Friday, September 17th, 2010 at 10:40 am  |  162 responses

For Old Time’s Sake: Larry Bird

Best forward of all time? Certainly up for debate. Best white boy of all time? No question. Larry legend’s story is classic. Small town, country boy from the Mid West turned college superstar and NBA Legend. Coming from humble beginnings, he never craved the spotlight but found himself there more often than not because of his abilities. Bird was not blessed with speed or hops but he left it all on the floor, made plays in big spots, and had classic rivalries with NBA greats like Magic and MJ. He earned the MVP award 3 years in a row from ’84 – ’86, won 3 Titles (2x Finals MVP), was a 12x NBA All Star, 3x 3-point contest winner, plus a looooot more and to boot…he was the coach of the year with the Pacers in ’98. The man knows basketball. Ok a few more… he averaged over 30 pts/game @ Indiana State, led ISU to the ’79 Championship game against Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Michigan State (but lost), won the NBA ROY in 1980, was named one of the 50 greatest players of all time, and then inducted into the HOF. Bird was a phenomenal shooter, great passer, and a lot more physical than people give him credit for. After his 13-year career, this is what his average stats looked like: 24.3 pts, 10 rbs, 6.3 asts, 1.9 3pt. 1.7 stls. He pretty much did it all.

@Schneezy

For more old school videos, check out SLAMtv in the Media section.

larrybird-slamclassic

Have an old school video you want to see in FOTS? Send the video link to slamteam@harris-pub.com.


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  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ JTaylor, @Jukai: It’s tough to decide between Doc and Baylor. I think I’ll go with Baylor too because 38/19/4 (apg) is unbelievably insane, and the year before that he was getting 35/20/5… I mean, those are video game stats right there. But, it’s pretty sad he never won a title with JERRY WEST and WILT CHAMBERLAIN on his team–and then the year right after the Lakers go on a 33 game win streak AND beat the Knicks in a rematch for the title.
    Dr. J shot far better percentages and was no schmuck on the boards either–he was racking double-doubles in his prime as well. Passing is about the same I think. I DO know that Elgin Baylor rarely used his left hand, which seems to be a common thing when you look at older videos. Not sure about Doc–what was his left hand like?

  • MikeC.

    @ everyone that claims firsthand knowledge of eras-past. Where do you watch these games? YouTube has some games, but they’re all chopped up and hard to find in their entirety. Please post a link to where you watch games from tip to buzzer. I need something to carry me over until season 2010 tips off.

  • JTaylor21

    @Teddy, right on bra. For someone to put up 35/20 and 38/19 at 6-5 in any era is downright EVIL. I think that he’s game would transfer well in this era just like Oscar’s would because both guys were as big (225) as today’s SGs and just as skilled. I also feel the same way about Baylor retiring just as the Lakers were on their way to winning a chip and it’s a shame that he didn’t get one. @Teddy, I’m not a 100% sure on Dr.J’s left hand but from the games I’ve seen dude rarely finished with his left and his jumpshot was average at best.

  • Brian

    @ MikeC. – Mine are from my memory. You can try NBATV or ESPN Classic and sometimes get lucky. The 79 Finals are on NBATV now and a young DJ is a circus. You can also try lying which is what I think a lot of folks on here do.

  • JTaylor21

    @MikeC, I got you bra. This guy has a sh*tload of great 80s/90s games but keep it on the DL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEuXYeRI25Q

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Agreed, JTaylor.

  • JTaylor21

    @MikeC- I don’t know whether you saw my earlier post but type in tjhunt76 on youtube. Dude has lots of old games but keep it on the hush.

  • http://dsjkfl.com Jukai

    MikeC: There actually are a lot of whole games on youtube, you just gotta know where to look. I also downloaded a torrent once of a BUNCH of 60s games. I’ve never actually watched whole games from the 50s though.
    Dr. J had a good left hand but his jumpshot sucked. I’m sure I’m gonna butcher this quote, but a reporter came up to Dr. J, after Dr. J had scored 30-something points, grabbed 12 boards, had seven assists, two steals, four blocks, won the game, did it all… except he missed every single jumpshot he took. The reporter asked Dr. J “why don’t you solely focus on getting a decent jumper?” to which Doc replied “cause I don’t have to.”
    Yep.
    I’ll still take the good doctor over Baylor. As I said, I’m looking at it from a team standpoint. Baylor never won anything with a stacked team that promptly won when he left. Hohum.

  • http://dsjkfl.com Jukai

    Other guys with great youtube videos: WiltAtKansas, DownsA530, VeoShock …. there’s a few more I’m forgetting, will gather them up.
    One guy disappeared with a BOATLOAD of Celtics games. I mean classic Cousy/Russell/Heinsohn/Jones games. It’s a real pity.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    WiltAtKansas is the f*cking man for NBA videos. Kind of crazy because I think I read him telling people how he’s 20-25 years old.

  • http://celticknightk3@aol.com Celtic Knight K3

    Bird VS Duncan??? Are you kidding me… Ok I have been watching NBA since 81′. The comparison between the two is incredibly ridiculas. Like few guys here do know some things about Bird and the rest of the people here have not seen Bird games on New England Sports channel are not qualified to compare. I have seen almost 82 games of Bird since 81′ I tell you all here Bird himself will tell you what he will do on the court and nobody can stop him for doing whatever he wishes to do. He and Magic Johnson totally owns NBA in their era. Ok PPG Bird:24.3 Duncan:21.1 Bird wins, RPG Bird:10.0 Duncan:11.6 Duncan wins, SPG Bird:1.7 Duncan:.8 Bird wins, BPG Bird:.8 Duncan:2.3 Duncan wins, APG Bird:6.3 Duncan:3.2 Bird wins, FG% Bird:49.6 Duncan:50.8 Duncan wins, FT% Bird:88.6 Duncan:68.7 Bird wins, 3-pt% Bird:37.6 Duncan:18.7 Bird wins. Well, stats shows Bird certainly have an edge. Stats are very shallow ok so how I have watched most of Duncan’s career and I tell you all young folks not only Bird’s is dominant in the low post(left handed shots too) is almost as good as his perimeter games. As far as court sense, passing, handles, leadership, and determination are clearly a huge edge for Bird. Bird had accomplished his feats in much shorter time than Duncan. Sorry folks but Bird clearly owns the forward spot in all-time history.

  • http://celticknightk3@aol.com Celtic Knight K3

    Bird VS Duncan??? Are you kidding me… Ok I have been watching NBA since 81′. The comparison between the two is incredibly ridiculas. Like few guys here do know some things about Bird and the rest of the people here have not seen Bird games on New England Sports channel are not qualified to compare. I have seen almost 82 games every year of Bird since 81′ I tell you all here Bird himself will tell you what he will do on the court and nobody can stop him for doing whatever he wishes to do. He and Magic Johnson totally owns NBA in their era. Ok PPG Bird:24.3 Duncan:21.1 Bird wins, RPG Bird:10.0 Duncan:11.6 Duncan wins, SPG Bird:1.7 Duncan:.8 Bird wins, BPG Bird:.8 Duncan:2.3 Duncan wins, APG Bird:6.3 Duncan:3.2 Bird wins, FG% Bird:49.6 Duncan:50.8 Duncan wins, FT% Bird:88.6 Duncan:68.7 Bird wins, 3-pt% Bird:37.6 Duncan:18.7 Bird wins. Well, stats shows Bird certainly have an edge. Stats are very shallow ok so now I have watched most of Duncan’s career and I tell you all young folks not only Bird’s is dominant in the low post(left handed shots too) is almost as good as his perimeter games. As far as court sense, passing, handles, leadership, and determination are clearly a huge edge for Bird. Bird had accomplished his feats in much shorter time than Duncan. Sorry folks but Bird clearly owns the forward spot in all-time history.

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