If Larry Bird played in today's league..

[johnnydakota]

What kind of career do you think he would have?

I was having a conversation with a colleague about the recent comments made by Gary Payton about Lebron. The conversation spun from there to comparing current players to old greats which went fine, until we got to Larry Bird.

At this point he started to argue that if Larry Bird came up in today's league he would be the equivalent to Adam Morrison, struggling to crack a line up. I tried to argue that there was no logic behind his decision but got nowhere. This led me to wonder what others think. Help me out brehs...

Let's pretend Larry Bird was drafted the same year as Lebron, and Melo, what kind of career does he have?

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

What kind of career do you think he would have?

I was having a conversation with a colleague about the recent comments made by Gary Payton about Lebron. The conversation spun from there to comparing current players to old greats which went fine, until we got to Larry Bird.

At this point he started to argue that if Larry Bird came up in today's league he would be the equivalent to Adam Morrison, struggling to crack a line up. I tried to argue that there was no logic behind his decision but got nowhere. This led me to wonder what others think. Help me out brehs...

Let's pretend Larry Bird was drafted the same year as Lebron, and Melo, what kind of career does he have?

He'd be Dirk

 

[King Theo]

He'd be Dirk

Basically

 

[ScottyG]

Paul pierce x2

 

[mastermind]

He would be one of the best players in the NBA.


edit: and he and Dirk have dissimilar games.


and your friend is a dumbass for comparing him to Adam Morrison. You need smarter friends.

 

[OG Talk]

He'd be Dirk

He was a waaaaaay better passer than Dirk...

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

He would be one of the best players in the NBA.


edit: and he and Dirk have dissimilar games.


and your friend is a dumbass for comparing him to Adam Morrison. You need smarter friends.

I'm talking in terms of athleticism. Larry isn't blowing by anybody off the dribble but he'll pull up 25 feet out and rain three's on your head. He's a career double-double guy. He'd probably have to work in an offense that allowed Reggie Miller to flourish like when the Davis brothers were setting picks for him to get free.

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

He was a waaaaaay better passer than Dirk...

Yeah, he was good for six assist a game in his career. I'm not saying that everything is a 1:1 comparison, but I'm talking stature in the game. Could Larry have won a championship before Lebron turned into a superhero? Yeah.

 

[mastermind]

I'm talking in terms of athleticism. Larry isn't blowing by anybody off the dribble but he'll pull up 25 feet out and rain three's on your head. He's a career double-double guy. He'd probably have to work in an offense that allowed Reggie Miller to flourish like when the Davis brothers were setting picks for him to get free.

Im not sure what this means?

Dirk and Bird have different games and Bird is a better handles, passer, and rebounder than Dirk. I mean tbh, Dirk is a more one on one player than Bird was but Bird would beast there too in today's game.

They were different players.

 

[Tom]

Dirk but with more rings

 

[Jplaya2023]

Bird's shooting, rebounding, toughness translates in any era. He would have big problems defending one on one, but that's what team defense is for.

Plus he still has heart and that mentality that no one in the gym is better than he is.

 

[johnnydakota]

and your friend is a dumbass for comparing him to Adam Morrison. You need smarter friends.

I said colleague breh, nobody said anything about friends. My office isn't exactly a great spot for basketball discussion but I'll take what I can get.

 

[Loose]

Without his HOF Teammates? he'd be ringless but a top 10 player. His defense would get put on notice

 

[mastermind]

I said colleague breh, nobody said anything about friends. My office isn't exactly a great spot for basketball discussion but I'll take what I can get.

my bad

yeah, you should not talk bball with people who think Larry Bird would be like Adam Morrison.

 

[Savior]

I dunno why people act like Bird was some unathletic midget or something...he was 6'9 220 with one of the GOAT shots, great handles, great passer and solid rebounder. Little ass Steph Curry just put up 54 points in this amazing era of super athletic defensive giants but Bird wouldn't be able to get his? He'd average the same numbers he did in the 80's without issue