JPSeraph

Most of it's already been said.

I don't rate Bird for athleticism by NBA standards (except for some lumbering bigs, most any NBA player would seem quite athletic in comparison to the typical gym-goer). I think much of his "quickness" came down to anticipation, concentration, and a greater reliance on his mental gifts than a more athletically gifted player like Jordan (who IMO demonstrated similar mental gifts whilst hobbling around in a Wizards uniform).

He was a great passer (I like the poster who said he might be on par with Magic in this category), but unlike Magic couldn't consistently bring the ball up the floor against pressure from smaller quicker guards.

I'm not sure Bird was a pure shooter so much as one of the greatest players ever at putting the ball in the basket from anywhere on the floor using just about any method he could devise.

It has already been said that he mastered the fundamentals: footwork, balance, rebounding position, defensive position, etc. But Bird also was a master of the mental competition: of talking trash, psyching out his opponent, and making everyone on the floor (teammates included) believe that he could do whatever the hell he wanted whenever he wanted.

The MVPs and championships really don't do Larry Legend justice. As a Jordan fan who used to fear Bird in the late 80's and, in my foolish youth, one of many who believed he was overrated, I now really miss seeing a dominate mid-sized player who isn't cloned after Jordan and relies primarily on superior skills and cerebral talents rather than freakish athleticism and desperate rule changes.

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