Doug Gottlieb reveals why he's putting Larry Bird and Jordan over LeBron James | FIRST THINGS FIRST 

Has LeBron surpassed Jordan as the best player in NBA history?

I got Bird over Lebron. Bird was an absolute killer...

Nick Wright is always lying about stats , Larry Bird Average 24 pts . He made up some stats last also with his MJ vs LBJ comparison saying LBJ average more steals and blocks than Jordan....that was lie .

Larry Bird: Better shooter Better passer Better free throw shooter Better rebounder Better competitor LeBron James: No injuries.......

Larry Bird never complained about his teammates when they lose. He just called them sissies and they responded. Bird a better leader than Bron.

Lol. Nick was owned!

Doug dropping the mic on poor Nick

He also took his team from 29 wins to 61 as a rookie.

Jordan never flopped, bird never flopped. Lebron both flopped and quit; it’s a matter of character

Nick Wright just can't let anyone finish before he's triggered. And he's completely delusional.

I know a lot of guys that say they’ll take Larry bird in his prime over LeBron and I don’t think that’s ridiculous Larry was amazing, You have these idiots that say Larry would be a role player in today’s NBA 😂😂😂

How does nick wright have the credentials to obtain a job on a sports talk show???? He is not good, but he still is employed. Someone tell me why?

Nick immediately lost all IQ points as I dismissed everything he stated once he ranked Larry Legend Bird as #9 on his list!!’ Nick should be fired with that comment alone.

This dude has lost his mind,I'm actually shocked at the way people just automatically put LeBron ahead of bird,better go back and watch some old clips nick,bird dominated games like none other in ways LeBron just would not do,watch bird diving for loose balls all over the floor and I'm talking jumping on people in the stands,dude broke his face in a playoff gm diving after a loose ball,came back in and finished off the pacers in an elimination game!!bird was way more driven,better shooter,better at the line,better rebounder,and yes a BETTER PASSER,Nick better go back to the archives and watch birds career!!let me tell u this,if bird didn't have McHale, parish,DJ and ainge his stats would have been even better,a lot better,bird had seasons when he avg like 29,10 and 7 and he wasn't even MVP that yr!!and NICK do ur homework cuz Bird avg 24 gm not 22,u can tell this man just had his mind made up BIRD was more important to the gm along with magic and jordan,LeBron is great until the close,that's the main drop off and it's kind of a bad one,until the warriors who were LeBron James competition??and when they beat them who closed em out??IRVING did!!in Miami who did the closing RAY ALLEN did!!no way will I ever put James ahead of bird,no way!!

I can right a 30 page essay on WWII as well... But it won't be as good or detailed as someone who lived through the WWII era. Nick Right Stupid Comment!

I’d take Bird any day, Magic, and Michael. Bird was the best in a clutch and making his team better.

If Nick thinks that Lebron is a better passer than Larry Bird, I imagine that his 30 page essay on WWII ends with the Germans winning...

Gotta agree with Doug on this one. I'd put Larry above Lebrun as well.

Gottleib killing them with solid arguments.

Somebody's gotta call out nick Wright for his lying stats. Larry averaged 24, 10 and 6 for his career, NOT 22 POINTS

"Larry, you only told me one lie. You said there will be another Larry Bird. Larry, there will never, ever be another Larry Bird." - Magic Johnson, 1992 speech made in Boston in honor of Larry Bird “Larry has a way of making everybody he comes into contact with a better person. A pure American of the highest character as reported in Sports Illustrated: "Bob Woolf, Larry Bird's attorney, brings out a hotel bill dated April 6, 1979. .... Now, the most illuminating thing in this whole saga is that hotel bill from 1979. You see, except for the basic room charge and the tax, there was nothing else on it. No room service, no restaurant charge, no long-distance phone calls, no nothing. Having dealt with many other athletes, Woolf naturally assumed that the kid would charge at will. But that wasn't how Larry Joe Bird was raised back in French Lick, Indiana. ‘Larry has a way of making everybody he comes into contact with a better person,’ Woolf says. ‘If you think the Larry Bird on the court has character and is unselfish-well, off the court he's even more so.’ Among those who know Bird well, the same catalog of qualities is cited again and again: honest, loyal, steadfast, dependable-his existence shaped by the contradictory, almost mystical ability to be the cynosure, yet always to contribute to those around him. Mel Daniels, who was an assistant coach at Indiana State when Bird played there, said it best: ‘It's like a piece of Larry goes to each player by the things he does.’ Tony Clark, a Terre Haute radio executive who grew up with Bird, says, ‘Larry epitomizes the word friend. Do you understand that?’ Yes. ‘Then you really don't have to know anything else about him.’” (Sports Illustrated 1988, Frank Deford, “A Player For The Ages,” Sports Illustrated, Time, Inc., New York, New York, March 21, 1988) "The guy was a basketball genius who had a mask of "a hick from French Lick" out as his calling card. But if you believed that for one second, you were going to get beaten." - Dr. Julius Erving, Televised interview published September 12, 2011, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uxbDdnm3F1A.html Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All Time ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CExjzyTRxnQ.html

I wonder how much is deposited monthly into nicks account from LeBron James industries... I swear somebody walked into a speedway gas station and saw this clown stocking the hot pizza oven and was like "yo... you wanna do a sports show?"

Michael Jordan played defense (he won defensive player of the year and was runner up other years). Lebron will occasionally play D when he wants a chase down block to make the highlight reel. Can't be considered the best of all time if you're not a two-way player.

Larry Bird also had more heart than Lbj

Bird wins the eye test..Easily

There goes Nick Wrong lying again! "Larry bird ave 22ppg! Smh he ave 24.3ppg so 24ppg was more accurate but we all know, Nick is a liar when it comes anything related to basketball" Lebron is a career BAD rebounder for someone with his size and athleticism" How is Larry Bird ave 3 more reb per game in his career than Bron? I'm shook

Lebron has the athleticism advantage over Bird, that’s about it. Bird was a (way) better shooter, rebounder, team player, and better in the clutch (maybe all time). I know Lebron is a good passer but I’d even give Bird the edge. Also all Lebron does it bully his way to the paint, zero finesse.

Nick Wrong never saw Bird play, and is too young to realize that in 1986 almost everyone lined up and called Bird GOAT, before Mike became Mike.

Larry Bird........PERIOD. He would have dominated in the way the game is played today with the 3 pointer being so prevalent.....

stats lie the game has changed so much if you didnt watch the ones that played before you wouldnt realize how overrated lebron really is

Sorry Doug! FS1 already has a Skip. Application denied!

Reasons for Bird edging LeBron: 1) Both of their numbers are give and take but bird got them without having to be ball dominant. 2) you simply can't compare the 80s east with anything LeBron has played in ..in the East... Ever. LeBron's in the west now, how's he doing? 3)all the players that they compare LeBron to, PLAYED AT THE SAME TIME IN BIRDS ERA. Those guys give bird the nod all the time to this day. Kobe agrees too. 4) Rule changes. Put Bird at the line like LeBron, and bird would average 29-30 ppg. 5) No bigs to get smashed while going to the bucket.. no defensive big men until about 3 years ago with Anthony Davis, and a brief period with Dwight Howard. 6) LeBron played only one defensive player of the year in the playoffs, and lost.(Kawahi Leonard) Bird played against Rodman, Cooper, Hakeem(tried him in the 86 finals, Hakeem said "that's a baaadd man" , Moncrief(underrated defender of all time), Pippen(not in the playoffs) and they all said he was a nightmare to guard and bird won.

this fool just said '22 PPG' for Bird career'...it was 24.3...argument lost when you can't get basic facts right

It's hard to believe that hardly anybody that saw Bird play thinks LeBron is better. And all the LeBron children think it's hate. Maybe it's something to how great that guy was. And Nick Wright is so dumb he said LeBron has had the best 8 year stretch in NBA history. Um, Russell won 8 rings in a row. Magic had a 8 year stretch he won more than 3 rings. Jordan had a better 8 year stretch and he played baseball for a year and a half and go 6 rings. LeBron has not done any of that.

You can keep Lebron. I will take Bird and put him with a trainer and nutritionist. Then feed him the same PEDs Bran's been taking the last 8 years.

Bird averaged 24 not 22 just saying

Larry bird career stats 24.3ppg 10rebounds. He got 10rebounds over 7x for a season. Lebron hasnt done it once.

Lebron will have superior overall career numbers than Bird and Lebron will be unmatched in the longevity. The argument for Bird is that Bird’s prime (1983-88) was greater than any point of Lebron’s career.

Bird was known to call his shots, let his Defenders know that the ball was coming to him, he would tell them what he was going to do and then do it... MJ... Everybody knows about the offense what most people don't realize is that he was a NBA Defensive Player of the Year once and named 2 the all NBA defensive team nine times... Only four others have done that in the game... James is not on the list... Pat Riley once said that if the game was on the line he wanted Michael to take the shot, but if his life was on the line he wanted bird to take the shot

"No one outside of Magic is a better passer than Lebron" Names 5 people better than him! Nick's face when Doug started naming better passers than Lebron was the best thing lol!

Great job Doug, you put this man in his place, thank you

Bird averaged 24.5 points for his career not 22. Also 10 rebounds a game which makes him a doubl3 double career player. Also average 6.5 assist with other great passer at point n center.

Nick is the epitome of a LeBron Stan and why people hate LeBron. “Saying someone is a better passer than LeBron I reject on its face.” Doug lists 4 PG better passers than LeBron. Then Nick concedes they are better passers. LeBron fans will not let you disagree with them until you bring up facts and they want to change the argument.

Lebron lacks defensive consistency and the ability to shoot free throws. He dnt want the clutch shot bcuz he dnt wanna go to the line.

In those two games with Houston that he only scored 8 PTS. Bird went 8 pts, 13 RBS, 10 AST, 5 STL, 2BLK. Bird was still a factor in that game. In the other game he went 8PTS, 12RBS, 7AST, 2STL.

larry bird = lebron with a jumpshot. Bird was a better rebounder, passer, shooter before his body started to fail on him. Lebron right now is playing worse defense than larry bird has ever played in his career..larry bird took a sub 20 win celtics team to 60+ wins the next year and he is far more clutch and had way higher intangibles. Birds eastern conference was far tougher and there was far more parity in the league in the 80s.

Lmao all the 12 year lebron fans clearly never saw Larry Bird play, lebron even said in a video he's the 2nd greatest player ever. Larry Bird was lebron before lebron, amazing passer, better shooter than lebron, better rebounder, better on defense (more consistent)

Larry Birds has actually better FG, 3PT, and FT percentages, also a better rebounder.

prime Bird > prime Lebron...it's not arguable

Doug Gottlieb is the only legit analyst on Fox. P This is obvious. LBJ just doesn't cut it under pressure. He has zero fundamentals and he can't deliver under pressure because he has zero go to moves.

Doug the only one with balls to educate these kids on how good Bird was. Bird would easily average Lebron's stats in this soft era. NBA is like flag football, back then it was a grown mans game

Btw bird spanked Jordan when they went against each other. And he would've destroyed queen James

I don't see how anyone who's watched both Bird and James could honestly say they'd prefer James with a series/game on the line.

Here is the difference between Larry and Lebron and why i consider Bird the GOAT.. He beat The Sixers with Dr J Moses Malone and Charles Barkley The Hawks with Dominique Wilkins , Kevin Willis and Doc Rivers The Pistons with Isiah Thomas Joe Dumars and Bill Lambeer The Bulls with Jordan Pipen and Horace Grant (23-11 regular season and 14 straight games and 6-0 in playoffs The Knicks with Patrick Ewing Trent Tucker and Bernard King The Rockets with Hakeen Sampson and Robert Reid The Trail Blazers with Clyde Drexler Jerome Kersey and Sam Bowie The Bucks with Sidney Moncrif Paul Pressey and Terry Cummings And last but not least The Lakers with Magic Kareem and Worthy.... He also beat all others teams with great players... So, Can anyone tell me who Lebron has faced and defeated that are better than those teams?

look at nick wright all mad because how dare doug not praise his idol

Bird had a higher free throw percentage and that's the only thing that hasn't changed since Bird Retired. If Bird played today he would still be the greatest. The League was about to go bankrupt until Magic and Bird brought millions of new fans to the NBA. Teams were matched much better across the board. The game is just threes and dunks now. Now guys take five steps and its not travelling like it was in the 80's.

Bird had some crazy no look passes and ball fakes. 24PPG 10RPG 6APG for bird

I'ma need nick to realize LeBron is a good passer not great my man's TO to assist ratio is 2:1 while magics is basically 3:1 so please stop saying he passes like magic no they both are just big an can pass but magic was much better as a passer an so we're many others

To be totally honest whoever says the argument between Lebron and Larry is not close is beyond delusional. If Larry played in today's NBA he would average 35 12 and 12

When people talk about Larry, they talk about him like a Legend. When they talk about LeBron, they are trying to convince you he's a legend

Bird, Jordan, Kareem, Ewing, Pippen, Barkley etc played in a much more physical and demanding league.

Thank you Doug people really sleep on Bird Nick talks stats like he doesn’t watch games.

Cedric Maxwell in 81 finals scored 10 pts in game 1 and 6 pts in game 2. There is your match for Bird's 8 pts in game 3 ( a big Celtic win) and 8 pts in game 4. Bird was better in 4 of the 6 games. Maxwell stats were 17.7 pts 9.5 reb and 2.8 assists. Bird was 15.3 pts 15.3 reb and 7.0 assists. Bird hated the media and was a terrible interview. Maxwell was much more engaging, quotable and friendly. Moses Malone average 15.7 rebounds in that series and Bird almost matched Moses, his team needed it. Bird should have won the 81 finals MVP, he put game 6 away with several big shots and plays.

Gottlieb is right re Bird as a shooter, passer & Rebounder.

How is Chris gonna call Cedric Maxwell (who's Jersey is retired) a role player!?? Cornbread Maxwell was a first or second option on that celtic team back in 81' and the leader while Bird had only had a year under his belt and McHale wasn't even good yet... The disrespect!

Lebron is the player most hated in all of time in history of nba

Doug Gottlieb should never be invited back to this show.

Bird is the only career 24 ppg , 10 rpg, 6apg in the HISTORY of NBA.

I agree with Doug. Context is important. Seeing someone play as it happens in proper context gives your argument more credibility. You could write a 30 page essay on wwII based on what others have already written, but can you honestly say you have better perspective on what it was like during that time than someone who actually lived through it?

If NBA refs called traveling violations more strictly, as they should have been, LeBron’s scoring would have dropped by five points. The man gets off more in this area than anyone in the history of the NBA. Also, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and Kevin Love’s stats all dropped once they joined LeBron’s team (Kyrie Irving’s numbers stayed about the same), so where did this “he makes everyone around him better” argument come from? Larry Bird made the bottom-of-division team into the best in the conference in his rookie season and won the championship in the next. Jordan never lost at the finals. LeBron? He whined and jumped around the league to make the Superteams, even had coaches changed to his liking, to win the same number of championships as Bird, with the lower success rate than MJ. THERE IS NO COMPARISON.

Nick got schooled hard Its funny how his points get refuted to pure dribble when people dont let him interject with his LeBron stats.

Better passers than lebron: Magic, Bird, Stockton, Kidd, Nash, Jackson, Rondo and Paul

24 PPG for Bird, career, not 22 PPG.

Bird had so many weapons on his team..8 guys are now HOFers..surround LBJ with 8 HOFers...he will never lose

I don't know much about basketball, but I find this old vs modern argument fascinating. What I don't like about the guy on the right is how angry he seems to be that someone disagrees with him.

Larry’s prime was better than Lebron’s only thing Lebron has over Bird is longevity. If Bird had today’s nutritional and medical advances he’d be the goat hands down.

Larry Bird 24ppg 10rpg 6apg Lebron james 27ppg 7apg 7rpg Both have 3 titles. However bird was the first player to shoot 50-40-90 and did it twice. And bird only played 11-12 seasons counting injuries. So all those triple doubles came quick! Its personal preference. Im picking bird.

I understand Jordan but Bird? Bird was unreal but compared to Bron it's not even close

Finally someone on the Lebron Sports Network get its right. Good job Doug. And I disagree with Nick, it does make a difference if you haven't seen the players play. And Larry averaged over 24 points a game over his career, not 22. And Bird averaged 15/15/7 in the 1981 finals, Chris didn't mention that.

Bird averaged 24 pts a game for his career, not 22 that Wright claims.

I watched the complete careers of both. I agree and would rather have Larry Bird over Lebron James with the game on the line. Bird made the other four players on his team a threat, and opened up more options for the team. His defense, passing and rebounding were better overall, and he sacrificed more of himself ( example, 2-3 hour shoot arounds before every game, running the stadium stairs, etc) for the team. I’m sorry, but Bird was better.

Well LeBron only averages more Game 7 points and field goal percentage than Jordan, well when did Jordan ever play that many game 7s? In his finals never ever

Whoever this guy is, he must have played basketball. He makes a lot of sense.

Point Guard-Magic Shooting Guard-Jordan Small Forward-Bird Power Forward-Duncan Center-Jabar

Bird over James in the beginning the middle and Definitely the end of the game. Player really feared Bird got the ball in his hands especially in CRUNCH TIME and at the free throw line, but had NO FEAR when James has the ball in his hands in those same situations, in fact the opponents saw the Fear in James whole demeanor, eyes, sweaty palms that big lump in his throat where he can't swallow, Bird period!

Larry Bird is the greatest Forward and most clutch player of all time.

Broussard stop lying. Ya, Larry had 8 pts twice in that series but he also had a stat line that read 8pts, 13 rebs, 10 assists, 5 steals & 2 blocks!! The other 8 pt game was 8pts, 12 reb, 7 assists & 2 steals. That's hardly fading away. These guys like skip and this other clown let you get away with saying larry was no factor in the 81 finals because they don't do there homework.

experiencing world war 2 is lot different than writing a 30 page essay

Larry Bird was the best all-around player in the game

Lol I genuinely believe Nick's in love with lebron!

Bird was the best player ever. Not the best athlete who ever played (Jordan). The Twitter logo 🐦 is because the founder was from Boston and was a huge fan of Legend.

when you hold the ball for 20 seconds every possession your stats will be inflated. That is what happens all over the league. Bird was a much better passer and shooter. Lebron never does touch passes.

I would looove ta punch that Nick Wright dude, OUT!! So inviting!!

Also, Larry Bird was twice the player lebron was.

I saw skip say lebron is a overall better player than Jordan which simply means lebron is a better player* Jordan just has more achievements

Love watching Doug Gottieb school Nick Wright! lol

I can tolerate Lebron vs Bird debates. But anyone who has Bird as their *Ninth* best all-time player is disqualified from talking serious about basketball.

Why the dislikes wtf? Kobe is better than him too.

Well said doug....👍

if Bird just had 12 seasons at the NBA, reduce Lebron's to 12 seasons and compare it with Bird's. Let's compare efficiency.