The Best Larry Bird vs LeBron James Story Ever Told

in the book titled when the game was ours written by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson Michael Jordan shared his 100 honest opinion about Larry Bird he said people ask me all the time who my top five players are and when I start saying Larry they interrupt me they say you've got to be kidding me he can't play with LeBron James I tell them you guys don't get it Larry is far better than any small Ford who played the game now the lazy person would chalk that statement up to Michael Jordan being a LeBron hater he's not even looking at the I think he's seen look at Michael Jordan I was thinking the same Michael Jordan's a little left I think that was a look at Michael like I think you're right I think that's exactly but not too long ago this was common knowledge if you give me both these guys and you say you can start your team with either Larry Bird or Lebron James I'm taking Larry Bird and I'm Taking My Chances thank you very much Larry Bird was the baddest son of a gun on the planet in a league with Magic Johnson Isaiah Thomas Dr James he was the best player in the world when the NBA with a greater level it ain't the same NBA won three straight years the best player in the world right now I believe he would oh he'd be better than Kevin Durant if his back didn't give out on him if he didn't have surgery and his body didn't fail him talking about we having a whole different conversation about Larry Legend I'm sorry he he had it all so Larry Bird or LeBron James for the record if you ask me who I'd take over 20 years I'd take LeBron but if you ask me who I'd take for one season it gets very interesting because I take a 1986 Larry Bird season over any single season performance from any player that ever lived and if you ask me who I'd take for one game or better yet one shot well I'll let someone who actually lived through the bird era tell you what they think all I know is one game from my life I want Larry Joe bird taking my last shot that guy from French Lick Indiana game on the line free throw three jump shot whatever it was I'll take Larry Bird any day or any night over especially LeBron James now if you're still a Larry Legend denier I'm about to tell you how one shot changed the course of history helped rewrite The Narrative of an entire generation and almost made Larry Bird the Undisputed greatest of all time now time and time again Larry Bird came up clutch in the biggest situations Max looking looking Loops at the bird a runner [Applause] 103 [Applause] .5 Larry Bird at the buzzer daddy aims to win balls or the Celtics trailing by one two seconds left in the burn he fires so in the 1987 NBA Finals versus the Lakers when Larry Bird in the Boston Celtics were trying to repeat as NBA champions Celtic Nation came to expect it and in game four at the Boston Garden with the Celtics down 2-1 in the series the game came down to the wire oh Boston four La two Boston five now and they almost tied up powers and they lose it Cooper it's a three on three break Cooper with a three and hits it with a minute and a half to go a long time ago Kareem does it and the Lakers jumping for joy and they lead at 104 to 103 and another time-out poll by Casey Jones and coming out of a timeout Larry Bird as confident as ever tells his Defender James Worthy exactly what he's gonna do to him he would come out of a timeout I remember this one time you might have heard this before because he did with a lot of people I had to guard him you know the players coming but he would tell you was coming with DJ handling Michael's going to set up a pick for for Robert that's only to free him up to come instead of pick for me and he says if you Trail I'm on the trail into the lane she was a little floater he said if you try to get over the top he said I'm gonna pop to that corner and bust a jumper on your face I'm like you Mom I'm all up on it you know I got a shirt tail I'm holding it you know you know where I'm from I'm from Gastonia sure enough man he the ball comes in DJ takes a couple dribbles quick I'm quick enough I think I can get over the top I I get over the top I get out there but he pops to the corner and I'm running he kind of waiting you know [Laughter] an and the Lakers call time with 12 seconds left Larry Bird with a big 3.5 has given the Celtics the lead with the Celtics up by two Kareem comes down and gets fouled with eight seconds left he makes the first and Mrs II and it's Lakers ball with seven seconds to go one Celtic rebound could have sealed this game but the ball goes out of bounds and the Lakers get the possession and with seven seconds to go the Lakers still had life just three years earlier in the 1984 finals versus the Celtics Magic Johnson choked in a similar situation earning the nickname tragic Johnson but this time he was ready my man switched to Kareem and Kevin McHale jumped out to me as soon as I saw Kevin I said oh I'm taking him you know magic puts it on the floor a couple Head and Shoulder shakes and he raised up in the air and there was nobody that was going to get that shot [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] decking's on the clock Larry Bird and the Celtics find themselves in a situation they've been in many times before [Music] [Applause] John freeze what do you think happened now let's give this shot some context for two years straight the Boston Celtics had the greatest home court advantage of all time the prior year in 1986 the Celtics finished with the regular season record of 40 and 1. This Record still stands as the best regular season home record ever yes better than Michael Jordan's 96 bulls and better than Steph Curry's 2016 or 2017 Golden State Warriors and if you include the playoffs they were 50 and 1 at home so for everyone who thinks the 96 Bulls and the 2017 Warriors are the two best teams of all time at home Larry Bird's 1986 Celtics were better let that sink in someone asked me the other day they said it's the toughest Arena you had to play in and I said uh Garden Boston I said they were almost impossible to go in there and be because you could not make a mistake with them those guys made you play and it was him like he was like he was a savant on the court like just a savant like two plays ahead on everything and so please let's not forget how hard it was to go into Boston and be the team when bird is in his prime unfortunately the Celtics fell off their following year in 1987. they were 39 and 2 at home so including the playoffs for the last two years the Celtics were 99 and four at the Boston Garden up until that shot by bird this means statistically there was a 96 chance that that potential game-winning shot by bird was going in now what do you think happened well they set up a great play bird walked worthy all the way up forced to denial all the way up we've done it before clear everybody out go to the ball and break the corner Max looking looking Loops at the front two seconds left in the burn he fires a runner and the Celtics win it listen on the inbound bird fires it he caught it here and as he caught it all he had to do was turn and just turn and he just let this thing go got a wide open look couldn't believe it and I'm standing right there it is straight as an arrow and the Lakers have won in Pat Riley and the Lakers dance off the court they were lucky because it was right online he looked at me like how did you ever leave me that wide open I gotta be kidding me change the whole series every time I watch that shot still think it's going in Larry thought it was going in magic thought it was going in Pat Riley thought it was going in if Larry Bird took that exact same shot in that exact same situation 10 times he'd probably hit nine of them and if Larry Bird hits that shot then the series is tied two to two and with the next game at the Boston Garden there's no way you can convince me that this Celtic team with the greatest home court advantage of all time led by one of the most clutch players in NBA history doesn't win that next home game so instead of being down three to two going back to LA and losing those NBA Finals the Celtics would have been up three to two and with all of that momentum on the Celtic side all they needed to do was win one game in LA to give Larry Bird his fourth title add another Finals MVP to his collection become the first team to win back-to-back Titles since Bill Russell with the Celtics in the 60s and silence all doubt on who won the bird vs magic rivalry one shot could have changed everything and the conversation about the greatest player of all time would have been very different Larry Bird at his best LeBron James did his best oh okay go Larry Joe I gotta go with Larry Joe you take Larry Joe Larry Joe uh for the win when Reggie Miller said that it was headline news the next day because the media fawns over LeBron James more than ever but to many Larry Legend truthers it wasn't a surprise at all skip Reggie would take bird over LeBron do you concur my friend I do concur in a hypothetical draft would I take him over LeBron James to start my my franchise yes I would and and I don't think it's even close now you would think that Skip Bayless is the ultimate contrarian would be challenged by his co-host for such an opinion however this is one of the rare things that they 100 agreed on you know in terms of leadership in terms of clutch in terms of shooting ability and overall Championship credentials not just trophies but a mentality Larry Bird Gets the nod over LeBron James I'm guessing that right now about 80 percent of our viewing audience does not agree with either one of us well that all that means is that they don't know anything they don't know I would love to pick LeBron but in terms of clutch money time there's no there's no contest he's not even in Larry Birds class not even close it's it's not even close if you like stats here's Larry Bird versus LeBron James season stats while both are at the age of 30. Larry Bird averages more points more rebounds more assists and has a higher field goal percentage so when someone asks you what is Larry Bird better at than LeBron you can say pretty much everything is he ahead of Larry Bird no no what was bird better at Bird's a better shooter it's not close uh I think bird is as good or better as a password a much more fluid much more uh natural Pastor than LeBron James A Creative Pastor LeBron James like for a superstar he's as good a passer as anyone outside of maybe magic and Bird was a better pass there's a better rebounder the fact is that Larry Bird didn't stay healthy and the fact is that basketball has played so differently when it comes down to the end of a game in a championship series I would rather have Larry Bird have the basketball well duh is there any way on Earth you would take LeBron James over Larry Bird in the clutch there's no way on Earth that I'd pick him over Larry Bird in the clutch I can tell you that much Larry Bird was not just a superior shooter from anywhere on the court just like you highlighted Not only was he a near 90 shooter from the free throw line which LeBron could never brag about but when you talk about money time whether it's a particular juncture in the season where you're trying to position yourself for the playoffs or you're talking about the last minutes of a game or you're talking about the last shot in the game or you're talking about a game seven or you're talking about anything that that indicates clutch you simply can't pick LeBron over Larry Bird because you can pick almost no one in NBA history over Larry Bird when it was money time you knew where the ball was going and you also knew there was little to nothing that you could do about it it was just a matter of whether or not Larry Bird was gonna make it or miss it but even despite all of those numbers to those who actually saw Larry Bird play the eye test is all they need I don't have other numbers that will support you on LeBron I may lose this but you know what I'm going with these all four of them and I'll watch that dude dominate an era that has some of the greatest players of all time playing this isn't a diss on LeBron I'm not dissing LeBron I love LeBron we both love LeBron everybody appreciates how great he was But as time passes it's easy to forget how great Larry Bird was no I so all of that said right here right now Larry Bird Remains the greatest small forward ever period end of story

Channel: Prime Larry Bird

Views: 610,272

Keywords: NBA, NBA History, Larry Bird, NBA Legends, GOAT, LeBron James

Id: lDXATyNwWOw

Length: 15min 33sec (933 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 19 2023