Bird was the Goat before the Goat got here! MJ and Bird in my book are the 2 most iconic players in NBA history. Certainly two of the best 2 way players and most assuredly left an indelible mark in the annals of the NBA
Best trash talker, best clutch, toughest ever, competitor, make his teamates better. Best all around player in NBA history! Today? He would put these soft big guys in a coma just with his trash talk.
"There are many G.O.A.T.s but only ONE Legend". Wish I could remember the Commenter who said this so I could give him credit because this sums up Bird to a T!
I believe the bird was just cold blooded good. But magic would beat you with a smile. Their legends so intertwined that made them both bigger than basketball.
I don't consider it "trash talking", when you accomplish what you spoke of. It'd be trash talking if you couldn't back it up. Bird just predicted the future.
I believe he is GOAT-a (GOAT-b is Jordan and I'm open for 2-3 more GOATS) - the most complete player, the toughest and most indomitable competitor and of course one of the highest game IQs combined with blue-collar hard-working ethos and divine, humorous sh!t-talking!
@@TheJpf79 I don't believe it's as simple as that. Jordan without the ball, you didn't have to worry about him, Bird without the ball, became even more dangerous... Plus the long shooting, plus the assist giving, plus the rebounding. Jordan was a scoring machine primarily, LJB played more holistically. Both GOATS IMHO...
That’s right my friend. It’s funny because when their is talk about the greatest shooters of all time, they never mention, that Bird was so much better at passing then any of the top 10 shooters of all time, that it begs the question? What would have happened if Bird didn’t want to make his team mates better, or pass to make a higher percentage shot and just decided to shoot himself? Oh, I know… he would have shot the & it would have gone in! Because the game allows you to shoot further out because of the way it’s marketed to the masses, and the offensive rules. The general public thinks because you can shoot further out ( which Bird easily could have done) especially if he practiced deep bombs, that you are a better shooter. Actually, I can name several players today, that don’t shoot exceptionally well from the mid range, but are strong at the 3 ball. Bird mastered both, and was equally adept with his left hand in his mid range game. He is also an infinitely better shooter then ANY or the top 10 shooters of all time with his left hand. But for some reason people don’t want to talk about it. And finally, he is (easily) a better clutch shooter then any of the top 10 shooters of all time. No one since Bird will tell the opposition what the play is going to be, then goes out and does it. Let’s be real people… Bird was playing on a completely different level.
the trainers lap thing was not meant as he would fall into the trainers' lap just that he was going to make the shot from where the trainer was sitting, which was a 3-pointer. once again telling the opposition what he was going to do.
I love hearing these stories- everyone is pretty consistent in describing him. I would have liked him even more back in the day if I knew his strategy. Pretty smart-talented! A force to be reckoned with for sure… was he psychic or just good at planning-and visualizing? Magic was amazing too and Moses Malone- my favs back then.
Jordan gets a lot of very well deserved credit for being one of the most clutch players in NBA history because he’s just as good or better in high pressure situations but to me, there is nothing more clutch than a guy who trash talks before and during a game to the point where he tells the other team what he’s going to do, and then does it time and time again.
I don’t call that trash talk. So what if you call your shot and do it. It was probably because they were verbally talking even more trash kind of talk.
Magic says it as it should be said. The brothers say can the white boy play? The thing is in music and sports for sure color falls away when you can play
Ok...real deal. Im not stupid enough to say Bird is the GOAT....but...it does my heart good to hear his peers from his era,the greats ,to give him so much respect. I loved basketball in the 80s...and Magic and Bird were amazing.Thats why it was great...i miss it!
I've told this to alot of people Jordan is the best at all he never beat big bird not taking anything from Jordan he was bad but definitely not the best gotta give bird the real legend credit
He actually DID trash talk Magic & Magic loves to tell the story “I don’t know why you’re coming out here-who says that in the middle of a game?-im going to wait til you get one step away & I’m going to shoot it in your face!” “I get one step away & he shoots a 3pointer all net good! & Larry says “you did all that running for nothing!”
The amazing things is- NONE of these stories come out of Bird's mouth. It's ALWAYS all of the other players he played with or against that tell these stories.
Has anyone ever ask Larry Bird how he felt about Pete Maravich. There have been comparisons. Does anyone know if Bird was ever interviewed about Maravich comparisons.
Comparisons?! Why, because they’re both white (americans)? One was a 6’6’’ guard and the other a 6’10’’ forward.. while their game wasn’t even that similar! Anyways, Bird always had praise for Maravich (Pistol’s one of the most influential ever though). They even played together, in Pete’s last season. Here you have a clip of Larry talking about Maravich (minute 2-23): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-swHmiNyzHPM.htmlfeature=shared
Not sure how to reply to your comment. I was thinking in terms of ball handling skills, scoring, etc. Basketball Jones, please know that race never entered my mind when I wrote my initial post. Thanks for sullying this conversation to the lowest of levels. But thanks for the RU-vid referral.
One of Birds teammates talks about when he told Maravich what’s up during Birds rookie year. Pete complained that Bird forced up a shot through a double-team and he shouldn’t do that. Bird said back to Maravich, “If you were any damn good, they wouldn’t be double-teaming me.” Can you imagine a rookie saying that to veteran pistol Pete Maravich? LEGEND
Why does he gotta say the Baddest White Dude??!! What difference does it make what color he is??!!! He was just the baddest Mother Effer on the basketball court..... regardless of what color he is!!!
Funny how folks say Larry was a great player and then say things like he's weak, he's slow, he has no natural athleticism. That is hardly true, Byrd was a superior athlete, he was very strong and he could hardly be called slow. Byrd ran the floor better than most of the heralded big men, his passing was better than any human that played the game. Byrd made the game of basketball in that era and garnered the respect of anyone playing the game and in that era there were many very good, I mean very good outstanding players. I lost my interest in Basketball because of the decay of just plain anti-American attitude, plus the modern game lost excitement, mostly it's just boring. James, IMO, is a turkey and has done nothing help basketballs popularity.
The mistake people make is they don't think about his height. He doesn't look like a normal big man, he looks like a smaller player. He is very athletic for his height. Similar for Magic, he wasn't the most athletic guy in the NBA but he was very athletic for his height allowing him to be a point guard.
@@stickman1742 Larry and Magic made basketball the sport to watch in those days, two different guys with very different personalities. Bird would insult the opposition and Magic would smile. I don't mean to imply that there weren't other super talented player in those days, guys like Jordan and he was a super talent but Magic and Bird turned on and excited the public like no others.
Sure he was better. Jordan did not win a single playoff game against him. Bird was the better shooter, far better passer, better rebounder, better trash talker and Mr. Clutch. Did i forgot something?
@@olivergrensemannyes, you forgot to say that he got drafted 1 year before even graduating, broken knuckles that needed 2 surgeries before signing contract with Celtics, death threats from the first time setting foot at NBA and opposing team players will hurt him, literally brutally do any physical way to hurt him but even when hurt in the first 2 years elbowed on his eye that needed to have it popped back to the socket. Elbow injuries too aside from the back injuries and still playing. NBA with broken right fingers that went 45 degrees from the knuckles for starters
Bird was better at several things so not crazy at all. Of course, Bird can't dunk like Jordan or play man defense the same way. But Jordan couldn't pass like Bird, shoot from outside like Bird or rebound as well. Bird towered over Jordan so Jordan couldn't hope to defend against him. And Bird played very good team defense, was always among league leaders in steals and could block shots. They're both incredibly clutch, but I believe Bird did more clutch things than Jordan overall.
