MJ or Bird: Offense only

[kooldude]

who's better at offense only?

[DarkoMilicic]

Larry Bird. He was the most athletic, best shooting, best posting up player of all time. He could drive against the best and dunk on them, he could shoot 3's and he had crazy ass handles.

Michael Jordan only had a fraction of Bird's athleticism and a third of his skill.

This is not a joke reply...I repeat, this is NOT a joke reply.

[Guy986]

Larry Bird. I heard he used to regularly dunk from the 3 point line.

[Taiwan Killa]

Bird, very underrated passing game.

[jzmagik]

I hear Bird used to regularly hit fullcourt shots, regularly on a nightly basis yearly.

[JordansBulls]

The guy with the most scoring titles ever and the highest PER, highest scoring average in the season, playoffs and finals, more 50+, 40+ and 30+ games in the playoffs than anyone. That player would be MJ. No knock on Bird, but MJ was better on offense.

[EHL]

Bird and Magic were both ahead of Jordan offensively, I don't know if that's really too dramatic a thing to say given their team and individual success in comparison to Jordan in a much deeper era of competition. Both were significantly superior passers (to varying degrees) that could make things happen off the ball, particularly Bird. Jordan needed the ball in his hands more than either player to be successful. Jordan separated himself the most through his play on the other side of the ball.

[Gerald3Wallace]

can anyone even stop jordan?

[Kobay]

umm Mitch Johnson vs. Larry Bird right?

[Bank Shot]

Mike James

[CBS7]

Bird and Magic were both ahead of Jordan offensively, I don't know if that's really too dramatic a thing to say given their team and individual success in comparison to Jordan in a much deeper era of competition. Both were significantly superior passers (to varying degrees) that could make things happen off the ball, particularly Bird. Jordan needed the ball in his hands more than either player to be successful. Jordan separated himself the most through his play on the other side of the ball.

Jordan was quite the passer as well, and Jordan's career scoring average is higher then both Bird's and Magic's highest individual season. I don't think the difference between them as passers is bigger then the difference between them as scorers.

[Jordan23Forever]

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Jordan was quite the passer as well, and Jordan's career scoring average is higher then both Bird's and Magic's highest individual season. I don't think the difference between them as passers is bigger then the difference between them as scorers.

I think it basically cancels out in both cases. I disagree with the statement made by EHL that Bird was a "significantly" better passer than Jordan. Better yes, no question. Magic was a significantly better passer than Jordan, though. Jordan's passing game and vision are incredibly underrated, however. I don't think he's that far off Bird, though; if his physical gifts and skills didn't allow him to do so much on the court all by himself, I think people would have seen that side of his game more since he would have needed to go to it more.

Basically, on offense, all 3 are about equal imo. Bird's a slightly better passer than Jordan, while Jordan is a better scorer. Magic is a much better passer than Jordan while Jordan is a much better scorer. I'd rate them like so in each category (relative to each other; among players at their respective positions, they're all a 10 in each category)

Bird -

Scoring: 9
Passing: 9

Jordan -

Scoring: 10
Passing: 8

Magic -

Scoring: 8
Passing: 10


I would trust Jordan more on offense, however, if I absolutely needed a big game (say, 44 pts/6-8 ast or equivalent production of 55+ points in terms of pts/ast). I feel he could put up big offensive games in terms of scoring/passing/playmaking more readily than either Magic or Bird could. Not that they couldn't, just not as frequently or as "on call" as Jordan.

Roughly equal offensive players, however. Interestingly, Jordan's ORtg is significantly higher than Bird's, while Magic's ORtg compares favorably with Jordan's.

[Showtime:Part2]

i would take magic over jordan for a big game.

magic filling in at center in his rookie yr in the finals and putting up 42, 15, and 7 and winning does it for me.

jordan but up 63 against the celts, but LOST. magic is the better big game player.

[Jordan23Forever]

i would take magic over jordan for a big game.

magic filling in at center in his rookie yr in the finals and putting up 42, 15, and 7 and winning does it for me.

jordan but up 63 against the celts, but LOST. magic is the better big game player.

Ever think Magic was playing a worse team (even though it was the Finals) and had better teammates/team defense? We were talking about offensive big games. Jordan accounted for 75 points in the Boston game; Magic accounted for 56. You proved my point. No one said Magic wasn't a big game player, but this remark is farcical.

[JordansBulls]

i would take magic over jordan for a big game.

magic filling in at center in his rookie yr in the finals and putting up 42, 15, and 7 and winning does it for me.

jordan but up 63 against the celts, but LOST. magic is the better big game player.

MJ never lost a series as the favorite with homecourt/better record. Magic lost 3 series at least with homecourt and two of them to teams they should have easily beaten. They lost to a 40-42 team in the first round and then a 51-31 team when they themselves had won 62 games. And Magic easily had more talent on his team than those teams.

[Showtime:Part2]

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Ever think Magic was playing a worse team (even though it was the Finals) and had better teammates/team defense? We were talking about offensive big games. Jordan accounted for 75 points in the Boston game; Magic accounted for 56. You proved my point. No one said Magic wasn't a big game player, but this remark is farcical.

magic was a rookie and put up those numbers, meaning he was a better big game player from day 1. and what do u mean jordan accounted for 75 points, he made 63 points. and the fact of the matter is, the lakers won while the bulls lost that game and both were very important playoff games where the superstars had "big games."

i don't mean this as disrespect to mj, because if we're comparing primes, then i'd take mj for the big offensive game. but if you want to look at their whole careers, i'd take magic.

[farzi]

Michael Jordan now, Andrew Bynum in the future.

[Showtime:Part2]

Michael Jordan now, Andrew Bynum in the future.

maybe if you hate on bynum enough you can have multiple orgasms at the thought of greg oden.

[farzi]

-= original quote snipped =-



maybe if you hate on bynum enough you can have multiple orgasms at the thought of greg oden.

And maybe if you overrate Bynum enough he can turn into Shaq and Kobe can get past the first round.

[JordansBulls]

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magic was a rookie and put up those numbers, meaning he was a better big game player from day 1. and what do u mean jordan accounted for 75 points, he made 63 points. and the fact of the matter is, the lakers won while the bulls lost that game and both were very important playoff games where the superstars had "big games."

i don't mean this as disrespect to mj, because if we're comparing primes, then i'd take mj for the big offensive game. but if you want to look at their whole careers, i'd take magic.

Please!!! Magic lost the very next year when his team won 54 games and the other team won 40 games in the first round. How is that clutch when you are losing to teams you should be beating? Also they lost the series despite having homecourt and the final game of the series was on their floor.

When you lose series without Homecourt that is one thing, but when you lose with Homecourt that means something else and no excuses can be given for that because you are the favorite when you have homecourt as it means you have the better record.