Larry Bird or Lebron James?


JSU/99 said:
He would struggle more. Don't get me wrong, he'd still be very good. But there are more good, athletic defenders in the league now.
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I agree with this. Y'all giving Bird wayyyy too much praise, those titles stopped once those athletic guys came into the league.....
 
GoodFella said:
I agree with this. Y'all giving Bird wayyyy too much praise, those titles stopped once those athletic guys came into the league.....
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That's only half of it. Titles stopped because his ass broke down with a terrible back. The Celtics were getting old and took a beating against Detroit.
 



Dr. Phreeze said:
That's only half of it. Titles stopped because his ass broke down with a terrible back. The Celtics were getting old and took a beating against Detroit.
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True......Man they had enough brothers in the league to make a Tarzan movie when Bird played.........They just don't know; Here are a few who just happen to be in the top 50 best of all time NBA players:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Charles Barkley
Karl Malone
Moses Malone
Clyde Drexler
Julius Erving
Patrick Ewing
Magic Johnson
Michael Jordan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Scottie Pippen
David Robinson
Isiah Thomas
James Worthy
 
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Dr. Phreeze said:
That's only half of it. Titles stopped because his ass broke down with a terrible back. The Celtics were getting old and took a beating against Detroit.
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They ONLY stopped because of age and that back. Detroit finally beat them when pretty much the whole Celtics starting 5 was over 30.
 
Wayyy more White guys back then than now, but Im sleep though. I will let y'all debate on this topic, the old school guys will favor the old school and the new school will favor the new school. From a guy who is not biased and was able to watch the 80s and 90s basketball those 80's cats played a different way. Very fundamentally sound, good shooters but that was it. Knocking someone down before they can make a play is not defense lol....
 
Dr. Phreeze said:
That's only half of it. Titles stopped because his ass broke down with a terrible back. The Celtics were getting old and took a beating against Detroit.
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Bill Simmons, an unabashed Celtics homer, talked about this in his book. Basically how Bird would feast on no-defense playing forwards in his career. He's still a top 6 player in my book, but things are different now and he'd struggle more. Same goes for Magic Johnson. But they're still in my top 6 because they dominated the era they were in.
 
GoodFella said:
Wayyy more White guys back then than now, but Im sleep though. I will let y'all debate on this topic, the old school guys will favor the old school and the new school will favor the new school. From a guy who is not biased and was able to watch the 80s and 90s basketball those 80's cats played a different way. Very fundamentally sound, good shooters but that was it. Knocking someone down before they can make a play is not defense lol....
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So if those guys that are currently playing now would have access to the same type of sports medicine and nutrition during the 80s and 90s? Most of the stuff they take now wasn't even thought of back then. There's other factors that I can bring up but I'll chill. That's why I don't debate about who would be great if you just plug them in any era. I only judge those players on who they faced within that same era because we don't really know and lead to a biased opinion.
 
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Best Olympic Team Ever Assembled
1992-dream-team.jpeg
 
kendrick said:
If Kevin Love can average 26 points a game, I don't see how Bird would struggle in today's NBA.
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Just as Magic would be a good passing forward playing in the post in today's NBA, Bird would be a stretch 4. Almost a Chris Bosh type with better range and passing ability but not as athletic. They would have to hide him on defense and someone like Paul George or Lebron James would give him major problems. There are simply more tall, big and athletic defenders playing in today's game.
 
Dr. Phreeze said:
So if those guys that are currently playing now would have access to the same type of sports medicine and nutrition during the 80s and 90s? Most of the stuff they take now wasn't even thought of back then. There's other factors that I can bring up but I'll chill. That's why I don't debate about who would be great if you just plug them in any era. I only judge those players on who they faced within that same era because we don't really know and lead to a biased opinion.
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Going up against guys like Brad Daughtery and Craig Ehlo, yea it was real tough lol. I would have been the best player on the Cleveland Cavaliers doing that time, just being honest. Thats just one example.....
 
GoodFella said:
Going up against guys like Brad Daughtery and Craig Ehlo, yea it was real tough lol. I would have been the best player on the Cleveland Cavaliers doing that time, just being honest. Thats just one example.....
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Hell Brad Daugherty would dominate these days. LOL. Ehlo would be what he was then. A spot up shooter. You got plenty of folks who can't guard nobody these days. The only thing that has changed is Power Forwards/Stretch 4 guys being able to shoot with range. But cats like James Worthy would still get 20 points and 10 rebounds against these guys. Sometimes yall act like guys JUST got fast or just started leaping out the gym. Actually most of these guys are athletes with very limited talent compared to some of the greats. Dominique's vertical still would off the charts now. Shawn Kemp still would be able to do what Blake Griffin does now. Gary Payton still would be able to defend these PGs in his prime. If you ever saw how fast Tiny Archibald was in his pre Boston days, he would still get his in this league. The old centers would have a field day. A young Kareem, Olajuwon, Moses Malone, etc would kill these stiffs that play center. Cats like Hibbert would get dominated. Hell Alzonzo Mourning and Mutombo would get in Hibbert's soft arse.

The game has changed. But lets no do a disservice to those guys because they didn't play in HDTV time frame. Dr J would still be Dr J in today's game. He would still be able to defend. Tom Chambers was Kevin Love before Kevin Love.
 



GoodFella said:
Great team, would love to see them play against 2012's team but all we can do is wonder....
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In there prime, it would not even be close. A lot of them guys played defense and could score. Even that Dream Team didn't have all of them in their PRIME. Bird and Majic were at the end of their careers. A few years before that would have been better. Laetner arse still should have not been on that team. That should have been Shaq that year.
 
JSU/99 said:
Just as Magic would be a good passing forward playing in the post in today's NBA, Bird would be a stretch 4. Almost a Chris Bosh type with better range and passing ability but not as athletic. They would have to hide him on defense and someone like Paul George or Lebron James would give him major problems. There are simply more tall, big and athletic defenders playing in today's game.
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He wouldn't be playing against LeBron and George every night.
 
GoodFella said:
I would have my way against guys like Scott Skiles and Kurt Rambis if I played back then :emlaugh:
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Have you seen the scrubs on these sad teams like Milwaukee? I am sure a young Skiles and Rambis could start on these horrible teams in the NBA that do nothing on a year to year basis. Rambis is better than that stiff Cleveland drafted in the lottery last year. LOL.

Skiles would have ate your lunch coming out of Michigan State. LOL. Dude was nice. If JJ Reddick can stay in the league. So could Skiles. Rambis would have elbowed you in the head frat. Those days in the NBA were hard core. Power forwards were POWER Forwards and not tweeners or skinny cats playing the 4. Everybody had a David West type at PF.
 
JR said:
In there prime, it would not even be close. A lot of them guys played defense and could score. Even that Dream Team didn't have all of them in their PRIME. Bird and Majic were at the end of their careers. A few years before that would have been better. Laetner arse still should have not been on that team. That should have been Shaq that year.
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I give the nod to the Dream Team for two reasons. The consistent scoring and defense. Then again that Dream team didn't worry about guys like Lebron and Kobe flying around to contest shots.....
 
Chris Mullins though? I give Stockton his due but Hornacheck, Dan Majerle and company are lucky they came into the league when they did.
 
JR said:
Hell Brad Daugherty would dominate these days. LOL. Ehlo would be what he was then. A spot up shooter. You got plenty of folks who can't guard nobody these days. The only thing that has changed is Power Forwards/Stretch 4 guys being able to shoot with range. But cats like James Worthy would still get 20 points and 10 rebounds against these guys. Sometimes yall act like guys JUST got fast or just started leaping out the gym. Actually most of these guys are athletes with very limited talent compared to some of the greats. Dominique's vertical still would off the charts now. Shawn Kemp still would be able to do what Blake Griffin does now. Gary Payton still would be able to defend these PGs in his prime. If you ever saw how fast Tiny Archibald was in his pre Boston days, he would still get his in this league. The old centers would have a field day. A young Kareem, Olajuwon, Moses Malone, etc would kill these stiffs that play center. Cats like Hibbert would get dominated. Hell Alzonzo Mourning and Mutombo would get in Hibbert's soft arse.

The game has changed. But lets no do a disservice to those guys because they didn't play in HDTV time frame. Dr J would still be Dr J in today's game. He would still be able to defend. Tom Chambers was Kevin Love before Kevin Love.
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I believe this era is really short on centers too. They would have no answers in the post dealing with these 7+ footers 1) Kareem Abdul Jabbar (LA) 2) Robert Parrish (Celtics) 3) David Robinson (SA) 4) Akeem O. (Houston) 5) Shaq LA/Orl 6) Patrick Ewing........And a few others
 
JR said:
Have you seen the scrubs on these sad teams like Milwaukee? I am sure a young Skiles and Rambis could start on these horrible teams in the NBA that do nothing on a year to year basis. Rambis is better than that stiff Cleveland drafted in the lottery last year. LOL.

Skiles would have ate your lunch coming out of Michigan State. LOL. Dude was nice. If JJ Reddick can stay in the league. So could Skiles. Rambis would have elbowed you in the head frat. Those days in the NBA were hard core. Power forwards were POWER Forwards and not tweeners or skinny cats playing the 4. Everybody had a David West type at PF.
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I agree and a little before Rambis broke into the lineup, it looked like this: Starting Lineup: Magic Johnson (PG) Byron Scott (SG) James Worthy (SF) A.C. Green (PF) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (C) :lol: :emlaugh:
 
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