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Much respect to Larry Legend...that was a a Bad man

I am sure the correct narrative (not using in a negative way) can be crafted to put him there.

No.

Absolutely. His career was unfortunately shortened by his bad back over the last several years. Put him on any team and they instantly become a contender. I mean, he took tiny Indiana State to the NCAA finals. That's one hell of a carry job. Next to Michael Jordan he was probably the most competitive player in the league. If we were to redraft everybody who was ever in the league on talent alone. I believe he would be picked second after Jordan.

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Yes, I've said before I think he had the best peak..his talent was crazy good. Didn't he win 3 MVPs in a row or something? But depends on criteria. For peak he was up there. He was great at everything. Jordan obviously had enormous impact but so did Bird and was better at passing, anticipation, etc. Of course didn't have the athleticism.

There was some dude on youtube I remember watching probably a decade ago (I think the main schtick of his channell was that Jordan was overrated) and he basically showed that Jordan never won until the Celtics/Lakers got old and the rest of the league dilluted due to all of the expansion teams and his team was the only one with multiple stars. I believe he showed Bird as better and it was somewhat compelling.

A case can definetly be made. It would have to greatly emphasize prime years as Birds body didn't last as long as most other greats, but from 84-86 and before he was probably as good as anyone. The Celtics team he joined and made into a dynasty won like 21 games the year before he came as well. unlike Magic who skidazzled his way to the Lakers with Kareem. Bird also basically carried a mediocre school to the title game in college, back when college ball actually held weight and mattered.

nzd07 wrote:No.

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Floody100 wrote:

Watch on YouTube

I like from the 8:15-9:15 minute mark it shows the Hawks guys celebrating on the bench when Bird kept scoring and got fined by their team. They talk about it and laugh for awhile.

And of course those passes at the end of the video around 15:40 are sick.

Of course Larry is in the running. Take the centers out of the equation. Who is rest of possible goats?


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No but a case can be made for Kobe.

He was the GOAT as to what a guy who can't jump can achieve in the NBA... until Jokic showed up.
I bet if Joker decides to team up with somebody like Giannis or Luka he will get a handful of rings and will be remembered in the same light as Larry.

He toyed with people like no other in the modern era. What other player can just decide to not shoot with their dominant hand for an entire game and just dominate anyway? Most players, even all time greats, if they tried this they very likely abandon it or look silly. Just crazy stuff.

86 round one says otherwise.

VanWest82 wrote:86 round one says otherwise.

28/8/8/1.7/1.3 on 53% (64%TS) while sweeping another GOAT candidate is a pretty weak knock on Bird.

i think you can especially if you favor peaks. 84-86 Bird put a stretch together that rivals anything we seen. For that short period of time he could very well be the best compared to Shaq 00-02 or MJ 91-93

Definitely one of the best peaks and I feel is gets underrated somewhat in comparison to his arch rival Magic. In saying that, he's not the GOAT. The argument is whether he is top 5 or not.

Top 2 in MVP voting while winning 3 in a row in the most stacked era of NBA basketball in history, I can easily argue him as GOAT if I hadn't seen Jordan. He is the 2nd best player I have ever seen though, and that includes Kareem and every other star since the early 80s.

Myth wrote:

VanWest82 wrote:86 round one says otherwise.

28/8/8/1.7/1.3 on 53% (64%TS) while sweeping another GOAT candidate is a pretty weak knock on Bird.

It's not that Bird played poorly. It's that he had one of the greatest teams ever assembled and and they let a guy - the actual GOAT - average 43/6/6 against them despite being the only real offensive threat.

If 91 MJ had been thoroughly outplayed by another GOAT candidate in a playoff series, pre-prime, it'd get brought up again and again in these types of discussions.