Larry Legend: Why He Is The Most Underappreciated G.O.A.T. Candidate
Introduction
When you think of Larry Bird, where does your head go?
“The O.G. white mamba,” or maybe his iconic game winners at the buzzer, or maybe you even think about his amazing 60 point outing on March 12th, 1985 against the Atlanta Hawks.
Well I think about why he’s the most underappreciated G.O.A.T. candidate out of them all.
Larry Legend came into the league as the 6th overall pick in the 1978 draft out of Indiana. Already used to dominating high level competition, Bird is often looked at in the shadow of Magic Johnson. I’m tired of that.
Bird has the career to be looked at as the potential G.O.A.T., but that argument never seems relevant in regular pick up basketball games that turn into heated debates.
Bird is not only one the greatest shooters in NBA history, but he was the first player to master all facets of the offensive game. He was a very underrated defender, and his skill was far ahead of his time.
So what does this have to do with anything?
Transcending The Game
Let’s start small.
Bird was far and away the best 3-point shooter, and shooter in general of the 1980’s. He brought the 3-point shot out of irrelevance almost as soon as he was allowed to shoot it. He made it look “cool” in a way. It was so cool in fact, he was looked upon as the only one that could really do it.
“But Noah, Bird had 4 straight seasons of shooting less than 30% from three, what’s great about that?”
Hint: keep reading.
Another hint: Larry Bird didn’t grow up shooting the 3-ball.
One final hint: Larry Bird literally had to teach himself how to shoot the 3-ball once he got into the NBA.
(Sorry my 13 year-old argument techniques showed a little)
From 1985-1988 Bird shot the ball at a historic rate.
In those 5 seasons Bird put up shooting splits of 41%/52%/90% - those being from three / the field / the free throw line respectively. That’s utter amazing-ness. There’s no other way to say it. From there, his shooting was unbelievably consistent for not only his time period, but simply in general.
Only 9 players have ever shot 40/50/90 percentages in a season - Bird did it over a 4 season stretch. Whoever thinks he doesn’t rank upon the greatest to ever shoot the ball is living under a rock.
Shooting, check.
I’ll give you a list of the greatest shooters who have only had one 40/50/90 season, let one over a 4-year stretch.
Singular club (only one 40/50/90 season)
Stephen Curry, 2010-
Kevin Durant, 2008-
Reggie Miller, 1988-05
Dirk Nowitzki, 1999-19
Never club (players that have never had a 40/50/90 season)
James Harden, 2010-
Karl-Anthony Towns, 2016-
Michael Jordan, 1985-03
LeBron James, 2004-
So tell me why Larry Legend doesn’t get the same recognition as these players, (especially when it comes to shooting the basketball).
He Was Important To The Game - Really Important
People don’t understand how bad of a place that the NBA was in in the 1970’s-early 80’s.
How about this, let me tell you what it was most popular for: cocaine, drugs, “hooligans,” the NBA wasn’t a civilized league by any stretch of imagination, and certainly was losing fans.
Bird was one of three big names that you can argue all bring the NBA up from those depths; Larry himself, Michael Jordan and Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
Nevertheless, Larry Bird was the chosen one of basketball, and not just of the 80’s. After all, you're not nicknamed “the great white hope” for nothing.
He entered the league with a boom and never looked back. 21/10/5 and 2 steals his rookie season with the ROTY (rookie of the year) trophy under his belt. 21/10/6 with 2 steals and 1 block his second season, (you get the point), and averaging 24/10/6 with 2 steals and about a block as his career averages.
He saved the league from a downfall, and very well might be the singular reason we are still watching the NBA today.
Ask anyone that played in his era.
Bird was the man.
Although Bird’s stats may not tell the whole story, the praise from his peers do.
Quotes From The Greats
“Larry Bird may have been the best I played against - he could do anything. This muscle here (he pointed to his brain) was his greatest. Shooting, rebounds, assists, steals - he was always positioned at the right place at the right time. And he was a great competitor, I have much respect for him,”
Kareem Abdul-Jabar
“Larry was a debate. He still is. People ask me all the time who my all-time five top 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 forward who played the game, and to be honest, I’m still not sure if he is a small forward or a power forward.”
Michael Jordan
The Most Versatile Player In NBA History
“Oh c’mon now you’re really doing LeBron dirty.”
Go read that quote from the goat that I just recited; it should answer your conflict pretty well.
Larry Legend played during a time that scoring was nothing like it was today. Like I previously stated, the 3-ball was almost non-existent. Bird entered the league the first season that the 3-pointer was introduced, and yet despite literally teaching himself how to shoot it throughout his career he’s still one of the best to ever do it.
Bird totaled over 50 career triple doubles (59), and 10 in the playoffs which, at the time of his retirement, was a major feat. In the 1991-92 season, the season in which he retired, the league leaders in triple doubles were Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton, David Robinson and Michael Jordan - they shared the title with 2.
To put that in perspective, Josh Giddey has 2 this season already. Crazy how the game changes and how underrated legacies can become with new play-styles becoming more and more popular every game.
As a chip-in, his game in the clutch might’ve been even better.
If you had to choose one man to make a shot to win you the NBA crown, in the 80’s, that answer was Bird. No doubt, no question.
There’s a strong debate to be made that if Michael Jordan never existed that answer would still be Bird today, and I would agree with that.
Bird is 3rd all time on the game winning buzzer beater list while a team is trailing, with 4 shots made in his career; and 2nd all time in flat-out game winners, with 33 (the irony), trailing only the late late-great Kobe Bryant.
Below is a graph of the players that averaged the most points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals a season throughout the 1980’s:
Quotes From The Greats
"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life, I’d take Larry Bird."
Pat Riley
“Larry, he was ready to play and ready to deliver. And did he ever. The way his brain -- just super smart, his analytical ability to figure out what was going to work, when it was going to work, how it was going to work.”
Bill Walton
"When I played, Larry Bird was the only one I feared. A lot of black guys always ask me, 'Did Larry Bird really play that good?' I said Larry Bird is so good it's frightening."
Earvin “Magic” Johnson
Bird also mustered up 97 career playoff double-doubles which lands him 9th all time.
However, the most notable thing that I would say makes Bird the most versatile player of all time is without a doubt this singular stat:
Peak Performance metric.
What Is Peak Performance Metric?
To put Bird’s greatness into perspective I created a stat called “peak performance metric.”
A little disclaimer to anyone who thought that I made this stat simply in favor of Bird is dead wrong. I was originally going to write about the greatness of Michael Jordan by using this metric and that was my original intention.
Beautiful mistakes.
The stat is supposed to put into account a players’ total number of points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks and their average total over the best 5 season stretch of their career. Along with that it accounts the total number of average win shares and PER that that player had over the course of his best 5 season stretch. Then, those 3 stats are added up into a total score - that score is then multiplied by that player's teams’ win percentage over their best 5 season stretch.
The overall score the player has is supposed to indicate how much that player’s overall stats contributed to a team’s success.
I ran this metric through the top 25-ish players since the start of the 3-point era that are crowned upon the NBA’s media and its fans as the “G.O.A.T.s” of the sport.
Here’s the results.
The List
In order to compose this list, I decided to select 25 of the greatest NBA players of the 3-point era and beyond to “run the numbers on.” I ended the list with 10 of the players that scored the highest on the metric.
Sorry “oldheads,” but no Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell or Bob Cousy today.
The Numbers -
Enough said.