Maybe it's just me, but I've never seen anyone say Bird is the GOAT. He and Magic are often considered near-equals, but it seems most rank Magic ahead of Bird even if slightly, whether it be they actually feel he was better or just personal preference. Many even go as far as saying Magic's the GOAT, but Bird doesn't get this praise nearly as often. Maybe I just hadn't heard it....then I read these articles.
Credit to c_barkley from realgm for finding the articles
Quote:
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT: BIRD MAKES HIS MARK
Jan Hubbard
16 May 1985
The Dallas Morning News
"When Larry first came here,' said Boston forward Cedric Maxwell, "it was just like it was another white guy coming into play: "He might be all right, but he ain't that good.' But before the NBA got a chance to see how good Larry Bird was, I did. We battled every day, and I said, "Shoot, this guy's pretty good.' And now he's pretty great.'
Basketball fans know that. Some suggest the 28-year-old Bird is not only the greatest player playing today, but maybe the best ever. Since he arrived in Boston six years ago, Bird has led the Celtics to an average of 61 victories, and two NBA titles. This season, he was second in the league in scoring (28.7), second in 3-point percentage (.427), sixth in free-throw percentage (.882) and eighth in rebounding (10.5). He played for most of the season with bone chips in his right (shooting) elbow.
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Experts Pick Kareem as Best Ever
Associated Press
8 February 1986
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Los Angeles Lakers' peerless center, is the greatest basketball player ever, according to a 60-member panel of experts polled by the Dallas Morning News.
Abdul-Jabbar, who turns 39 in April, is playing in his 17th professional season, an NBA record. Eighteen voters in the Morning News poll named him the greatest player, enabling him to beat out Oscar Robertson, a former Milwaukee Bucks teammate, who was named on 14 ballots.
***
Besides Abdul-Jabbar, Bird was the only active player to receive votes as the greatest player ever (four). "His approach to the game is almost unparalleled,' said Guokas, who voted for Bird. "He will cut your heart out to win. He has the ability to handle the ball, shoot and rebound. He can pass and make everybody on the floor better.'
Bob Cousy, one of the league's all-time great guards, played with Russell, yet he voted for Bird as best player. "He shows you something different all night,' Cousy said. "He simply doesn't have any weaknesses."
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Celtics' Bird plays in a world of his own
Robert Sansevere
29 May 1986
Star-Tribune
Bird received the MVP award yesterday for the third straight year. He is only the third player in the NBA's 40-year history - and the first non-center - to win the award three years in a row. Bill Russell (1961-63) and Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68) were the others.
"Larry's the greatest total player I've ever seen in the game of basketball," said Celtics coach K.C. Jones, who played with Russell and against Chamberlain.
Bird ranked among the league leaders in five categories while leading the Celtics to an NBA-best 67-15 regular-season record and to the NBA finals for the third straight year.
Detroit Piston Coach Chuck Daly, on Larry Bird: "He's the best passer in the league. He finds the open man better than anybody else. He is the greatest passer of all time." Note: On a recent telecast, as Bird was preparing to throw the ball in, CBS analyst Doug Collins said, "Larry Bird is the greatest inbounds passer I have ever seen."
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Celtics' Bird: The master of the court
JOHN McCLAIN
Staff
1 June 1986
Houston Chronicle
"Yeah, Larry's just like a chess player," Houston Rockets General Manager Ray Patterson says. "I don't know of a better way to describe him. He's like a chess player who plays 40 boards. He knows where all the moves are. He's a thing of beauty to watch. He puts on a clinic. Sometimes, it's almost like he's out there playing with nine guys from the YMCA. "He creates things on the court even he doesn't know exist," Patterson says. "He's like a great artist or composer, and he's got the heart of a lion."
"No one can do the things Larry can do. I think he's the best ever. He practices like it's the seventh game of the championship series. When Larry gets hot, a little voice starts directing him and he's on radar," says Fitch, who coached Bird in his first four years with the Celtics.
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Bird: Last of NBA Cops
By Mike Fish. The Kansas City Star and Times
1302 words
9 November 1986
Celtics president Red Auerbach, in his fourth decade with the team, says Bird is the most intense player ever to wear the Kelly green of Boston. That includes blood-and-guts types such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens and John Havlicek.
And the best to play on the parquet of Boston Garden? Probably Bird.
"I don't ever compare the great Celtic players, because I would praise one and insult four or five others," Johnny Most said. "I will say, that in my opinion, Larry Bird is the most complete basketball player that ever lived."
Bird is a slow 6-9 forward who specializes in the running game and ranks with the league's best rebounders and shooters. He seems to see the game in slow motion, keeping the ball in the air, creating as he goes along.
It used to be he was considered the most dominant non-center in the game. Or the best all-around player since Oscar Robertson. In many corners, it is now just: "The best."
Quote:
Larry Bird: Is he the best ever?
SAM GOLDAPER
New York Times
12 November 1986
NEW YORK - Give Larry Bird room and he'll bury a three-point field goal. Play him tight and he'll drive past you. Guard him one-on-one in the low posts and he'll spin along the baseline for a soft, left-handed layup.
Another National Basketball Association season is here, and coaches and players - many of whom already concede Bird a fourth straight most valuable player award - talk now about whether he is the greatest who ever played the game.
"There is no question he is the greatest player today," said Hubie Brown, the New York Knicks' coach. "He is already at a level very few people will reach, no matter what their profession. He has stature of almost awe, not only from coaches and fans, but from his peers."
***
There have been other great shooters, other great rebounders. other great passers, but none has ever put all those skills together better than Bird has.
A National Sports Review poll recently asked 100 athletes, all of them all-stars and leading money winners, to vote for the athlete they most admired in a sport other than their own.
Bird was the winner with 22 votes.
As you can see, all of these articles were from the mid-'80s when Bird was at the height of his stardom. I know we have many posters here who were old enough to see a lot of Bird and can offer what they recall about him at the time.
So was there a consensus that Bird was better than Magic, and if so, until what point in time? Were these articles just a case of people getting caught up in the moment (Bird was winning MVPs and titles left and right during this period)? Maybe it was under the assumption that Bird would win more MVPs and titles as people assumed about Jordan right after he won in '93. Many considered MJ the GOAT at the time ad then he retired and left that argument wide open. In Bird's case his body broke down far too soon in his career.
How much greater could Bird's legacy have been?
Last edited by GTA Addict : 06-21-2007 at 03:35 PM.
Maybe it's just me, but I've never seen anyone say Bird is the GOAT. He and Magic are often considered near-equals, but it seems most rank Magic ahead of Bird even if slightly, whether it be they actually feel he was better or just personal preference. Many even go as far as saying Magic's the GOAT, but Bird doesn't get this praise nearly as often. Maybe I just hadn't heard it....then I read these articles.
Credit to c_barkley from realgm for finding the articles
As you can see, all of these articles were from the mid-'80s when Bird was at the height of his stardom. I know we have many posters here who were old enough to see a lot of Bird and can offer what they recall about him at the time.
So was there a consensus that Bird was better than Magic, and if so, until what point in time? Were these articles just a case of people getting caught up in the moment (Bird was winning MVPs and titles left and right during this period)? Maybe it was under the assumption that Bird would win more MVPs and titles as people assumed about Jordan right after he won in '93. Many considered MJ the GOAT at the time ad then he retired and left that argument wide open. In Bird's case his body broke down far too soon in his career.
How much greater could Bird's legacy have been?
Untill the 1986-1987 season, Larry Bird was the best player in the league. Till then, Magic was playing with KAJ (who was better than anyone on the Celtics roster not named Bird), so he wasn't viewed as a par of Bird.
It all changed in 1987. Eventhough Bird was playing at a stellar level, this was the year that Magic was definately the Franchise Player for LA: he won MVP for the first time and the Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals (Magic was the Finals MVP)
Bird played one more year at a high level (1987-1988: 29.9-9.3-6.1) before his back gave up on him. And he was never the same again.
So, in all honesty, i must say that Larry Joe Bird, barring injuris, would be a candidate for GOAT status. He was that good. In his prime, dude was untouchable and the best basketball player ever. And this ain't a knock on Wilt: Chamberlain is, IMHO, the GOAT, but he simply didn't have Bir's arsenal of moves and mastery of the game.
There are only two basketball players that, IMHO, played at a level, skill-wise, never matched before and after: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Bird was the best player of the duo untill a certain time; Magic took the reigns from him following.
The greatest regret of my basketball fan history was never been able to see Bird at full force in the late 80's.
__________________ (...) we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender (...)
after '86, bird had magic beat 3-0 in mvp's, and was tied in titles. he finished ahead of magic in mvp voting every year except '87 before his back surgery in '89. magic had his supporters, of course, all along, but he didn't have the same resume as bird until the repeat. bird at his peak was an assassin, among the best ever. his passing today is underappreciated, but that article does a good job of putting it in perspective. to me, him and magic are inseparable. there's simply no way to put one over the other. imo.
He was should always be considered at least in the top 5 GOAT. I give him number 1 because he could do everything on a basketball court. He was never a great individual defender but was excellent in team defense always coming up with steals and blocks by simply seeing the game better than most. This is why even after his back gave out on him he was still one of the top players in the league. He could post up, shoot from distance, pass out the double team, score against the double team. rebound, and coach on the floor (remember he was COY in Indy)
On a recent telecast, as Bird was preparing to throw the ball in, CBS analyst Doug Collins said, "Larry Bird is the greatest inbounds passer I have ever seen."
It does seem to me that Bird is just one level down from the top GOAT candidates. Chance does play a part and Larry's injury is part of his career just like his good fortune to be on one of the most loaded teams ever is part. The four top GOAT candidates are the two greatest winners in the history of the league, Russell and Jordan, the greatest statistical dominator and individual talent, Chamberlain, and the most sustained period of excellence, Jabbar. Bird and Magic are in the next tier along with Shaq and possibly Hakeem, West, and Oscar (possibly Mikan too, I have a hard time judging the 50s guys). But notice two things. He is one of the top 7 in NBA history and he is the only forward on that list.
The rest are mainly centers. Until the 90s the center position was almost by definition more dominant than any other, both Bird and Magic played with HOF centers, West and Oscar only won their championships when they were paired with HOF centers, only one team other than Jordan's Bulls has won a championship without a dominant center if you count Duncan as the center on SA which is where he plays the majority of his minutes.
__________________
If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk
Larry Bird - the best ever
