LeBron should do whatever he wants. He

[NBASTATMAN]

Said Larry Bird..

Larry knows Lebron is one of the GOATS..



https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/13/boston-celtics-legend-larry-bird-has-long-admired-lebron-james/


ANOTHER ONE:applause: :bowdown:

[AlternativeAcc.]

He watched... I mean torched Jordan in the flesh. No VCR recordings. IN PERSON. Bird is an educated white man so his opinion means a tad bit more than those of thug morons like Steph Jackson and Matt Barnes :oldlol:


When a legend speaks, we listen

which means...



IT'S OVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!



https://media3.giphy.com/media/l0ErLeqamV3UOARsA/giphy.gif



LeBron > MJ.

[FireDavidKahn]

Bird is the real GOAT when you encompass everything. As a player he did nothing but win, he was COY, he was executive of the year. Bird dominated in every facet of basketball.

His opinion means 10000000x than anyone else.

[LAmbruh]

LARRY LEGEND!


SAY IT AINT SO! :lebronamazed:


https://media.giphy.com/media/5OWLUbuMq4YXEl2ECg/giphy.gif

[highwhey]

:rockon:

[bison]

ANOTHER ONE:applause: :bowdown:

More like the first one.

Kobe has already racked up like 50 endorsements from former hall of famers. Roid has a lot of catching up to do :no:

[Turbo Slayer]

LeGOAT 2nd to Jordan :bowdown: shoutout to larry

[baudkarma]

Said Larry Bird..

Larry knows Lebron is one of the GOATS..



https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/13/boston-celtics-legend-larry-bird-has-long-admired-lebron-james/


ANOTHER ONE:applause: :bowdown:

"As good". Not "Better". Not "The Best" Not "Greatest of all Time". Just "As good", which is a pretty tepid endorsement Sounds to me like Bird is saying LeBron is probably in the top 10 all time.

[Akeem34TheDream]

More like the first one.

Kobe has already racked up like 50 endorsements from former hall of famers. Roid has a lot of catching up to do :no:
50?? I'd like to hear 5 hall of fame players calling Kobe goat.

[SpaceJam]

Larry's a very quotable dude, you won't find him being salty and petty towards younger players like most of these legends are


“You see these old broken down NBA players talking about their era, and how great they were back then and the players today are not as good as they were back then, that's crazy man. Obviously you haven't seen LeBron James for the last 17,18 years"

Mad respect for the best trash talker ever Larry Legend

This quote from that same article in OP is straight fire too


“[Former Pacers’ GM David] Morway was trying to get me to trade for them [J.J. Hickson and a selection of other teammates of James], but I ain’t takin’ any of them fcking guys up there,” Lowe said, quoting Bird from Thomsen’s book, The Soul of Basketball. “I said ‘you don’t understand son. Them guys playing with LeBron James look a whole lot better than what they really are.'”

[Spurs m8]

Posting in a thread of low iq fans

[AlternativeAcc.]

Posting in a thread of low iq fans
Says the guy pretending to be an authentic NBA fan but only started watching casually this decade

Big yikes :oldlol:

[LAmbruh]

Says the guy pretending to be an authentic NBA fan but only started watching casually this decade

Big yikes :oldlol:
:roll:

[ImKobe]

“If I want to win, I’m playing with Kobe. If I want to have fun, I’m playing with Lebron.”

[superduper]

[QUOTE=ImKobe]

[NBASTATMAN]

[QUOTE=ImKobe]

[3ball]

“If I want to win, I’m playing with Kobe. If I want to have fun, I’m playing with Lebron.”
Exactly

Bird said lebron was "as good" in an on-paper sort of way.. lebron checks the boxes that would put him on par with anyone (size, athleticism, etc)... i.e. in a skills competition with traffic cones etc, Lebron would be as good as anyone

But when WINNING enters the equation, it's all MJ and Kobe over anyone, as the quote above states

And how could anyone think Lebron can win like Kobe or MJ??? Lebron is 3/9 and gets blown away by everyone!!!

[tpols]

he's just being PC.

how often do you hear a past great player shit on a currently playing MVP level talent?

almost never... its bad business.

[bigkingsfan]

Kobe Bryant on Kobe Bryant: "I freaking suck"
That's a real quote.

[NBASTATMAN]

Exactly

Bird said lebron was "as good" in an on-paper sort of way.. lebron checks the boxes that would put him on par with anyone (size, athleticism, etc)... i.e. in a skills competition with traffic cones etc, Lebron would be as good as anyone

But when WINNING enters the equation, it's all MJ and Kobe over anyone, as the quote above states

And how could anyone think Lebron can win like Kobe or MJ??? Lebron is 3/9 and gets blown away by everyone!!!


How come their teams never missed a beat when either MJ or Kobe didn't play?

How come the Lakers always got better record wise when Kobe didn't play? Shit they always got better..

I said this long ago that Kyrie Irving reminds me of Kobe . They are two players that can bring a very good team over the top but they aren't worth that many wins. Its evident by wins and losses when either of them play or don't play. Boston didnt miss a beat without Kyrie just like the Lakers without Kobe. Both are great scorers but they never made a huge impact in wins.

Larry Legend, Jerry West, Steve Kerr, and DR J all put Lebron right there with MJ.

STOP HATING.. Never has anyone that hasnt been associated with Kobe put him on that LEVEL.. Dude isnt even top 10:roll:

[3ball]

How come their teams never missed a beat when either MJ or Kobe didn't play?


You think a 2nd round exit is "not skipping a beat" compared to a 3-peat? Two 3-peats actually??... What are you smoking and let me get some

But you should understand that MJ and Kobe sacrificed personal stats to play in a system that put role players in optimal spots and maximized their chances of scoring

Every dynasty in the last 30 years (bulls, lakers, spurs, warriors) used a system to maximize teamwork and role player contribution - it's the star's job to get elite production within that system without disrupting the flow or offense.. this requires skill that MJ and Kobe had, but lebron doesn't.. so they're skilled enough to have a dynasty and lebron isn't..

Let me know if you need detail on the specific skills that lebron lacks that prevent a system





Larry Legend, Jerry West, Steve Kerr, and DR J all put Lebron right there with MJ.

STOP HATING.. Never has anyone that hasnt been associated with Kobe put him on that LEVEL.. Dude isnt even top 10:roll:


False... Jerry West clearly says he would take MJ over lebron and he says specifically because MJ was better for ball-movement!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TfpDYxq9K3U&t=24m06s

:eek: ... The goat talent evaluator agreeing with 3ball!!!... :rockon:

And Bird's endorsement of Lebron was lukewarm, vague, and unenthusiastic - his comments on MJ's goatness over the years DRASTICALLY supercede his lukewarm comment about lebron... Ditto Steve Kerr, who is even more PC than Bird because he can't be perceived as disrespecting his opponent

Basically, show me where these guys say Lebron is goat - no qualifications, no vagueness, no PC tone - just, "lebron is the goat"... Or show some enthusiasm, i.e. "I thought MJ was God in basketball shoes but now Lebron is"..... Or simply, "Lebron is better than MJ"..... These quotes don't exist from Kerr, Bird or West, but they do for Jordan...





I said this long ago that Kyrie Irving reminds me of Kobe . They are two players that can bring a very good team over the top but they aren't worth that many wins. Its evident by wins and losses when either of them play or don't play. Boston didnt miss a beat without Kyrie just like the Lakers without Kobe. Both are great scorers but they never made a huge impact in wins.


What evidence do you have that Kobe isn't good for wins? His horrible casts after Shaq left? That's no different than Lebron's horrible casts in 19', 05' and 04'

Lebron needed a Pau-level player at 3rd option, so he needed more help to win than Kobe

[tpols]

Kobe led dogshit teams to the playoffs in the west, and once he got just one all star... just one... he went B2B championships.

Where is this idea Kobe's teams could win without him? with shaq yea (not rings, regular season), but he proved everybody wrong afterwards. Pau Gasol was 0-16 in the playoffs as the man sweep after sweep, they wouldve been a JOKE without Kobe.


:roll:

[LAmbruh]

Kobe led dogshit teams to the playoffs in the west, and once he got just one all star... just one... he went B2B championships.

Where is this idea Kobe's teams could win without him? with shaq yea (not rings, regular season), but he proved everybody wrong afterwards. Pau Gasol was 0-16 in the playoffs as the man sweep after sweep, they wouldve been e a JOKE without Kobe instead of champions.

:roll:
Pau led many DEEP post seasons runs on multiple teams long after Lakers, just like Shaq :oldlol: :hammerhead:


Kobe without them? Pissing the bed year after year in lottery LMAO

[3ball]

Pau led many DEEP post seasons runs on multiple teams long after Lakers, just like Shaq :oldlol: :hammerhead:


Kobe without them? Pissing the bed year after year in lottery LMAO
A lot of guys do that after they become role players and older players

[LAmbruh]

A lot of guys do that after they become role players and older players
not Kobe :yaohappy:


https://media.giphy.com/media/Ps8XflhsT5EVa/giphy.gif

[tpols]

A lot of guys do that after they become role players and older players


its not leading if you're a scrub on whatever team...

poor trolling... *sigh*

[RRR3]

TIL Pau Gasol was a scrub on the Bulls.

[LAmbruh]

TIL Pau Gasol was a scrub on the Bulls.
Had his best season on the Bulls as well :oldlol:

[305Baller]

Bird's teams were stacked.

[egokiller]

Exactly

Bird said lebron was "as good" in an on-paper sort of way.. lebron checks the boxes that would put him on par with anyone (size, athleticism, etc)... i.e. in a skills competition with traffic cones etc, Lebron would be as good as anyone

But when WINNING enters the equation, it's all MJ and Kobe over anyone, as the quote above states

And how could anyone think Lebron can win like Kobe or MJ??? Lebron is 3/9 and gets blown away by everyone!!!

Lebron was just someone for people to watch that never saw GOAT MJ play.

What they saw was a 3/9'er that came up short.

[3ball]

.
Bird's comments on Lebron:



He's as good as any player I've seen



Bird's comments on MJ:



He's God in basketball shoes


One comment sounds like an NBA executive being "PC" and unenthusiastic, and the other a pure gushing by a player in awe

And let me know when Jerry West talks about Lebron like this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EeUbHeHBEWg&t=0m22s

[Dro]

https://theundefeated.com/features/the-day-larry-bird-said-its-just-god-disguised-as-michael-jordan/

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-02-07-8501080020-story.html


Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird could have sworn the individual who dropped a historic 63 points in a playoff game was actually God dolled up as Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan.

But quite frankly, if God was going to lace up a pair of sneakers, play a double-overtime contest and break Elgin Baylor’s 24-year-old record, don’t you think he would’ve also given himself the win for all that effort?

Alas, almighty Jordan came, he scored, but ultimately he and his No. 8-seeded Bulls didn’t conquer as they fell to the top-seeded Celtics at the Boston Garden, 135-131, in two overtimes on April 20, 1986.

“I would never have called him the greatest player I’d ever seen if I didn’t mean it,” Bird told The Boston Globe. “It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”

What’s a God to a nonbeliever, though? Because that’s essentially the role Bird, who finished with 36 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, had to play to help Boston win the game and head to Chicago with a 2-0 series lead.

Jordan used any and every scoring method in his 53 minutes — dunks, layups, floaters, jump shots, 3-pointers — and finished 22 of 41 from the field to overtake Baylor’s playoff scoring record. The former Los Angeles Laker set the mark with 61 points against the Celtics in the championship series on April 14, 1962.

Jordan’s 50th point gave Chicago a 111-110 lead in the fourth quarter. The future Hall of Famer then sent the game into overtime by stealing the ball from Celtics center Robert Parish and hitting a pair of free throws (his 53rd and 54th points) to tie the game at 116-116.

Jordan finished 19 of 21 from the foul line with six assists and five rebounds. His scoring breakdown was 17 points in the first quarter, six in the second, 13 in the third, 18 in the fourth, five in the first overtime and four in the second.

“I’m not worried about the points,” Jordan told The Washington Post. “I’d give all the points back if we could win.”

In Game 1 of the best-of-five series, the Bulls went through Jordan on 90 percent of their offensive plays, and he dropped 49 points.

“He is the most exciting, most awesome player in the game,” Bird told the Post. “I didn’t think anyone was capable of doing what Michael has done to us the past two games.”

The sellout crowd of 14,890 was treated to a three-hour, five-minute Game 2 in which the Bulls took a lead (4-2) they did not surrender until Bird hit a shot clock-beating 3-pointer to give Boston a 93-92 advantage. Nine consecutive lead changes followed.

And while everything that led up to the final moments might lead one to believe that Jordan, Bird or Kevin McHale (27 points and 15 rebounds) would prove the hero, it was the Celtics’ Jerry Sichting who put the game away for the perennial power.

Sichting, a 6-foot-1-inch guard who was playing in only the second postseason game of his six-year career, took an inside-out pass from McHale and pulled up from 18 feet at the top of the key to break the game’s 13th tie. Boston led 133-131 with 57 seconds left.

“The play was designed to go to Kevin McHale,” Sichting, who was brought over from the Indiana Pacers in the offseason, told The New York Times, “but he was double-teamed, and he kicked it out to me. I was wide open at the top of the key, and I just buried it.”

Jordan’s equalizer from the left baseline was off the mark and corralled by Parish. He then threw an outlet pass to Bird, who passed it right back to Parish.

Even though Parish had been cold shooting out of the pick-and-roll, he gathered Bird’s pass and connected on a 12-footer along the right baseline, which gave Boston a four-point lead with nine seconds remaining. A 3-pointer from the Bulls closed out the nail-biter.

“As soon as he set the pick and rolled, I gave it to him,” said Bird. “When he goes, you’ve got to give him the ball. You don’t worry about Robert Parish. I never do, because he’s made a lot of big plays for this team.”

“We played very well,” said Jordan, “and the end of the game just came down to who got the breaks … and who didn’t.”


'I have never seen one player turn a team around like that,'' said Bird, snapping his fingers. ''All the Bulls have become better because of him. Orlando Woolridge will probably be an All-Star for the rest of his career. And pretty soon, this place will be packed every night, not just when the Celtics come to town. They`ll pay just to watch Jordan. Got to.''

Bird recently volunteered his vote for Jordan as the finest athlete he`d ever witnessed or opposed, mentioning the Bulls` electric rookie in the same monologue as Wayne Gretzky. After observing Jordan gyrate for 41 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and 7 assists Tuesday night, Bird was in no mood for second opinions.

''Best,'' said Bird. ''Never seen anyone like him. Unlike anyone I`ve ever seen. Phenomenal. One of a kind.''

In other words . . .

''One of a kind,'' he repeated. ''That`s what I mean about the league. With guys like him coming in from college year after year, we just can`t help but get a better image, better crowds, better TV ratings. He`s the best. Ever.''

Better than Larry Bird?

''Yup,'' said Bird. ''At his stage in his career, he`s doing more than I ever did. I couldn`t do what he did as a rookie. Heck, there was one drive tonight. He had the ball up in his right hand, then he took it down, then he brought it back up. I got a hand on it, fouled him, and he still scored. And all the while, he`s in the air. You have to play this game to know how difficult that is. You see that and figure, `Well, what the heck can you do?`


''Best,'' repeated Bird. ''I`d seen a little of him before and wasn`t that impressed. I mean, I thought he`d be good, but not this good. Ain`t nothing he can`t do. That`s good for this franchise, good for the league.''


'Like I say, it`s tough for me to really judge the league,'' Bird said.

''At home, and most places on the road, the buildings are full. This one will be pretty soon, too, every night because of Michael Jordan. He`s the best.''

Better than . . .

''Yup,'' said Larry Bird, coughing up a storm

:confusedshrug:

[bigkingsfan]

"Orlando Woolridge will probably be an All-Star for the rest of his career. " :yaohappy:

[Dro]

"Orlando Woolridge will probably be an All-Star for the rest of his career. " :yaohappy:
LoL, that was definitely funny. But it could have been true if he had stayed in Chicago. Woolridge was no slouch.

[GimmeThat]

the whole players leaving their franchises practice have somewhat changed the mentality during actual games played.

now the leaders or the best players are those who look to get their teammates involved, whereas during Jordan's era, the stats seemed to be "I'm looking to get my opponents involved without showing our game plan, with the attitude towards teammates being 'you already know how I play'"

this is also seen as 'franchise players' post up consistent stats, while other players are told to adjust.

[SpaceJam]

Damn Bird really said all that about Jordan just for Bron to come along and blow him away

"He’s as good as any player I’ve ever seen."

That's all we need to hear Larry, thank you

[34-24 Footwork]

Pau led

This is why nothing substitutes actually watching basketball.

[3ball]

Heck, there was one drive tonight. He had the ball up in his right hand, then he took it down, then he brought it back up. I got a hand on it, fouled him, and he still scored. And all the while, he`s in the air. You have to play this game to know how difficult that is. You see that and figure, `Well, what the heck can you do?`


Of course, a lot of guys watch Jordan and think he's not that impressive

[RRR3]

This is why nothing substitutes actually watching basketball.
You literally said Pau was the first option, genius

[3ball]

"Orlando Woolridge will probably be an All-Star for the rest of his career. " :yaohappy:


MJ would've won 6 rings with Woolridge instead of Pippen (woolridge was infact much more athletically gifted than Pippen), but cocaine is a helluva drug