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Larry Bird would be an elite player in todays nba.
He was a great passer, a good shooter, an intelligent rebounder, not a great defender but a smart defender who would come up with big plays. Bird ran the fast break well and gave up the ball at the right moments.
He was fun to watch and led to a resurgence of vitality and interest in the nba along with Magic Johnson. Bird was a coach on the floor, could anticipate with the best of them, and was a winner-----give me Larry Bird any day of the week.
Sometimes people confused athletic ability with basketball smarts.
No player, not one was as smart playing the game then Larry Bird.
Even with hardly much athletic ability, he out smarted, out played and did things player today could not have done back then.
Yes, he would be doing just fine today. In fact all those high jumping fast flying guys people love today would not do well against him, he would just out smart them as he always did those types of players back then.
Kinda like the difference between a so-so linebacker with great 40 speed and a HOF linebacker that was slower but reacted a couple tenths quicker.
Not to mention he was a very tall outside shooter with quick release that could shoot like Reggie Miller.
People start these stupid threads over and over....because he's white. Casual fans and kids with no real knowledge imo.
I agree, many assume only blacks can be great when in fact many of the best players ever are white guys who can jump, score, out smart and out play anyone other then the two best ever in Jordon and Lebron in my opinion.
Same people think Kobe is so great when he would be lucky to hit my top best ever list. Heck if I shot the ball 15,000 times like Kobe "the worst teammate a player could have who could not get along with anyone that is and was better then him" Bryant.
Great question as you could apply that to many now retired stars in many sports . If he played today being use to run and gun fast breaks and in spite of improved defenses I say yes! If you are implying could he go east to west now at his present age? No. I was a good point guard back in the day, but at 69 I haven't the stamina yet ( excuse the brag) I still have my "J"
work'in lol!
People forget that Magic Johnson was not much of a jumping jack either. What they both shared was court vision and decision-making ability. Either would still be dominant in today's game. Bird would be a greater force now than he was then, because of the increased reliance on 3 point shooting in the league now.
Hand checking rules would have helped him. As long as he could still make shots, he would still be pretty good. The biggest question would be this. Would "what Bird did" be affected by better athetes in today's game? It wasn't like Bird's greatness came from being athletic......he would still be at least very good, as far as great? its possible.
There were great athletes back then too--Dominique Wilkins, and James Worthy for example. Dr. J was still around for the first few years of Bird's career.
I think Bird would be better today. The 3 point shot was just introduced his rookie year, and coaches did not know how to use it. Bird averaged 1.9 3 pt attempts per game over his career. Steph Curry is at 6.3 (7.9 last season).
There were great athletes back then too--Dominique Wilkins, and James Worthy for example. Dr. J was still around for the first few years of Bird's career.
I think Bird would be better today. The 3 point shot was just introduced his rookie year, and coaches did not know how to use it. Bird averaged 1.9 3 pt attempts per game over his career. Steph Curry is at 6.3 (7.9 last season).
Good point, I think at his peak Bird could average 28-30 in today's NBA
I think its hard to look at players from the past and watch them play on Youtube and easily determine if they would be as great in today's game. Because of that I don't discredit those who don't think Bird would be that great in today's NBA..
For those who never saw Bird play i will say this; If I could use one word to describe Larry Bird it would be assassin. Bird was the best shooter I ever saw, he was the best passer I ever saw and he was the most clutch player I ever saw... Bird could drop 60 on any team, any player, any time he wanted.. Just a game or 2 after Kevin McCale broke his Celtics single game scoring record, Bird took it back. He could score at will and there was NOTHING any player or team could do about it.
Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time IMO.. but right behind him is Larry Bird. I saw Jordan drop 63 in a playoff game vs a Bird led Celtics team but that Bird led Celtics team still won the game, they won because of Larry Bird who had 36.
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Would Larry Bird still be a great player today?
