Question about Larry Bird

[The Professor]

I was viewing another sports site and someone was posting that Larry Bird would have trouble playing in today's NBA, that he wasn't athletic enough in today's game.

 

I say Larry Bird could probably start on any NBA team today if he were in his prime.

 

Many of these youngsters that frequent some of these boards think basketball was invented in the 1990's. There's numerous players over the past 40 years that could play, and star, in today's NBA.

 

What's BGP's opinion?

[Hangman]

I could see him being a Peja Stojakovic type, with more will to win.

[PurplePride92]

I am in the boat that in sports as a whole the athlete of today is better than the athlete of the past. However, Larry Bird possesses the gift to excel in basketball that very few people possess. Along with MJ and Magic, Bird is one of the greatest players that I have seen in my lifetime and I have absolutely no reason at all to believe that Larry would not be able to perform at the same level today.

[LRCW]

There is no doubt in my mind that Larry Legend would be an All Star in today's NBA.

[HammerTime]

Would he be the legend he is now? Maybe not but he would still be a top tier player.

[born2reign]

I do not know that I see much of a difference between his game and Dirk Nowitzki's, so I think if Dirk can win an MVP award and have the success he has had than Larry Bird would have been fine.

[PurplePride92]

I do not know that I see much of a difference between his game and Dirk Nowitzki's, so I think if Dirk can win an MVP award and have the success he has had than Larry Bird would have been fine.

 

Larry is way better than Dirk. Not even close.

[Dulder29]

Why do we have to compare Bird to the white players? If he was black we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[tcjkbt]

Don't forget how basketball-smart Bird was, including being an extraordinary passer.

[gold sunrise]

Professor, you and I are about the same age, so we have seen alot of the "older" players..... Yes IMO he would do very well in the NBA today.

[born2reign]

Larry is way better than Dirk. Not even close.

 

You missed my point- I did not say who was better. I said they have similar style games and Dirk has had success so I would imagine Larry Bird would have success. One of the original points was that folks on sites like this one may not have seen Bird and do not realize how good he was. I was trying to compare him to the most applicable modern player that I could think of.

[born2reign]

Why do we have to compare Bird to the white players? If he was black we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

I did not compare Bird to Dirk because of skin color- they have similar games. I actually think that Carmelo plays like Bird as well, but Dirk is a better comparison, IMO. Carmelo uses his athleticism in a way Bird could not- and Bird was light years ahead of Carmelo in terms of passing and defense. I think Dirk has similar athletic ability to Bird; Bird trumps Dirk in the passing and defense departments too, IMO.

[Jim Schue]

Would he be the legend he is now? Maybe not but he would still be a top tier player.

 

Might even be better today, considering how fundamentally outstanding he was compared to how lacking most of today's players are in fundamentals. That athleticism argument doesn't wash with me either, because it operates under the false assumption that players in Bird's generation had none. Remember, he was the best player on the floor most every game he played, and as a result, the other team's top defender -- usually the best athlete on the team as well -- generally had to check Larry.

 

Oh yeah, he also worked harder than just about anyone except for Michael Jordan. One more edge for Bird.

[bugatti]

Because Bird is white many believe he was unathletic. That is the furtherest thing from the truth. He was not an elite caliber athlete, but he was so strong fundamentally and the game moved slow to him like it does for most stars. One of the top trash talkers of all time as well and had an ability to get in the opponents head.

[Clyde]

Because Bird is white many believe he was unathletic. That is the furtherest thing from the truth. He was not an elite caliber athlete, but he was so strong fundamentally and the game moved slow to him like it does for most stars. One of the top trash talkers of all time as well and had an ability to get in the opponents head.

 

He was low on the athletic scale by NBA standards.