possession.

Not close.

Bird. Better vision, tougher passes and exponential more efficient per minute of possession.

LeBron is a better passer then Bird.

Try to rationalize it any way you like. Throw out cockamamie qualifiers to your hearts content. You can even continue your encyclopedia of made up fictitious positions.

LeBron is a SF by position and he is both the greatest passing non guard of all time and the GOAT SF.

Thanks for the input though.

How is he a better passer?

Just is.

[SNPA]

LeBron is a better passer then Bird.

Try to rationalize it any way you like. Throw out cockamamie qualifiers to your hearts content. You can even continue your encyclopedia of made up fictitious positions.

LeBron is a SF by position and he is both the greatest passing non guard of all time and the GOAT SF.

Thanks for the input though.

How is he a better passer?

Just is.

Thanks for the input though.