Old-timer NBA players vote for which current player would have excelled the most in their own era

[Professor Emeritus]

With this revisionist logic, why wasn’t the 2009 and 2010 Cavs that won 60+ games not good enough for Bron to stay and build with?

How is it revisionist to list their exact accolades and stats of that exact season? Revisionist is claiming his teammates sucked when they were already highly regarded across the board at the time. Are you really serious to claim that in 1980, people didn't know Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Cedric Maxwell, M.L. Carr, and Pete Maravich were good players?


The 1980 Celtics had 2 current All-Stars and 7 double-digit scorers besides Bird.
The 2010 Cavs had 0 current All-Stars and 3 double-digit scorers besides LeBron.

Bird was able to win 60 games averaging just 21-10-5. Bron had to average 30-8-9 (in a much slower era) plus 1st-team All-Defensive to carry his team to 60.

Plus, 2 of his 3 teammates averaging double-digits were washed 38yo Shaq and half-washed 34yo Antwan Jamison.


How the fukk was he going to build with that? Is that a serious question? How did Kyrie look with that squad the next 4 years.

 

[fifth column]

How is it revisionist to list their exact accolades and stats of that exact season? Revisionist is claiming his teammates sucked when they were already highly regarded across the board at the time. Are you really serious to claim that in 1980, people didn't know Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Cedric Maxwell, M.L. Carr, and Pete Maravich were good players?


The 1980 Celtics had 2 current All-Stars and 7 double-digit scorers besides Bird.
The 2010 Cavs had 0 current All-Stars and 3 double-digit scorers besides LeBron.

Bird was able to win 60 games averaging just 21-10-5. Bron had to average 30-8-9 (in a much slower era) plus 1st-team All-Defensive to carry his team to 60.

Plus, 2 of his 3 teammates averaging double-digits were washed 38yo Shaq and half-washed 34yo Antwan Jamison.


How the fukk was he going to build with that? Is that a serious question?

So 60+ reg season win teams is not something to build with?

 

[The God Poster]

@CHICAGO can you merge

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/lebron-james-voted-best-player-in-the-nba-by-101-former-players.963871/

 

[Professor Emeritus]

@CHICAGO can you merge

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/lebron-james-voted-best-player-in-the-nba-by-101-former-players.963871/

That's a completely different question. Talking about best player today has nothing to do with talking about their own era.


If y'all merge two completely different threads just because they're both pro-LeBron, while you keep up 5 different anti-LeBron threads every time anything bad happens, you're gonna look insecure as fukk.



"Lebron's own kids don't even think he's the GOAT" was worth a whole thread, but you don't like folk to see the opinions of 100+ former players?

 

[The God Poster]

That's a completely different question. Talking about best player today has nothing to do with talking about their own era.


If y'all merge two completely different threads just because they're both pro-LeBron, while you keep up 5 different anti-LeBron threads every time anything bad happens, you're gonna look insecure as fukk.



"Lebron's own kids don't even think he's the GOAT" was worth a whole thread, but you don't like folk to see the opinions of 100+ former players?

It’s centered around the same damn article

You tried to be slick by changing the title.

Either way I don’t care I just knew you’d be in here typing novels & mad

All love tho

 

[Professor Emeritus]

It’s centered around the same damn article

You tried to be slick by changing the title.

I didn't "change the title". There was a survey where they asked former players 10 different questions. Someone made a thread on the NBA Central tweet about one of those questions and I made a thread on the original Athletic article about a completely different question.

"Who is the best player in the NBA this year?" and "Which current NBA player would excel in your era?" are two completely different discussions. And the threads on them don't have any overlap in discussion at all.

 

[NYC Rebel]

Oh I thought player opinions didn’t matter? Or it’s different when they’re bigging up LeBron?

Who told you that’s a standard thought one should stick to? Who told you that? you cherry picked that didn’t you?

 

[ISO]

Of course Bron would cook in the previous era. Only weirdos think differently. Most of the modern elite players would still have respectable careers.

There’s no one in the league today that wouldn’t be able to play then—it’s players in past eras the ones who might not be drafted today.

 

[CP3.]

Only 2.2% for CP3? Bob Cousy is an all time great but only 2.2% think CP3 would be great in previous eras?

 

[VegetasHairline]

Only 2.2% for CP3? Bob Cousy is an all time great but only 2.2% think CP3 would be great in previous eras?

Very strong username to post correlation!

 

[KidJSoul]

Sorry, I fixed it before you responded. He had missed an entire year due to an Achilles tear. He came back the year before Bird got drafted but was nowhere near 100%, no one in that era ever took less than a season to work their way back from an Achilles injury. In '79 he averaged just 11 and 5 shooting 45%, but in '80 he averaged 14 and 8 shooting 48% and made his way back to the All-Star team again for the first of three straight seasons.

This was the squad for Bird's rookie season:

PG: All-Star and future HOF Tiny Archibald, giving 14 and 8
SG: Chris Ford, giving 11-3-3
SF: Future Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell, giving 17-9-3
PF: All-Star and future HOF Larry Bird, giving 21-10-5
C: All-Star and future HOF Dave Cowens, giving 14-8-3 and 2nd-team All-Defensive

M.L. Carr giving 11-4-1 with elite defense
Future HOF Pete Maravich giving 12-2-1 for the last third of the season plus playoffs
Rick Robey giving 12-7-1


How the fukk is that not a good squad? They had EIGHT guys averaging double-figures, 4 future Hall of Famers, and 3 All-Stars in THAT year. You whine about them not averaging 20ppg when the team was so loaded that Bird barely even averaged 20ppg himself.

And then the very next year they lost Dave Cowens and Pete Maravich but added fresher HOFers Robert Parish AND Kevin McHale.

Okay, all you showed me is that he didn't have a terrible roster. But NOTHING about that is loaded. If you call that "loaded" then basically every good playoff team is loaded.

That selection of guys Is nothing to write home about. There's a reason that again, they still only won 29 games. Most of those guys are just the sum of their parts. Most of them were just role players, but you're acting like they were serious Needle movers.

McHale and Parish were the real needle movers - and i never denied that... (so i dont know why you sre even bringing them up when im talking about Bird's rookie year).

I'm not even saying those guys are bad. I'm just saying that acting like that was a loaded team is a huge freaking reach.

 

[CP3.]

Very strong username to post correlation!

Gotta defend my point gawd

 

[Buckeye Fever]

I will always be on record as saying Jordan is the GOAT. I don't even have an issue with those who say LeBron is the GOAT.

But where ppl lose me is where LeBron would be this 15ppg player in the 80s/90s.

Like Jordan, Bron would constantly be in those MVP races.

I cringe everytime someone says "LeBron couldn't make it in the 90s"


The Stan wars on here teeter on being fun/exhausting, but damn, the way some ppl talk, you'd think they'd have Blue Edwards starting over Lebron

 

[Professor Emeritus]

@KidJSoul, maybe you just aren't familiar with 1980 rosters. Go take a look at the teams competing that year and tell me who had a more loaded roster than the Celtics. You have the Lakers and then.....who else? Sixers were about equally strong (Dr. J was the only all-star but they had several borderline guys you would call "role players"), besides that no one compares.

Getting drafted onto a top-3 roster when you're the #1 pick and an immediate star is a huge coup. And when they picked up Parish/McHale after just one season it got even better. Bird was lucky as hell to start his career on a team that good.

Okay, all you showed me is that he didn't have a terrible roster. But NOTHING about that is loaded. If you call that "loaded" then basically every good playoff team is loaded.

My initial statement that you disputed was merely "solid".

But yes, getting drafted directly onto a good playoff team is a huge coup for a superstar. The comparison was to LeBron, and he didn't play on any team that was even halfway to a roster like that for the first 7 seasons of his career.

That selection of guys Is nothing to write home about. There's a reason that again, they still only won 29 games

They only won 29 games the year before because no Bird, no Carr, no Maravich, no Henderson, Robey injured most of the year, and Archibald seriously limited coming off his achilles tear.

You can't change 6 of their top 9 and then compare their record as if it was relevant at all.

I'm not even saying those guys are bad. I'm just saying that acting like that was a loaded team is a huge freaking reach.

Once again, my first statement was a solid team. But I'll go so far as to say that a team with 8 double-digits scorers, 4 future HOFers, and 3 guys who made the all-star team that year is loaded. You'd expect a team like that to make the conference finals minimum, and that's what they did - they lost in the ECF to a team that only had 1 all-star that year. Top to bottom, Dr. J's Sixers were roughly comparable to Bird's Celtics, and Dr. J took the Lakers to 6 in the Finals that year.

 

[Buckeye Fever]

I remember that 60+ win Cavs squad and I also remember not being mad at LeBron. I was mad at his teammates.

I'd love to see the stats that year when Bron went to the bench.

if we had fanduel back then and I bet on the Cavs, I bet my life I'd be like "PUT BRON BACK IN!!!!"