Better player, 14-22 Steph vs 81-88 Bird

[Cavsfansince84]

Adding a year to Steph since he missed 2020. Which player was better or more dominant within their respective era in the given years?

[HeartBreakKid]

Bird because he made the NBA popular. If it wasn't for him Steph Curry would be playing Ice Hockey.

Then again, if it wasn't for Steph Curry, there is no way I'd be wearing Under Armor (well, I don't wear it anyway, but I'm sure some people do).

Steph Curry was also the first Warrior to sweep the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Maybe this is harder than I thought.

[Stalwart]

Two transcendent game changers. Can't go wrog either way.

[Jaivl]

As in the Duncan thread, I'm going Bird, again.

Can't really offer a reason why, it's close enough as to be decided by small fluctuations in perception.

[Cavsfansince84]

Bird because he made the NBA popular. If it wasn't for him Steph Curry would be playing Ice Hockey.

Then again, if it wasn't for Steph Curry, there is no way I'd be wearing Under Armor (well, I don't wear it anyway, but I'm sure some people do).

Steph Curry was also the first Warrior to sweep the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Maybe this is harder than I thought.

I can respect what Bird brought in terms of his affect on the league but I really wanted the primary focus for this thread just to be on court ability. Not anything else in terms of legacy or how they might have changed the league.

[homecourtloss]

Bird because he made the NBA popular. If it wasn't for him Steph Curry would be playing Ice Hockey.

Then again, if it wasn't for Steph Curry, there is no way I'd be wearing Under Armor (well, I don't wear it anyway, but I'm sure some people do).

Steph Curry was also the first Warrior to sweep the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Maybe this is harder than I thought.

I can respect what Bird brought in terms of his affect on the league but I really wanted the primary focus for this thread just to be on court ability. Not anything else in terms of legacy or how they might have changed the league.

His post is satire of other posts.

[eminence]

I think I'd go Steph by a hair here. I quite like Bird defensively, and do think his offense would be even more effective in a more modern game, but still behind Steph. I think Steph was more consistent over this period, with Bird being further from the offensive force he'd later become when he first came into the league than Curry was in '15 at least (maybe more even with '14).

Don't think you can go wrong either way.

[1993Playoffs]

Very close , Bird for now , I need to see about two more seasons at this current level from Steph. To give him the edge over Bird in my top 10

I think Steph is slightly better offensively

[tsherkin]

Tough call. Gonna go with Steph, but not an easy call.

[euroleague]

Bird won 3 rings as the undisputed best guy on his team. Steph has won 2, and both of those were heavily influenced by other teams' injuries.

Bird was an elite Power-Foward, who didn't play with the best teammates to show his skills. It didn't matter - he changed position to SF, changed his play to outside-in, and dominated anyways.

Curry without the perfect system has not been nearly as effective. The Golden State TEAM has been better than the Celtics were, particularly with Durant. Curry vs Bird though? Doesn't seem that close to me in favor of Bird.

Bird from 84-86 was indisputably the best player in the league. Curry only was in 2016.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Evaluating Bird is so hard for me.

I think there is an argument that every year from 81-83 is below Curry's 14 season honestly, though it really depends on how I feel about Bird's defense from time to time.

Bird legitimately averaged in the PS those years an Inflation Adjusted 19.1 pts/75 possessions on a rTS% of -1.6%. I don't know if I love Bird as an offensive hub those years...yet in 84 he explodes with some truly all-time level stuff and I start to wonder if his sickness in 83 covered what could have been a glimpse into him becoming a real stud. It almost shouldn't be possible for Bird to make the leap he did from 83 to 84, but if we take the numbers at face value, he did.

[Stalwart]

Bird because he made the NBA popular. If it wasn't for him Steph Curry would be playing Ice Hockey.

Then again, if it wasn't for Steph Curry, there is no way I'd be wearing Under Armor (well, I don't wear it anyway, but I'm sure some people do).

Steph Curry was also the first Warrior to sweep the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Maybe this is harder than I thought.

I can respect what Bird brought in terms of his affect on the league but I really wanted the primary focus for this thread just to be on court ability. Not anything else in terms of legacy or how they might have changed the league.

His post is satire of other posts.

Its also a misrepresentation of other posts.

[PhiEaglesfan712]

This one is close, but I think the 2022 title puts Steph ahead of Bird.

[HeartBreakKid]

Bird won 3 rings as the undisputed best guy on his team. Steph has won 2, and both of those were heavily influenced by other teams' injuries.

Bird was an elite Power-Foward, who didn't play with the best teammates to show his skills. It didn't matter - he changed position to SF, changed his play to outside-in, and dominated anyways.

Curry without the perfect system has not been nearly as effective. The Golden State TEAM has been better than the Celtics were, particularly with Durant. Curry vs Bird though? Doesn't seem that close to me in favor of Bird.

Bird from 84-86 was indisputably the best player in the league. Curry only was in 2016.

I don't think the 2022 Warriors run was "heavily" influenced by the other teams injuries. I can't even think of serious injuries to any of the threats to GSW off the top of my head.

[CharityStripe34]

Bird won 3 rings as the undisputed best guy on his team. Steph has won 2, and both of those were heavily influenced by other teams' injuries.

Bird was an elite Power-Foward, who didn't play with the best teammates to show his skills. It didn't matter - he changed position to SF, changed his play to outside-in, and dominated anyways.

Curry without the perfect system has not been nearly as effective. The Golden State TEAM has been better than the Celtics were, particularly with Durant. Curry vs Bird though? Doesn't seem that close to me in favor of Bird.

Bird from 84-86 was indisputably the best player in the league. Curry only was in 2016.

I don't think the 2022 Warriors run was "heavily" influenced by the other teams injuries. I can't even think of serious injuries to any of the threats to GSW off the top of my head.

Murray and Porter were missing for Denver. And Ja got hurt in the Memphis series, if I remember.

Anyway, I'd go Bird in this specific time period that the OP posited. The elite passing, the shooting, the underrated positional defense, etc. Both were great for different reasons.

[HeartBreakKid]

Bird won 3 rings as the undisputed best guy on his team. Steph has won 2, and both of those were heavily influenced by other teams' injuries.

Bird was an elite Power-Foward, who didn't play with the best teammates to show his skills. It didn't matter - he changed position to SF, changed his play to outside-in, and dominated anyways.

Curry without the perfect system has not been nearly as effective. The Golden State TEAM has been better than the Celtics were, particularly with Durant. Curry vs Bird though? Doesn't seem that close to me in favor of Bird.

Bird from 84-86 was indisputably the best player in the league. Curry only was in 2016.

I don't think the 2022 Warriors run was "heavily" influenced by the other teams injuries. I can't even think of serious injuries to any of the threats to GSW off the top of my head.

Murray and Porter were missing for Denver. And Ja got hurt in the Memphis series, if I remember.

Anyway, I'd go Bird in this specific time period that the OP posited. The elite passing, the shooting, the underrated positional defense, etc. Both were great for different reasons.

Murray and Porter barely played that season in general. They would not have even faced GSW in the first round if they had been on the roster.

[euroleague]

Bird won 3 rings as the undisputed best guy on his team. Steph has won 2, and both of those were heavily influenced by other teams' injuries.

Bird was an elite Power-Foward, who didn't play with the best teammates to show his skills. It didn't matter - he changed position to SF, changed his play to outside-in, and dominated anyways.

Curry without the perfect system has not been nearly as effective. The Golden State TEAM has been better than the Celtics were, particularly with Durant. Curry vs Bird though? Doesn't seem that close to me in favor of Bird.

Bird from 84-86 was indisputably the best player in the league. Curry only was in 2016.

I don't think the 2022 Warriors run was "heavily" influenced by the other teams injuries. I can't even think of serious injuries to any of the threats to GSW off the top of my head.

Namely Khris Middleton, the second best player on the defending champs. Bucks almost advanced without him, but he's a pretty huge part of their team.

Ja Morant, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr, etc. as well.

[SNPA]

Bird. Defense matters. Better all around game. GOAT level passer. More killer too.

[Colbinii]

I can respect what Bird brought in terms of his affect on the league but I really wanted the primary focus for this thread just to be on court ability. Not anything else in terms of legacy or how they might have changed the league.

His post is satire of other posts.

Its also a misrepresentation of other posts.

That hasn't stopped you before.

[iggymcfrack]

Bird won 3 rings as the undisputed best guy on his team. Steph has won 2, and both of those were heavily influenced by other teams' injuries.

Bird was an elite Power-Foward, who didn't play with the best teammates to show his skills. It didn't matter - he changed position to SF, changed his play to outside-in, and dominated anyways.

Curry without the perfect system has not been nearly as effective. The Golden State TEAM has been better than the Celtics were, particularly with Durant. Curry vs Bird though? Doesn't seem that close to me in favor of Bird.

Bird from 84-86 was indisputably the best player in the league. Curry only was in 2016.

Curry won 4 titles as the best player. Who cares if someone wants to "dispute" it? Here's the on/off numbers for Curry and Durant in 2017 and 2018:

Curry: +15.2 (regular season), +12.5 (playoffs)
Durant: +5.1 (regular season), +8.5 (playoffs)

You're giving Bird credit for a much less impressive season leading to a title in 1981 even though you could just as easily argue that Cornbread was actually the best player on that team as you could argue Durant was better than Curry. Then you do the same thing with "indisputably" the best player in the league. What's indisputable? 1/3 of the people in the Retro POY project here voted Magic as the best player in '85. Seems like you're using weird random criteria to determine who was better when the truth is that they were similar average defenders and Steph had a much larger impact on the offensive end of the floor due to his superior scoring, shooting, and gravity with only a slight edge to Bird for his passing.