Kevin Durant vs.Larry Bird 1 on 1

[Lebron23]

Who do you think wins in this match up??

http://www.basket4us.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Larry-Bird-y-Kevin-Durant.jpg

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[JohnFreeman]

Durant shooting shots from his couch?

[Harison]

Bird all day.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Bird would get in his head

[JohnMax]

Harden smoked Durant and Paul George ... 1 on 1 takes a different skill set

[dgaras]

bird grew up in the 1v1 game with mj magic and the old skool players

[Smoke117]

Larry bird would just back Durant down all game long.

[Rolando]

Would be epic.

Durant is quicker
Bird is stronger

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Tough to say. KD is a better iso defender, and at the top of the key would blow by Bird every time he always had a problem against quick, athletic perimeter players

But Birds postgame would be a problem for KD. Too skilled and strong.......could go either way

[bdreason]

Is it winner take ball? Who gets the ball first? 1's and 2's or 2's and 3's? To 21?



I would take Bird, but it could go either way.

[Micku]

Tough to say. KD is a better iso defender, and at the top of the key would blow by Bird every time he always had a problem against quick, athletic perimeter players

But Birds postgame would be a problem for KD. Too skilled and strong.......could go either way

I concur.

[Budadiiii]

KD very easily. Bird's best attribute was his passing.

KD is simply a more dominant scorer and would bother Larry with his length. KD's strength is incredibly underrated so Larry wouldn't make him budge in the post. It would be KD blowing by Bird for dunks all game long while Larry tries to live on pump fakes and tough jumpers.

People are dumb as hell so they'll delude themselves into thinking Larry has some mystical aura about him that would somehow propel him to a victory against KD. In reality KD would mop the floor with him and it wouldn't be close.

[bdreason]

Is it the same "mystical aura" that allowed Bird to average like 30/9/7 on 50/40/90 while winning MVP's and championships?

If so, then yes. That "mystical aura" might compel him to victory over Durant 1 v 1.

[retaxis]

Lol at fudge

KD and strong don't belong in the same sentence. Prob weakest player in the league

[SHAQisGOAT]

Durant's strength underrated? If anything Bird's strength is very underrated...

Look at stuff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX8ipponmSc&t=3m52s

^ You can see him flooring Bernard King without missing a beat; you can see Barkley hanging all over him trying to deny him the ball, then ends up falling while Bird knocks down the gamewinner; 255 lbs Laimbeer wasn't able to back him down and wound up getting stuffed; you can see him going for the and1 absorving the contact from Larry Nance...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX8ipponmSc&t=7m38s
^ Getting tackled by Laimbeer and Mahorn and just holding his ground, going on about his business like nothing happened.

And Bird could do stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBnwSeMiVaU
:bowdown:
Yes, he did major damage from the post too, some people don't even know about it. Bobby Jones (just as tall/long/athletic as KD and one of the GOAT defenders, for example), James Worthy, Scottie Pippen, Paul Pressey, Dennis Rodman, Rodney McCray, Dan Roundfield, Terry Cummings, Caldwell Jones, Larry Nance, Michael Cooper, Cliff Robinson, Jerome Kersey... all got to "experience" it.
You put a dude like Jordan or Moncrief on him, and he would just kill them from down-low.

Go look at series like the one in 1987 vs the Bad Boys... Daly was putting Dantley, Rodman, Salley and even Mahorn on Bird, and he was just killing it (plenty being from the post).


Anyways, who would win 1on1 between him and Durant? It's hard to say, could go either way...

Kevin would stand little chances against peak Bird in the post, Larry had tremendous skill and the strength/physicality to bully him.
Bird was a very good overall defensive player but never blessed with the type of lateral quickness to shut down dudes on the perimeter, KD's athleticism and ballhandling would definitely hurt him.
Both are terrific shooters in MANY different ways, that's a given. Would've made for a matchup for the ages.

Oh, and please let's not act like Larry couldn't take dudes off the dribble, especially since you couldn't give him room and he always kept you on your toes with tremendous crafitness, great pump-fakes, splendid footwork and crazy floaters around the rim.
I can post countless examples, against some great athletes/defenders.

Let's also not act like Bird - before serious injuries - didn't hold his ground on the perimeter against dudes like Nique, Dr J, King or Aguirre, although KD got that great stroke going on for him with lots of range, if he's really on you have no chance but to play him tight and he'll take advantage of it.

Their game is also different in a sense that Durant look for his shot more, while Bird was a better passer and did it more often.

Whoever gets the ball 1st (if it's make-it, take-it) would've had a big advantage, and I feel like KD would've stood better chances if there's no rebounding (miss-it, switch-it).
And Larry has the mental edge, plus he will shit-talk - and back it up - til you cry.

Always a cool hypothetical but basketball isn't played 1on1, so...

[fragokota]

I'll take Larry Legend, thank you. If Allen got into KD's head, i can't imagine what would happen with Bird trash talking.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

KD very easily. Bird's best attribute was his passing.

KD is simply a more dominant scorer and would bother Larry with his length. KD's strength is incredibly underrated so Larry wouldn't make him budge in the post. It would be KD blowing by Bird for dunks all game long while Larry tries to live on pump fakes and tough jumpers.

People are dumb as hell so they'll delude themselves into thinking Larry has some mystical aura about him that would somehow propel him to a victory against KD. In reality KD would mop the floor with him and it wouldn't be close.

http://i.giphy.com/O5NyCibf93upy.gif

[ShawkFactory]

KD very easily. Bird's best attribute was his passing.

KD is simply a more dominant scorer and would bother Larry with his length. KD's strength is incredibly underrated so Larry wouldn't make him budge in the post. It would be KD blowing by Bird for dunks all game long while Larry tries to live on pump fakes and tough jumpers.

People are dumb as hell so they'll delude themselves into thinking Larry has some mystical aura about him that would somehow propel him to a victory against KD. In reality KD would mop the floor with him and it wouldn't be close.
Come on now.

I'd actually take KD but you put this in elementary terms..and you're misguided (or just purposely being hyperbolic) about a couple things.

While yea KD's strength is slightly underrated, Bird's advantage here is clear. He absolutely would budge KD in the post and KD doesn't have the savvy defensive ability to deal with the variety of moves that Bird has down there. He'd be off balance and confused and Bird would feast.

And then there's the mental advantage. KD isn't some unflappable being by any means. Bird would get in his head and have KD playing scared half the time.

However, KD's length and quickness would be too much for Bird to handle on defense.

Overall, if KD is making his shots that he typically does he'd win. But if he's remotely off Bird would win, because god knows KD isn't getting a board in this scenario.

But like I said, if Bird gets into his head (which could definitely happen), there's a chance KD COULD be off.

If they played 10 times I think KD would win 6-7.

Bird's still the better overall player though.

[KevinNYC]

Well Larry Bird's pretty old and hasn't played any ball in at least ten years, but my understanding is that KD has a broken foot. So I guess whoever the ball bounces closest to on rebounds? :confusedshrug:

[ralph_i_el]

I might take Bird in 5v5....but in 1v1 give me Durant.

[imdaman99]

Durant is a great 1 on 1 player. There aren't many I'd take over him. Although I think Bird could back him down. I didn't see much of him, but I've heard he had great post up skills. If he was a lot stronger than KD, that could present a problem for KD.

[SwayDizzle]

Kevin Durant wins the 1v1. Bird is the better overall team ball player (5v5).

It is a different skill set that is required to excel in either. The strategies are drastically different. The gap between 3v3 and 5v5 is also big.

[ZMonkey11]

I'd take Bird. If we are going Prime for Prime, I feel like Larry's IQ would allow him to pull a lot more tricks out of his bag in this matchup.

It'd be close, but I'll go with The Legend.