3 on 3: Larry Bird, Lebron, Bill Russell vs. Jordan, Kareem and Kobe

[Lebron23]

Who do you think wins???

http://www.realclearsports.com/blognetwork/rcs_sidelines/larry%20bird%20shot.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60v7qxrAZ1qm9rypo1_r1_1280.jpg


http://d1warraxuf7xh1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Kobe-Takes-on-Jordan.jpg

http://madeyourelevant.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/kareem-abdul-jabbar.jpg

[kells333]

Stupid thread. Youve got the number1 2 and 3 guy all time on 1 team

[KirbyPls]

Who's the third player on Bird and Russell's team?

[KirbyPls]

Who's the third player on Bird and Russell's team?

Nice edit.

[Lebron23]

Who's the third player on Bird and Russell's team?


LeBron aka the best player in the 2010's.

[Milbuck]

It's close but I'd take the Jordan/Kareem/Kobe team. All 3 of those guys are surreal offensive weapons, which is something you need in 3 on 3...Lebron and Bird are, but Russell is just not in any of these guys' leagues offensively. If it was someone like Hakeem or Shaq I'd definitely reconsider.

[IncarceratedBob]

Kobe/MJ and Bird/LBJ are a wash imo

But Kareem shits on Bill. Bill was never known as a scorer so he's useless in this type of game, KAJ aka the dude with the most points in NBA history is the x factor.

[AirBourne92]

Bird is the only dude that would be able to produce on offense effectively for that team

lebron would get picked and turn the ball over consistently if either kobe or jordan locked them up in a half court 3 on 3

[zoom17]

I think team one will have more chemistry so I give them a slight edge.

[oarabbus]

I'll take the team with the guy who has 11 rings. He just won, period. It's not like he is carrying scrubs either.

[Lebron23]

I think team one will have more chemistry so I give them a slight edge.

Lebron, Bird and Bill are the Ultimate Team Players. Team A via landslide. Kobe and Jordan doesn't fit together. Kobe needs to accept his role being a sidekick again.

[tpols]

Well whose guarding Jordan? He'd torch Bird or LeBron.. you'd almost have to put LeBron on him by default though since he's better man defender than Bird.. which leaves Bird to guard Kobe.. which he could not do at all.

Vice versa Kobe or nj could much easier guard their guys than the other way around since they are elite man to man defenders.. Kareem could also help off Bill more than Bill could help off Kareem since KAJ is one of the greatest scorers ever while Russel is not.


Bird LeBron and Russell are team players.. all their strengths are about elevating a team.. so the smaller the squad the less impact they can have. The further you shrink from 5v5 to 3v3 to 2v2 etc the less elevating they can do and the more it becomes a 1 on 1 thing.. and mj Kobe and kaj are three of the most dominant individual scorers ever. So logically this probably wouldn't be too close.

If you gave both teams two role players and made it 5v5 it'd be an actual contest

[ShawkFactory]

My only issue here is who is Bird gonna guard? Obviously neither Michael nor Kobe could guard him but I don't see his team making many stops. Plus you just have way too much firepower with those three guys.

Now, if you were to keep those three the same and then add two more randoms for a 5-on-5 game it might be a little more interesting. Still would take MJs team.

[ShawkFactory]

Bird is the only dude that would be able to produce on offense effectively for that team

lebron would get picked and turn the ball over consistently if either kobe or jordan locked them up in a half court 3 on 3
Agreed actually. In a game where ISO is going to be valued over decision making and passing, Lebron could more easily be neutralized. Which is why I still think if the game was 5v5 his strengths could be more utilized and the game would be closer.

[JellyBean]

I got the team with three GOATS; 1A Jordan, 1B Kareem, and 2. Kobe.

[Milbuck]

I'll take the team with the guy who has 11 rings. He just won, period. It's not like he is carrying scrubs either.
He's also the weakest offensive player of the 6 by far, which is a glaring weakness in 3 on 3.

[Jasper]

Stupid thread. Youve got the number1 2 and 8 guy all time on 1 team
corrected.

[supernova5912]

but Russell is just not in any of these guys' leagues offensively.



But Kareem shits on Bill. Bill was never known as a scorer so he's useless in this type of game, KAJ aka the dude with the most points in NBA history is the x factor.


Kareem could also help off Bill more than Bill could help off Kareem since KAJ is one of the greatest scorers ever while Russel is not.


All in all, the difference between Russell and Kareem on offense is why the 2nd team would win.

[scandisk_]

KAJ will be the best player in this game. MJ-kobe/bron-bird is a wash IMO

[Angel Face]

Lebron and Bill would get locked down, Bird will be their most reliable offensive weapon while the other team has the best known atg scorers who played the game. MJ / Kobe / KAJ will win this with ease.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

It's close but I'd take the Jordan/Kareem/Kobe team. All 3 of those guys are surreal offensive weapons, which is something you need in 3 on 3...Lebron and Bird are, but Russell is just not in any of these guys' leagues offensively. If it was someone like Hakeem or Shaq I'd definitely reconsider.

Well said, I agree. Adding Shaq/Hakeem in place of Russell would be enough for me to favor team #1 pretty easily though.

[Badazzwriter]

I got the team with three GOATS; 1A Jordan, 1B Kareem, and 2. Kobe.
Me too.

[Prometheus]

This would be more interesting if it was Jordan, LeBron, Russell against Kobe, Bird, Kareem.

As it stands, you've got awkward mismatches. Neither Kobe or Jordan are ****in with Bird's post game. LeBron's no wizard down low, but he will also back either of them down (no shot clock, no five second back-to-basket rule) all day long.

On the other end, whoever Bird was guarding would have a field day. LeBron would do as good a job as anyone else (which isn't saying much) against Kobe or Jordan, but Bird is just gonna get blown by every time.

Team two wins because they have more one-on-one ammunition. tpols was spot on about the team aspects being neutralized here, but I think it applies more to Russell than LeBron or Bird.

[Soundwave]

Bird can't guard Jordan or Kobe.

Kareem would win 1-on-1 vs. Russell.

LeBron can't stay in front of either a prime Jordan or Kobe either IMO.

It's not a good match up.

I'll be honest, I don't think there is a NBA 3-man team that would beat that Kareem-Jordan-Kobe group.

You're talking about maybe the three greatest scorers to ever play the game aside from Wilt and all three of them are good-to-great defenders too.

[bdreason]

Gimme MJ, Kobe, and Kareem. If MJ is able to contain Bird it's game over.

[bdreason]

I think a more interesting trio battle would be something like;




Magic, Kobe, Hakeem

VS

Bird, LeBron, Kareem

[BlkMamba23]

If I'm building a team, I'd favor Bird over Jordan. Because even though Jordan might be better than Bird individually, Bird is far more versatile with who he can play with. Jordans teams were built around him, and for him to be effective, he had to be ball dominant.

Bird can put up an impressive amount of points while, still getting dimes, all while playing off the ball, and just catching, shooting or passing all with eating a minimal amount of shot clock.

So that means Bird could be effective with any sort of big man. Whether it be minimalist scorer that focuses on grabbing boards and defense, Like Bill Russell, Ben Wallace, etc. or a Shaq/Prime Wilt type who would need a high amount of touches and would have the rock pounded in to them, and then only kick out when double or triple teamed. Bird can thrive in those teams. Jordan would only be effective while playing with the former. Not the latter types.

Just look at the first 3peat vs the 2nd 3peat. A peak Jordan leading the Bulls to 3 titles while putting up damn good numbers. Krause works on getting players more suited to sharing the floor with Jordan, and an older, far less physically effective Jordan leads the Bulls to record breaking seasons because he's playing with Dennis Rodman, who is probably the best power forward to ever play the game if he's put in with a squad that has ball dominant perimeter players that shoot high volume.

Bird has no problems with shouldering a scoring load, and he'd thrive while playing with a power forward like Rodman.

But he's also comfortable playing off the ball, and wouldn't act up if he weren't taking as many shots if he were playing with a high touch power forward like Karl Malone, or Charles Barkley. Could you guys really picture the same with Jordan?

[dubeta]

If I'm building a team, I'd favor Bird over Jordan. Because even though Jordan might be better than Bird individually, Bird is far more versatile with who he can play with. Jordans teams were built around him, and for him to be effective, he had to be ball dominant.



This.

Jordan had to control the ball far too much in order to succeed, hampering his teammates ability to contribute to winning, and marginalizing them.

His navigational efficiency

[swagga]

If I'm building a team, I'd favor Bird over Jordan. Because even though Jordan might be better than Bird individually, Bird is far more versatile with who he can play with. Jordans teams were built around him, and for him to be effective, he had to be ball dominant.

Bird can put up an impressive amount of points while, still getting dimes, all while playing off the ball, and just catching, shooting or passing all with eating a minimal amount of shot clock.

So that means Bird could be effective with any sort of big man. Whether it be minimalist scorer that focuses on grabbing boards and defense, Like Bill Russell, Ben Wallace, etc. or a Shaq/Prime Wilt type who would need a high amount of touches and would have the rock pounded in to them, and then only kick out when double or triple teamed. Bird can thrive in those teams. Jordan would only be effective while playing with the former. Not the latter types.

Just look at the first 3peat vs the 2nd 3peat. A peak Jordan leading the Bulls to 3 titles while putting up damn good numbers. Krause works on getting players more suited to sharing the floor with Jordan, and an older, far less physically effective Jordan leads the Bulls to record breaking seasons because he's playing with Dennis Rodman, who is probably the best power forward to ever play the game if he's put in with a squad that has ball dominant perimeter players that shoot high volume.

Bird has no problems with shouldering a scoring load, and he'd thrive while playing with a power forward like Rodman.

But he's also comfortable playing off the ball, and wouldn't act up if he weren't taking as many shots if he were playing with a high touch power forward like Karl Malone, or Charles Barkley. Could you guys really picture the same with Jordan?

this is 3 vs 3 so things aren't like 5v5.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Bill Russell deserves to be ranked extremely high on all time lists because of accomplishments and being a pioneer when it comes to how defense is played...but put him in a time machine and put him in this era? He's not as good at basketball as the other 5 players...BTW i think in the time machine scenario Wilt>Russell as well...but i understand why people rank Russell higher..

So i pick the second team mainly because of Kareem. Jordan and Kobe seems redundant to me.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Bird can't guard Jordan or Kobe.

Kareem would win 1-on-1 vs. Russell.

LeBron can't stay in front of either a prime Jordan or Kobe either IMO.

It's not a good match up.

I'll be honest, I don't think there is a NBA 3-man team that would beat that Kareem-Jordan-Kobe group.

You're talking about maybe the three greatest scorers to ever play the game aside from Wilt and all three of them are good-to-great defenders too.

Shaq+Bird+LeBron

[swagga]

magic - lebron - hakeem is as close as it get for 3v3.

huge size and excellent speed, ball handling, passing and defense (both help and man) plus alot of posting up and offensive options. Switches and recovery time are elite are not that problematic as are for teams with smaller players (guards) .... jordan on kareem :roll:
shooting is overrated in 3v3, you only need one guy to space it as PnR is the bread and butter play.

you people need to play more 3v3.