LeBron James and Larry Bird are not typically linked together when most basketball experts ponder theoretical NBA past/present comparisons. LeBron James has always been compared heavily to either Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan and Larry Bird has been linked to… Dirk Nowitzki?
No offense to Dirk, who I love as a player and has been one of the best power forwards during the past decade, but Bird is simply a completely different ballplayer and if any small forward in the history of the game wants to measure himself up against the best he must stand toe-to-toe with the former Celtics legend.
Besides, how is Dirk anything like Larry? Besides being tall, white, and possessing the ability to shoot these guys have nothing in common. Bird’s game is much similar to LeBron’s than you might think, thus this comparison.
My idea to pit these two against each other started when I remembered comments that Jeff Van Gundy made on ESPN last year, followed by the always quotable Mark Jackson:
“LeBron is better than Larry Bird” — Jeff Van Gundy
- “LeBron will definitely be the best SF to ever play the game” — Mark Jackson*
Now here we are, asking the following question:
If you were building a team and desired to obtain the greatest small forward in the land to compete for your team in the 2010-11 season who would you choose - LeBron James right now or the 1986-87 version of Larry Bird?
I chose that version because LeBron is completing his eighth season this year and likewise Bird his in 1987. I chose not to compare based on age because NBA experience is vital and I’m not going to use Bird’s age against him. What are we going to do, compare Bird and LeBron at age 25 when James accumulated seven years of experience to Bird’s three? I say no - LeBron was ready when he entered the NBA, so case closed on that. I realize he has bunch of elite years left but we are comparing Bird’s best versus the best we have seen from LeBron thus far.
Let’s face it - age doesn’t give you more “heart and fire”. No excuses, LeBron.
For the record, I didn’t need to convince myself over who I would choose - my pick would be Bird in a landslide. For the purposes of completeness and curiosity however, I wanted to delve into this a little more.
After reviewing statistics, video, and assessing different peer opinions, I present to you my personal opinion and conclusions to this fascinating argument.
Remember, this is not about who would defeat the other one-on-one - this is about who you would choose as your starting SF in 2010 if given the choice between Bird and James within their 8th season.
(NOTE: In the “Achievements” section I am giving credit to James for earning All-Star, All-Defensive 1st team, and All-NBA first team honors for the 2009-10 season. He will achieve them, trust me)
LEBRON JAMES VS. LARRY BIRD - THE COMPARISON
STATS THROUGH 8th SEASON Larry Bird: 24.4 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 6.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.9 bpg LeBron James: 27.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.7 spg, 0.9 bpg (stats through 12/10/10)*
ACHIEVEMENTS BY 8th YEAR Larry Bird: ROY, 3 Titles, 3 MVP’s, 2 NBA Finals MVP’s, 8-time All-Star, 8-time All-NBA 1st Team LeBron James: ROY, 2 MVP’s, 7-time All-Star, 5-time All-NBA 1st Team, 3-time All-Defensive 1st Team
**INSTANT IMPACT: **Tie
*Before Larry Bird arrived in Boston the Celtics had recorded just 29 victories during the 1978-79 season. They proceeded to win 61 games in 79-80, a 32-game turnaround. LeBron arrived to a disaster of a team that just completed a 17-win campaign. During the 03-04 season James led them to 35 wins, a turnaround of 18 games. I’m going with a tie here as at least Bird had Tiny Archibald, Cedric Maxwell, and a few other decent role players to work with. LeBron? He had Carlos Boozer, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and… Ricky Davis? *
**DEFENSE: *LeBron James *
Although Bird was an underrated individual defender he was wasn’t particularly dominant and was an excellent team-defender instead. LeBron is a fantastic defender when motivated and has the potential to go down as the best defensive small forward since Scottie Pippen.
**REBOUNDING: *Larry Bird *
- *While Bird was not nearly as athletic and strong as James his positioning and box-outs were unbelievably sound fundamentally and he had unique rebounding instincts that enabled him to average ten boards a night for his career. While James snares his share of boards he does so mostly on long misses and through his athletic prowess.
**BALLHANDLING: **LeBron James
Bird was a better ball handler than most remember while James is one of the best in the game today. While Bird’s career turnover-rate is around the same as LeBron’s that really isn’t an indicator that he is on the same level. Bird was an excellent ballhandler for a man his size while LeBron has handles like a point guard. James isolates quite a bit and dribbles the ball more on possessions than Bird ever did. Plus, Bird didn’t really have a crossover, which James does.
**PASSING: **Larry Bird
James is a gifted passer but Bird had legendary court vision like few in NBA history. Basketball experts place his passing ability close to Magic Johnson-level, which means that while James may reach that level he’s not quite there yet. Close though.
**ATHLETICISM: **LeBron James
This doesn’t even merit discussion. Bird was admittedly flat-footed and slow while James is the most amazing physical specimen in league history.
**SHOOTING: **Larry Bird
Ever watch how Ray Allen can effortlessly drill shots off of screens with a limited window time and time again? Imagine Bird at 6’9” with his passing ability doing this! Bird was one of the greatest shooters of all-time, period, and James doesn’t come close.
**SCORING ABILITY: **LeBron James
Few in NBA history have the scoring talents that James possesses and while Bird will always remain the superior shooter LeBron has him beat as a pure scorer.
**ABILITY TO MAKE OTHERS BETTER: **Larry Bird
I’d go with Bird on this one, as there is no way McHale and Parish enter the HOF without Bird. James isn’t terribly far behind here though, as he did lead a rather mediocre Cavs squad to the league’s best record for two straight seasons.
**CLUTCH & COMPETITIVE FIRE: **Larry Bird
Larry Bird wins this in a landslide. Bird had few peers in the “will to win” category, including legends such as Jordan, Russell, Magic, Isiah, and a select few others. Not only did Bird deliver a large amount of game-winning buckets he also performed his best on the biggest stages in the most important games. James has had a few big moments, including his 48-point outburst against the Pistons in 2007, but his tanking of Game Five against Boston last year will haunt him until he delivers decisively when it counts in the future.
**LEADERSHIP: **Larry Bird
Here is another intangible that Bird wins rather handily over James. Bird always held himself accountable in both victory and defeat while James has called out coaches, considered himself entitled, and even skipped out on Cleveland to ease his burdens. I understand he wanted to play with his buddies but would Bird, Jordan, Magic, and other legends have done that? They wanted to defeat those guys. Bird also remained the hardest working Celtics player even after all the success while James has clearly not exhibited that type of work ethic over the course of his career.
**ADVANCED STATISTICS SECTION (per basketball-reference.com) **
**WIN SHARES (an estimate of wins contributed by a player) **
Bird defeats James in average win shares per season 13.6 to 13.4 here but the results are varied. Bird remained consistent his entire career, never dipping below 11.2 during his first eight seasons. James on the other hand has dipped below double-digits but also beat Bird’s best three times. It’s also worth noting that James’ 08-09 win shares figure ranks #14 all-time in NBA history while Bird’s best ranks 74th.
PLAYER EFFICIENCY RATING or PER (a players per-minute production)
James handily defeats Bird here 26.7 to 23.7 per season. LeBron does have the better statistics in most respects and his true shooting percentages rival Bird’s as well.
VIDEO REFERENCE:
***(Click on each link to view video)
Larry Bird:
1. Ten Playoff highlights of Bird’s career
2. Bird in the 1986 NBA Finals versus the Rockets
3.* Highlights of Bird in the 1984 NBA Finals
LeBron James:
1. LeBron drops 52 points at the Garden
2. James scores 48 points against the Pistons in Game 5 of 2007 ECF
3. Highlights of LeBron’s career
A FEW OTHER NOTES:
There are experts out there that claim James would plow through the NBA in the 1980s based on his superior strength. I agree to a certain extent but remember, basketball is a team game. If we were talking one-on-one then sure, James would destroy Bird in most areas. However, in a team game even the greatest of physical specimens (see Malone, Karl) don’t neccessarily have what it takes to win it all.
Yes, the pace of the game was much faster and I agree that LeBron would probably achieve greater statistics in the 80s. Is that what we’re judging here, though?
**MY CHOICE: **Larry Bird
It all comes down to intangibles with these two. While James possesses all the physical tools you could ever want in an NBA athlete he has yet to prove that he can perform in clutch situations and be the leader neccessary to win titles. Bird’s intangibles, along with his amazing court vision, shooting ability, and ability to take over games were simply off the charts and I know he would be just as effective today as he was in the 1980’s based on these factors.
LeBron still has time, of course, and I don’t doubt that before he’s through all of us will rank him among the greatest players to ever play the game, regardless of how much I dislike him at the moment.
He just has a ways to go before catching “Larry Legend”.
Your thoughts?
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