Larry Bird is the greatest basketball player of all time

[ApeXXXPredator]

Yeah I said it.

[SmashinYoungVag]

Best small forward. But not even close to MJ

[wildchild11]

Lol

[Assassin X]

Goat white B-baller but overall like 8th best

[Belome]

He would have been if he didn’t shovel gravel.

In my Top 6 though.

Jordan
LeBron
Kareem
Russel
Wilt
Bird

Behind them I have Magic then a mix of shaq, the dream, Duncan, Kobe, Robinson

[TyGuy505]

He would have been if he didn’t shovel gravel.

In my Top 5 though.

Jordan
LeBron
Russel
Wilt
Bird

Behind them I have Magic then a mix of shaq, the dream, Duncan, Kobe, Robinson

No Kareem?

[Belome]

No Kareem?

Damn I did forget Kareem... big F.

I guess bird is in my top 6.

[Postmort3m]

[nikeoneplatinum]

It's hard to put Bird ahead of guys like Duncan, Bryant, and Magic when they have 5 rings to Birds' 3.

[GarthVader]

Bird was probably the smartest and hardworking basketball player of all time.

[KingSWRV]

you think that bird is the best basketball player of all time?

Ok. Fine.

im gonna prove to you hes not

[nn586]

OK but you're wrong. It's Jordan, always will be.

[ApeXXXPredator]

It's hard to put Bird ahead of guys like Duncan, Bryant, and Magic when they have 5 rings to Birds' 3.

No it isn't

[SillieBazzillie]

It's hard to put Bird ahead of guys like Duncan, Bryant, and Magic when they have 5 rings to Birds' 3.

The only one on that list equal to Bird is Magic.

The top 5 are MJ, Lebron, Wilt, Russell, and Bird. Kareem is close

[Kaizenfr]

Not even the best 3 in history.
He's better than magic tho.

[Daz206]

To everyone saying he's not even close....please do some research and watch old videos/highlights/interviews of other players talking about him and then come back and tell me what you think.

[Jaydawg08]

I find it funny people are lauding Bird as the GOAT yet he's had a horrible finals series that is worse than Bron yet won a ring because his teammates were elite

He scored 8, 8, and 12 points in consecutive games, but no one cares because Cornbread Maxwell won FMVP and the Celtics won. His peak was great, but his sustained level of greatness WAS NEVER to the level of Jordan, Bron, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Kobe

[DynamicDot]

I find it funny people are lauding Bird as the GOAT yet he's had a horrible finals series that is worse than Bron yet won a ring because his teammates were elite

He scored 8, 8, and 12 points in consecutive games, but no one cares because Cornbread Maxwell won FMVP and the Celtics won. His peak was great, but his sustained level of greatness WAS NEVER to the level of Jordan, Bron, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Kobe

Lol. Bird in his peak > Kobe by a long shot and this is coming from a Kobe fan. As all-time great as Kobe is, his peak was never even that strong. It was the fact that he had sustained greatness/longevity.

Bird in 84/86 > any version of Kobe.

[Jaydawg08]

Lol. Bird in his peak > Kobe by a long shot and this is coming from a Kobe fan. As all-time great as Kobe is, his peak was never even that strong. It was the fact that he had sustained greatness/longevity.

Bird in 84/86 > any version of Kobe.

How? Kobe is one of the most skilled offensive players the game has ever seen and he's a MUCH better defender than Bird EVER dreamed of being. This is coming from someone who thinks Kobe is a lil overrated as well.

Bird is not carrying teams to championships like Kobe did for ring #4 and 5.. Bird was on a consistent STACKED roster almost immediately after he was drafted.

[HtotheOV]

can’t be the GOAT when you’re the 2nd best player all time at your position

[KingSWRV]

Lol. Bird in his peak > Kobe by a long shot and this is coming from a Kobe fan. As all-time great as Kobe is, his peak was never even that strong. It was the fact that he had sustained greatness/longevity.

Bird in 84/86 > any version of Kobe.

bro wtf.

that's like a whole different era of basketball. The magic and Bird eras are like prehistoric and modern NBA started in essentially the mid 90s. You can't ever mix and match or compare people that's like predating the sport as we know it.

people were still learning the game and Magic and Bird were examples of guys who were ahead of the curve. but are behind the curve compared to today.

Just the athleticism and power was totally different.

that's why the Pistons were able to break the game because all they had to do was lift a little bit since all those lanky bois didn't lift nor have power similar to today.

Early Jordan even is actually prehistoric, before he started lifting he was just a jumping lanky pansy like all the rest.

[DynamicDot]

How? Kobe is one of the most skilled offensive players the game has ever seen and he's a MUCH better defender than Bird EVER dreamed of being. This is coming from someone who thinks Kobe is a lil overrated as well.

Bird is not carrying teams to championships like Kobe did for ring #4 and 5.. Bird was on a consistent STACKED roster almost immediately after he was drafted.

I mean go look up their statistics, but Bird was a better rebounder and playmaker/passer than Kobe ever, while still being able to put up 25-30 ppg which is what Kobe put up in efficient numbers.

Bird turned a 29-63 team to 61-21 team and won ROY over Magic Johnson.

Oh and Larry Bird made 3 all-defensive teams in his career too.

Love Kobe, my favorite or 2nd favorite player ever, but Bird was better at least in his peak.

[dyee4613]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8n5tPbWB50

[Jaydawg08]

I mean go look up their statistics, but Bird was a better rebounder and playmaker/passer than Kobe ever, while still being able to put up 25-30 ppg which is what Kobe put up in efficient numbers.

Bird turned a 29-63 team to 61-21 team and won ROY over Magic Johnson.

Oh and Larry Bird made 3 all-defensive teams in his career too.

Love Kobe, my favorite or 2nd favorite player ever, but Bird was better at least in his peak.

I mean some of the numbers aren't even all that comparable considering that pace of play was so much faster in Birds era then the TOUGH AF defense that Kobe played after Shaq left. You do realize that Kobe played in the best defensive era EVER correct?

I mean that's cute that Bird made 3, but Kobe made 12 (Both are overrated defensively, but specifically Bird). Bird was great, but he also literally played with the best frontcourt of all time. Without a doubt, hands down and one of the best teams of all time. Hell the worst player on the starting lineup was Danny Ainge who was still an All Star. The level of talent that Bird played with trumps Kobe's. I'm not trying to diminish Bird but it's relatively easy to be an amazing passer/playmaker when you literally have HOFers all across your team (Hell even coming off the bench you had HOFer in Bill Walton)

[BigElephant]

Not even the best 3 in history.
He's better than magic tho.

Better on the court maybe. Remember though best and greatest are two different things.

It's hard for me to put an exact order, so I have tiers.

Top tier is MJ
Second tier is Lebron, Magic, Kareem
Third tier is Kobe, Bird, Hakeem, Wilt, Shaq

[DynamicDot]

I mean some of the numbers aren't even all that comparable considering that pace of play was so much faster in Birds era then the TOUGH AF defense that Kobe played after Shaq left. You do realize that Kobe played in the best defensive era EVER correct?

I mean that's cute that Bird made 3, but Kobe made 12 (Both are overrated defensively, but specifically Bird). Bird was great, but he also literally played with the best frontcourt of all time. Without a doubt, hands down and one of the best teams of all time. Hell the worst player on the starting lineup was Danny Ainge who was still an All Star. The level of talent that Bird played with trumps Kobe's. I'm not trying to diminish Bird but it's relatively easy to be an amazing passer/playmaker when you literally have HOFers all across your team (Hell even coming off the bench you had HOFer in Bill Walton)

And you still ignored that Bird turned a 29 win team to a 61 win team. Almost like Bird made them all better.

There is a per 100 possessions stats on basketball reference, you are free to use that and compare Bird with Kobe because Bird still wins out. Also, everything you are saying also criticizes Magic Johnson for the same thing. But then again I just realized you excluded Magic in your original talking point as well so something tells me you think Kobe > Magic too. Besides, we were talking peak. You can argue Kobe over Bird as a career (I wouldn't) but 84-86 Bird was better than any version of Kobe.

Kobe doesn't even have a set peak. You can argue 2003, 2006, or 2008 as his best seasons. Most guys have a set best season (2000 Shaq, 2013 LeBron, 1987 Magic, etc.)

[Kaizenfr]

Better on the court maybe. Remember though best and greatest are two different things.

It's hard for me to put an exact order, so I have tiers.

Top tier is MJ
Second tier is Lebron, Magic, Kareem
Third tier is Kobe, Bird, Hakeem, Wilt, Shaq

You're right for your second sentence👍🏿
Just if you can put Magic in third tier and add duncan and KD your post will be 10/10 for me

[ghostfacedup]

Bird and Magic were amazing but they both had teams that were beyond stacked. Super duper teams.

[Jaydawg08]

And you still ignored that Bird turned a 29 win team to a 61 win team. Almost like Bird made them all better.

There is a per 100 possessions stats on basketball reference, you are free to use that and compare Bird with Kobe because Bird still wins out. Also, everything you are saying also criticizes Magic Johnson for the same thing. But then again I just realized you excluded Magic in your original talking point as well so something tells me you think Kobe > Magic too. Besides, we were talking peak. You can argue Kobe over Bird as a career (I wouldn't) but 84-86 Bird was better than any version of Kobe.

Kobe doesn't even have a set peak. You can argue 2003, 2006, or 2008 as his best seasons. Most guys have a set best season (2000 Shaq, 2013 LeBron, 1987 Magic, etc.)

I'm not married to my take of Kobe having an argument over Bird, I can def be swayed and will back down on my stance but I do give more credence to modern players vs older generation.. simply because the game is harder and more skilled in todays generation. Turn on some 80's-90's ball and you'll see it is an inferior product compared to today.

I do agree it's hard to pin a specific peak for Kobe, or single season, which is why he's not in that Jordan/Bron convo

[sooby]

I find it funny people are lauding Bird as the GOAT yet he's had a horrible finals series that is worse than Bron yet won a ring because his teammates were elite

He scored 8, 8, and 12 points in consecutive games, but no one cares because Cornbread Maxwell won FMVP and the Celtics won. His peak was great, but his sustained level of greatness WAS NEVER to the level of Jordan, Bron, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Kobe

Bird had some clutch moments in that series, yeah it was not his best series but he was the reason they had won with all the other intangibles he provided such as defense, rebounding and playmaking. It's not like he rode the coat tails of the celtics roster and won a championship that way.

His teammates were hardly elite, he had Parish pretty much and that was it and even he had an off series.

Sustained greatness over a long period you have a point but peak Larry bird 84-86 is at least top 8 I would say