Yes Larry Bird
A dude who averaged 50/40/90 in the playoffs en route to an NBA championship. Dude could score in a myriad of ways and was one of the most skilled offensive players to ever touch the ball.
That was one run and Bird only hit 23 threes in it (barely one a game). He only had one other 50/40 run and he only hit 7 threes in that. Most years he was closer to 46/28.
He only averaged 25ppg in his one 50/40/90 run.
His eFG% in that run was just 55%. And besides that year he only broke 50% once.
LeBron's gone 50/40 in a postseason THREE times, hitting 20, 35, and 44 threes in them.
LeBron averaged 29ppg, 27ppg, and 32ppg in his three 50/40 runs
His eFG% has surpassed 55% in SIX postseasons. He's hit 62% twice. He broke 50% ten different times.
So if 50/40 matters to you, then LeBron destroys Bird in that regard. More points, on better 2pt shooting. More threes, on better 3pt shooting. And he did it in a slower era with tougher defenses.
But Bird does have better free throw shooting.
Of course he wasn’t the physical phenom LeBron was nor did he monopolize the offense to the degree he does, so of course when you compare their #s in a vacuum his scoring average isn’t as gaudy. But we all know which one of them had the jump shot and perimeter game you HAD to respect, superior post game, a dead eye shooter & money from the FT line.
So yes, in terms of proficiency Larry Bird is an all time great scorer of the ball. He’s not quite MJ or KD but proficiency and skill-wise he’s up there.
You're right, LeBron didn't have the advantage of playing on a team with 4-5 HOFers for almost his entire career. That should have opened up the offense even more for Bird and made his efficiency better. So how does LeBron have more points and better efficiency despite being more ball-dominant and playing with less help overall in most years?
Bird has a much prettier jump shot, and the benefits of nostalgia. He will get lauded for one good run and everyone will ignore all the bad ones, whereas LeBron is in the social media era so he gets destroyed for one bad series even if he dominated 90% of the others.
In the end, you're trying to claim that someone who averaged far less points with far worse shooting numbers across the board despite having more help and playing against inferior defenses is somehow better at scoring. That's a ridiculous claim.
Think about this. If Magic doesn't repeatedly choke away the "Tragic Johnson" series, then they ONLY Finals wins of Larry's career would be:
1981: averaged 15ppg on 40% shooting while beating the pathetic 40-42 Rockets in the Finals
1986: averaged 24ppg on 48% shooting while beating the mediocre 51-31 Rockets in the Finals
I repeat, if Magic doesn't choke away 1984, those would be Bird's ONLY Finals wins. And in his other two Finals losses he averaged 24ppg on 45% shooting and 24ppg on 44% shooting. That's not the resume of an all-time great scorer.[/QUOTE]
please don’t mention that old man
