SI: Bird better than Lebron

[HammerDown]

Hell, Nique would kick Lebron's ass and the Birdman basically owned him his entire career.

 

[Leroy Brown]

Hell, Nique would kick Lebron's ass and the Birdman basically owned him his entire career.

 

[Leroy Brown]

Late to the thread
But LEBRON wins this hands down if you are using statistics.


Bird has a lot of era adjusted scoring numbers.
The PER is not a perfect stat, but it helps neutralize the scoring fests of defense optional 1980s.


PER is by far and away the best indicator of statistical worth outside of the era adjustments.
It completely neutralizes any era inflated stats.


For example, in Birds best scoring years.
The dead last team scoring average in the entire freaking league for all team was 105.2 a game.
That was considered plodding offense in 1985.


Lebron crushes Bird badly in PER.
That is the only stat that truly helps compare different eras of playing style.

Hey now, don't bring facts to a SportsHoopla Hoops debate. That's frowned upon.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Nosferatu]

Sure you can say scoring was crazy in the 80's but so was the level of competition, not to mention there was really no need for a shot clock in the 80's because nobody ran it down and although I don't feel like looking it up there seems to be a lot more fouls in today's game which drains the clock and results in lower scores, there is so much more to this than simply looking at stats, as someone who watched more basketball in the 80's than I do today you'd have to be a fool to rather have LeBron on your team than Larry.

 

[thunderc]

One thing that is beyond debate, Larry Bird had ice in his veins. We don't know that about Lebron yet, not even close.

 

[Leroy Brown]

Sure you can say scoring was crazy in the 80's but so was the level of competition, not to mention there was really no need for a shot clock in the 80's because nobody ran it down and although I don't feel like looking it up there seems to be a lot more fouls in today's game which drains the clock and results in lower scores, there is so much more to this than simply looking at stats, as someone who watched more basketball in the 80's than I do today you'd have to be a fool to rather have LeBron on your team than Larry.

There was no need for a shot clock because there was no need for defense.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

One thing that is beyond debate, Larry Bird had ice in his veins. We don't know that about Lebron yet, not even close.

I think we do know about LBJ.

He is a way better flopper than Bird. Not sure Bird even knew how.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

"We walked uphill both days in the snow back in my day."


Clinging to Nostalgia makes up falsely disbelieve the reality of evolution.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

"We walked uphill both days in the snow back in my day."


Clinging to Nostalgia makes up falsely disbelieve the reality of evolution.

That is the great thing about stats, video and the Internet. It is all out there...

 

[Nosferatu]

"We walked uphill both days in the snow back in my day."


Clinging to Nostalgia makes up falsely disbelieve the reality of evolution.

Or, having seen both players play gives you the ability to give a fair opinion.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Or, having seen both players play gives you the ability to give a fair opinion.

Today's generation thinks that basketball today is better than it was back then and subsequently is superior which enables them to dismiss the greatest players of all time, but I have already seen Lebron quit and give up in Cleveland and in Miami enough to know that he is not equivalent to Bird in greatness.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

The NFL is the only pro sports league which doesn't cling precariously to nostalgia
Baseball is obviously the worst offender, but the NBA is sometimes just as guilty.


Todays players are the best of the World...not just the USA
They are chiseled athletic freaks that make players even 25 years ago look like shriveled up husks or flabby rec players


They are from Europe, South America, Asia, and wherever......we are blessed to see the evolution every year.


I have nothing but love for the history of the game.
But, I am not some attention deficit millennial generation fanboy who ignores the past.
I am not so blinded to understand that sports is constantly evolving.


Players are better every single year.
Without a doubt, the generation of 2024 will be a better generation of players than today.
And 2044 will be better than 2024.....


It is inevitable.

 

[Inimical]

The NFL is the only pro sports league which doesn't cling precariously to nostalgia
Baseball is obviously the worst offender, but the NBA is sometimes just as guilty.


Todays players are the best of the World...not just the USA
They are chiseled athletic freaks that make players even 25 years ago look like shriveled up husks or flabby rec players


They are from Europe, South America, Asia, and wherever......we are blessed to see the evolution every year.


I have nothing but love for the history of the game.
But, I am not some attention deficit millennial generation fanboy who ignores the past.
I am not so blinded to understand that sports is constantly evolving.


Players are better every single year.
Without a doubt, the generation of 2024 will be a better generation of players than today.
And 2044 will be better than 2024.....


It is inevitable.

 

[trojanfight]

bird didn't have to team up with all stars of other teams 2 different time in his career to win rings.

 

[Inimical]

The NFL is the only pro sports league which doesn't cling precariously to nostalgia
Baseball is obviously the worst offender, but the NBA is sometimes just as guilty.


Todays players are the best of the World...not just the USA
They are chiseled athletic freaks that make players even 25 years ago look like shriveled up husks or flabby rec players


They are from Europe, South America, Asia, and wherever......we are blessed to see the evolution every year.


I have nothing but love for the history of the game.
But, I am not some attention deficit millennial generation fanboy who ignores the past.
I am not so blinded to understand that sports is constantly evolving.


Players are better every single year.
Without a doubt, the generation of 2024 will be a better generation of players than today.
And 2044 will be better than 2024.....


It is inevitable.

I was like, i know ive seen this shit before.....oh yeah.....

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Stats are very similar....

LeBron has a slight edge everywhere except in rebounding.

As for shooting, Bird was a slightly better 3-pt shooter then LeBron but was also much more selective (Bird averaged < 2 attempts per game, LeBron averaging > 4).

LeBron actually has pretty decisive edges when it comes to advanced stats, PER, true shooting%, effective fg%, win shares, etc.


For every young NBA fan naively dismissing Bird... there is an old NBA fan whose nostalgia is inflating Bird's status.

Different time period different game. The nba has become a lot more watered down over the years. Bird sued during a time where skill was of much deeper importance. I can't compare stats between tbe style of play and rules within the periods. And I can't put Kenton on birds level as far as skill set or several others from that period for that matter.

 

[LogicMan]

Interesting debate by all. One item I did not see discussed was Bird's better rebounding. Another item of note was just how fast Bird turned around the franchise and getting a ring so quickly. Thats an amazing fact.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

The NFL is the only pro sports league which doesn't cling precariously to nostalgia
Baseball is obviously the worst offender, but the NBA is sometimes just as guilty.


Todays players are the best of the World...not just the USA
They are chiseled athletic freaks that make players even 25 years ago look like shriveled up husks or flabby rec players


They are from Europe, South America, Asia, and wherever......we are blessed to see the evolution every year.


I have nothing but love for the history of the game.
But, I am not some attention deficit millennial generation fanboy who ignores the past.
I am not so blinded to understand that sports is constantly evolving.


Players are better every single year.
Without a doubt, the generation of 2024 will be a better generation of players than today.
And 2044 will be better than 2024.....


It is inevitable.

Ehm?!?

Players in their prime in the 2000s are better than the players currently in the NBA

Players in their prime in the 90s were better than the players in the 2000s

Players in their prime in the 80s were better than the players in the 90s

See a pattern here?

 

[Clayton]

Ehm?!?

Players in their prime in the 2000s are better than the players currently in the NBA

Players in their prime in the 90s were better than the players in the 2000s

Players in their prime in the 80s were better than the players in the 90s

See a pattern here?

Yeah.

You're getting older and nostalgia is getting stronger.

The game is totally different now, though. Can't compare the two.