I hope people who only started paying attention from the mid 90's on can stop comparing Bird and Nowitzky. They were both white and had similar shooting styles but Larry Bird is all around much MUCH better. I remember an interview on Jim Rome's radio show in Dirk's prime and Jim asked Don Nelson how Dirk compared to Bird. Nelson, who was Dirk's coach at the time said "Dirk is an unbelievable talent, one of the best I've ever coached but don't even compare him to Larry Bird, because there simply is no comparison". Nelson went on to say that Bird was a top 3-4 player of all time. To me, Bird was the overall greatest and most fun to watch because he could DO IT ALL and make it look so damn easy. And what a character!
True. The Dirk comparisons are just stupid. It's not even close. Dirk doesn't make this arsonal of plays in his entire career vs just this one game shown of Bird. Bird owns Dirk in every statistical category and not even including clutch, hustle , leadership.
@oldfrend Agreed. I just got done watching Game 1 of the 1985 Finals. The C's set a finals record by scoring 148. Bird was a bit injured and he didnt force it and he set up plays for his teammates. It wasn't even a vintage great Bird game. He was willing to not be the star. Not many players in today's game is that unselfish. Few players ever are.
2:24 Larry Brees hits his man. And young Larry would just wear down his opponents over 4 quarters. Need boards, OK. Scoring, check. Open man, got him. Keeps his teammates alert and wanting to emulate Bird with more passing.
Another great post. Great way for people to see how skilled a player Bird was. Passing (especially those long ones) was out of this world displaying his court vision and accuracy. Had the desire and size and strength to rebound and nobody had his ambidexterity around the hoop and his shooting touch and range. Best all around skilled player ever and according to Alan Minsky's book "kings of the court" Bird had the highest winning % of games played in, in the history of the NBA - over 70%
u are right man but it was obvious,without looking usage% and all those stats, that bird was the superstar who could dominate w/o havibg the ball all the the time,better than anyone in the nba history!
he but i don't know any center who have bird's range or can pass like bird,this guy was just amazing,he score like a guard and small forward,rebound like a center or pf and pass like a pg!
Bird probably had his best year in 1985, it's unfortunate that he had so many injuries in the 85 playoffs that would ground him. He even missed a game against the Cavs because of bone chips in his elbow.
Bird was easily the greatest Celtic of this era but I don't think Dennis Johnson receives nearly the credit he deserves. Even Bird himself says that DJ was the best player he ever had as a team mate.
DJ is in the HOF - he just happened to be on a team with one of the greatest and two other HOF's. McHale could've been a 25-30 ppg player on a lesser team as well. DJ was fantastic.
Definitely agree McHale as the #1 go to guy on his own team would have averaged over 30 pts. per game. Was unstoppable in the post and his moves were insane. Plus a great FT shooter. The only difference on his own team is he would not have had Bird feeding him the ball exactly where he was most comfortable getting it. But still a 30 ppg avg, just like if Bird would've been more selfish like Nique and Jordan he would have averaged 36-38 ppg. But Bird cared about his team mates.
2:11 "DJ!". Bird was unrelenting! Off a made basket, while you are still congratulating yourself, he hustles to the ball and fires a laser guided missile down the court for a layup.
Love how they play till the buzzer, a full 48. Bill Belichick would be proud. No dribble out the time, or getting butt hurt for scoring at the end of the game.
The Real GOAT, Bird, averaged 1 more assist per game, 3.8 more rebounds, better 3P% and Free Throw percentage, equal steals and blocks, same FG%, played higher quality teams in finals than Jordan. Also, Len Bias died 1986, when the Celtics needed a fresh talent to win a few more Championships with Larry In prime, three consecutive MVP’s.
@oldfrend Well the thought was, players had become so big and athletic but that's a farce. They aren't any bigger than the 80s and certainly not much more athletic (if at all). The difference is the lack of fundamental skills (passing and shooting) and the lack of ball movement. Watch a game in the 80s and the ball is moving in and out of the post and side to side. Watch a game now its a bunch of isos and pick and rolls b/c players are playing for endorsements and the game just looks like shit.
if you look at production on a stat of Usage % out of 100 possessions an estimate of plays run for that player while on the court career #s are Kobe 31.8% Lebron 31.8% Jordan 33.3% Bird 26.5% for Bird to have such a lower % compared to the other players and have the production he had is insane
Nobody threw the long distance full court football/baseball pass better than Larry Bird. The opponent would score and he would grab the ball from under the hoop step out of bounds and deliver a dime to a streaking Ainge or Johnson or Henderson etc.. and they would never even need to dribble. Just streak catch and lay it in. He even could make Ray Williams look good :)
He didn't play the 4th quarter because they were up by 22. K.C. Jones did ask Larry to play for the 10th steal, but Larry refused, saying he's "done enough".
it's not only how many shots a player take but also how many time has the ball in his hands...larry did n't have to dribble the ball 100 times to decide what to do because he had amzing basketball IQ and did things very fast.kobe avg 19.6 shots but he avg >20 shots in 10 seasons while bird only in 4.mj did this on 12 and lebron so far in 6.of course these things are n't so important...all of them are great players but bird was the superstar who did n't have to ballhog as many others(gamestyle)
Nice to see an NBA on CBS game from the 80s called by someone other than Stockton, Musburger and Gary Bender. It's rare to see a game called by Frank Glieber and James Brown. Hopefully we'll see Jim Nantz call a CBS NBA playoff game from 1986. Back then JB was just a basketball guy. Didn't cover the NFL until 1987. JB may go back into college basketball in 2011 with Dick Enberg working for the San Diego Padres and the new CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament setup.
@robomanification James Brown is the other announcer, recognize the voice because he worked with FOX NFL Sunday before switching back to NFL TODAY on CBS
@oldfrend Oh yea. The only thing Jordan had more of than Bird was athleticism. Bird was a better shooter, passer, rebounder and he was unselfish and made his teammates so much better. People brag on McHale/Parish but they forget that they would probably be forgotten w/o Bird.
@BigTimePride someone already wrote that a year ago and its basically the first comment you see when you come to this vid. Did you really feel the need to repeat the exact quote and write it as ur own................
the idea of Jordan taking an extra 2 shots a game on average is what is keeping Lebron and Kobe from scoring as much is nonsense! Jordan not only scored so much more than either of the two he also shot a much higher % than both players will ever in their careers.
However FG% is indicative of how good a player's shot selection is. again back to basketball IQ..MJ 50%, Bird 50%, Lebron 46% (not counting this season yet), Kobe 43%...agree or?
Right...go ahead and rationalize...but when you reach a coherent thought...one that doesn't traipse over into favoritism...come and talk basketball with me...until then, like Kobe, believe that he is "the greatest or 2nd greatest ever" and look basketball ignorant in the process.
Except Nash? be serious Sir, the guy is a talented player but there are much better players than him. even at his best he was a player who only played one end and has always been useless on defense
LARRY BIRD WAS THE BEST ALL-AROUND PLAYER IN NBA HISTORY.
Please tell me....has there ever been anyone better at throwing the full court pass. On the money every time. Larry Legend.
Only Magic comes close with those passes. Magic could do it on the bounce too.
@@MrAitraining
Bird was better than Magic.
@@capitanfuturo594 bird def had the better all around game. But nothing beat magic on the fast break and his full court bounce passes were sick.
Yea he could have been a quarterback LOL
@@MrAitraining Once upon a time their was this guy name a Maravich.U might have even heard of him
Larry till 1988 was something unreal. Best Small Forward Ever!
I hope people who only started paying attention from the mid 90's on can stop comparing Bird and Nowitzky. They were both white and had similar shooting styles but Larry Bird is all around much MUCH better. I remember an interview on Jim Rome's radio show in Dirk's prime and Jim asked Don Nelson how Dirk compared to Bird. Nelson, who was Dirk's coach at the time said "Dirk is an unbelievable talent, one of the best I've ever coached but don't even compare him to Larry Bird, because there simply is no comparison". Nelson went on to say that Bird was a top 3-4 player of all time. To me, Bird was the overall greatest and most fun to watch because he could DO IT ALL and make it look so damn easy. And what a character!
True. The Dirk comparisons are just stupid. It's not even close. Dirk doesn't make this arsonal of plays in his entire career vs just this one game shown of Bird. Bird owns Dirk in every statistical category and not even including clutch, hustle , leadership.
Exactly right. And I like Dirk a lot! But he's no Larry Bird, not even close.
It's what greatness is all about Larry Bird
even after '88 he was still unreal. even with a bad back and after his foot surgery, he was a boss.
True
@oldfrend Agreed. I just got done watching Game 1 of the 1985 Finals. The C's set a finals record by scoring 148. Bird was a bit injured and he didnt force it and he set up plays for his teammates. It wasn't even a vintage great Bird game. He was willing to not be the star. Not many players in today's game is that unselfish. Few players ever are.
2:24 Larry Brees hits his man. And young Larry would just wear down his opponents over 4 quarters. Need boards, OK. Scoring, check. Open man, got him. Keeps his teammates alert and wanting to emulate Bird with more passing.
Man Bird was firing those full court passes like Tom Brady in his prime.
Peyton Manning.
You don't see passing like this anymore
This was definitely true back then. Thankfully we have players now like Jokic that have taken over the mantle.
Another great post. Great way for people to see how skilled a player Bird was. Passing (especially those long ones) was out of this world displaying his court vision and accuracy. Had the desire and size and strength to rebound and nobody had his ambidexterity around the hoop and his shooting touch and range. Best all around skilled player ever and according to Alan Minsky's book "kings of the court" Bird had the highest winning % of games played in, in the history of the NBA - over 70%
Thanks for these. It's fun watching Larry pass. Shoot. Rebound. We all knew we were watching a legend.
Celtics brought football into their games. How I miss that era of basketball.
u are right man but it was obvious,without looking usage% and all those stats, that bird was the superstar who could dominate w/o havibg the ball all the the time,better than anyone in the nba history!
1:03 to 1:10 Bird rebounds his own shot again!
Good catch.
Seems like we can hear the players talking and communicating much more than in most videos from this era. That really adds to the enjoyment.
he but i don't know any center who have bird's range or can pass like bird,this guy was just amazing,he score like a guard and small forward,rebound like a center or pf and pass like a pg!
Bird probably had his best year in 1985, it's unfortunate that he had so many injuries in the 85 playoffs that would ground him. He even missed a game against the Cavs because of bone chips in his elbow.
Look at the speed on the pass at 1:21, I can see the ball, like he waived a wand and made it appear in Willam's hand.
Larry Bird was amazing.
Bird was easily the greatest Celtic of this era but I don't think Dennis Johnson receives nearly the credit he deserves. Even Bird himself says that DJ was the best player he ever had as a team mate.
DJ is in the HOF - he just happened to be on a team with one of the greatest and two other HOF's. McHale could've been a 25-30 ppg player on a lesser team as well. DJ was fantastic.
Definitely agree McHale as the #1 go to guy on his own team would have averaged over 30 pts. per game. Was unstoppable in the post and his moves were insane. Plus a great FT shooter. The only difference on his own team is he would not have had Bird feeding him the ball exactly where he was most comfortable getting it. But still a 30 ppg avg, just like if Bird would've been more selfish like Nique and Jordan he would have averaged 36-38 ppg. But Bird cared about his team mates.
wonderful game by mr bird..thanks for the upload
That`s basketball perfection
2:11 "DJ!". Bird was unrelenting! Off a made basket, while you are still congratulating yourself, he hustles to the ball and fires a laser guided missile down the court for a layup.
Lebron James? Please, give me a break, Bird was the best ever.
The greatest Larry Legend!!!
Love how they play till the buzzer, a full 48. Bill Belichick would be proud. No dribble out the time, or getting butt hurt for scoring at the end of the game.
Great stuff again
at 2:12 you can hear him callin: DJ!!
And later, "Look up"
There are times with Bird's full court passes where the ball seems to magically appear in the receivers hands.
at 4:31 it clearly show his stat line as 38/9/9 but then picks up an assist to DJ just moments later. Just a curious observation
The Real GOAT, Bird, averaged 1 more assist per game, 3.8 more rebounds, better 3P% and Free Throw percentage, equal steals and blocks, same FG%, played higher quality teams in finals than Jordan. Also, Len Bias died 1986, when the Celtics needed a fresh talent to win a few more Championships with Larry In prime, three consecutive MVP’s.
well i can make the case all Centers dont have the ball as often as guards. But to me Bird is the best SF ever and a top 5 player.
1:35 Not many 6'10" players (or anyone else) can use that shot. Such a soft touch.
@oldfrend Well the thought was, players had become so big and athletic but that's a farce. They aren't any bigger than the 80s and certainly not much more athletic (if at all). The difference is the lack of fundamental skills (passing and shooting) and the lack of ball movement. Watch a game in the 80s and the ball is moving in and out of the post and side to side. Watch a game now its a bunch of isos and pick and rolls b/c players are playing for endorsements and the game just looks like shit.
Yup.
if you look at production on a stat of Usage %
out of 100 possessions an estimate of plays run for that player while on the court
career #s are
Kobe 31.8%
Lebron 31.8%
Jordan 33.3%
Bird 26.5%
for Bird to have such a lower % compared to the other players and have the production he had is insane
Dkouts57 this is a dumb question but are you talking about the time he spent on court?
How many big games did LB have like this where he was one assist or rebound away from a triple-dub.
Bird is the only player I've ever seen shoot the ball as though the defender didn't even exist.
👍
Nobody threw the long distance full court football/baseball pass better than Larry Bird. The opponent would score and he would grab the ball from under the hoop step out of bounds and deliver a dime to a streaking Ainge or Johnson or Henderson etc.. and they would never even need to dribble. Just streak catch and lay it in. He even could make Ray Williams look good :)
Bird should have never cut the mullet and stash. Was ruthless with it.
😄👍
He didn't play the 4th quarter because they were up by 22. K.C. Jones did ask Larry to play for the 10th steal, but Larry refused, saying he's "done enough".
it's not only how many shots a player take but also how many time has the ball in his hands...larry did n't have to dribble the ball 100 times to decide what to do because he had amzing basketball IQ and did things very fast.kobe avg 19.6 shots but he avg >20 shots in 10 seasons while bird only in 4.mj did this on 12 and lebron so far in 6.of course these things are n't so important...all of them are great players but bird was the superstar who did n't have to ballhog as many others(gamestyle)
Yep. I believe it was the February 18, 1985 game between the Jazz and the Celtics. Bird was 30/12/10/9.
Nice to see an NBA on CBS game from the 80s called by someone other than Stockton, Musburger and Gary Bender. It's rare to see a game called by Frank Glieber and James Brown. Hopefully we'll see Jim Nantz call a CBS NBA playoff game from 1986. Back then JB was just a basketball guy. Didn't cover the NFL until 1987. JB may go back into college basketball in 2011 with Dick Enberg working for the San Diego Padres and the new CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament setup.
Bird was a power foward.
1:00 - They rarely called the fouls on Bird's 3's. If that was MJ or LBJ it'd be 3 FTs.
2:11 Larry yelling “DJ.” 2:21 “Look up.”
@MerkinMuffly "Can't see" I meant to say.
Gen. Bird.
1:35 Those "white" pills that Dennis Rodman gave Larry were really helping him there!!
What a silly comment. 🤦♀️
@robomanification
James Brown is the other announcer, recognize the voice because he worked with FOX NFL Sunday before switching back to NFL TODAY on CBS
@oldfrend Oh yea. The only thing Jordan had more of than Bird was athleticism. Bird was a better shooter, passer, rebounder and he was unselfish and made his teammates so much better. People brag on McHale/Parish but they forget that they would probably be forgotten w/o Bird.
Bird>Jordan
If I had to start a team, I'd start with Bird
1:34 - That's a LB highlight that I hadn't seen. Somehow it hadn't made the montages on yt. 1:44 for the replay.
Best quarterback in NFL history? Larry Bird.
top 5 all time, he could do everything. imagine if he could run a bit faster or jump a bit higher
And they say he wasn't athletic ,well he looks really coordinated then
@rjpsuh06. Frank would pass on May 1, 1985. R.I.P.
Frank Gleiber I believe. He worked with CBS for years NFL NBA NCAA
@BigTimePride someone already wrote that a year ago and its basically the first comment you see when you come to this vid. Did you really feel the need to repeat the exact quote and write it as ur own................
who are these announcers from april 1985?
Man, Larry used to torch the knicks.
@Defender80s no doubt
the idea of Jordan taking an extra 2 shots a game on average is what is keeping Lebron and Kobe from scoring as much is nonsense!
Jordan not only scored so much more than either of the two he also shot a much higher % than both players will ever in their careers.
due to Larry 's shooting with boarding passing clutch not one was better than bird
Bird could have been QB for the Patriots that season with all those long passes...lol🏀😅
1:35
However FG% is indicative of how good a player's shot selection is. again back to basketball IQ..MJ 50%, Bird 50%, Lebron 46% (not counting this season yet), Kobe 43%...agree or?
Larry Bird is God! I think God would probably agree.
Swish..
Better than Jordan
Yes. Jordan was probably the better scorer. But Bird was the better overall player
And we get kobe bryant...yay...
Right...go ahead and rationalize...but when you reach a coherent thought...one that doesn't traipse over into favoritism...come and talk basketball with me...until then, like Kobe, believe that he is "the greatest or 2nd greatest ever" and look basketball ignorant in the process.
Except Nash? be serious Sir, the guy is a talented player but there are much better players than him. even at his best he was a player who only played one end and has always been useless on defense