How good would Larry Bird be in today's game?

Hanacheezy said:
i cant take some of you dudes seriously; Bird is one of the ALL TIME GREATS. Yes he would dominate and be havoc for any team he played against
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So ****** what....that's irrelevant to the OP's question.

IMO he would still stand out, but wouldn't dominate.....ala Dirk
 
Yes he would, he'd be going through all of the physical training and roids all the new players are going through, so yes he would have the athletic ability.  
 
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yall forget how competitive and ruthless larry legend was....


definitely killin.


The real questions is, how many cats would be on the receiving end of a Larry 2 piece.
 
You guys act like there weren't any athletes back in the 80s. Magic Johnson was a pretty damn good athlete, and that was his main rival. Then you got guys like Clyde and Dominique. And of course Jordan. Dominique is about as fricking athletic you can get. Then guys like Charles, Admiral, and the 80s Denver Nuggets.

No one mentioning that Larry was the best-passing forward of all-time. He was as complete offensively as any forward. He wasn't a slouch either defensively. He didn't use his athleticism to be a decent defender.

The East was no slouch in the 80s.
 
Here are some of the players Bird regularly went up against Dr. J, Magic, Michael Cooper, James Worthy, Bryon Scott, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Rodney McCray, Jerome Kersey, Cliff Robinson, & Dennis Rodman just to name a few...Think about these guys & let it sink in....
 
psk2310 said:
I don't want to come across remotely arrogant like you did but what makes you think the NBA is bigger & better than ever? The only true revenue stream thats helping the league (not individual teams) to turn a profit is the TV money. Outside of major markets like NY, LA, Boston, teams are struggling to sell tickets.
The economy in case you haven't noticed is having a huge impact on the NBA. Prior to the lock out, it was said that 22 of the 30 teams were not turning a profit. Realistically, it was probably less than that but it did make teams cut drastically back in all areas like scouting.
Teams like the Grizzlies, the Nets, The Warriors, & even the Mavericks started cutting back in areas like advanced scouting back in 2009 with some even eliminating advanced scouting altogether & outsourcing it to companies like Snergy Sports or regional freelance scouts.
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I wasn't being arrogant, I just wanted an explanation.

Whether the teams are turning a profit or not, they are spending a TON of money and there is way more money in basketball than there used to be. Look at how much these teams are being sold for. Profit has nothing to do with how much money is going in and out of the sport. Add in the fact that the NBA is a global game now. Yes the NBA is making more money than ever (and clearly they are spending that money, so some teams aren't profiting) and is more popular than ever.

Now add in the fact that technology has come a long way since Bird's time, Synergy + those new tracking cameras -> means scouting is more efficient, easier, and gives you more data. Now throw in the fact that advanced stats are becoming more useful for basketball.

I still think the statement was outlandish.
 
mgrand15 said:
psk2310 said:
I don't want to come across remotely arrogant like you did but what makes you think the NBA is bigger & better than ever? The only true revenue stream thats helping the league (not individual teams) to turn a profit is the TV money. Outside of major markets like NY, LA, Boston, teams are struggling to sell tickets.
The economy in case you haven't noticed is having a huge impact on the NBA. Prior to the lock out, it was said that 22 of the 30 teams were not turning a profit. Realistically, it was probably less than that but it did make teams cut drastically back in all areas like scouting.
Teams like the Grizzlies, the Nets, The Warriors, & even the Mavericks started cutting back in areas like advanced scouting back in 2009 with some even eliminating advanced scouting altogether & outsourcing it to companies like Snergy Sports or regional freelance scouts.
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I wasn't being arrogant, I just wanted an explanation.

Whether the teams are turning a profit or not, they are spending a TON of money and there is way more money in basketball than there used to be. Look at how much these teams are being sold for. Profit has nothing to do with how much money is going in and out of the sport. Add in the fact that the NBA is a global game now. Yes the NBA is making more money than ever (and clearly they are spending that money, so some teams aren't profiting) and is more popular than ever.

Now add in the fact that technology has come a long way since Bird's time, Synergy + those new tracking cameras -> means scouting is more efficient, easier, and gives you more data. Now throw in the fact that advanced stats are becoming more useful for basketball.

I still think the statement was outlandish.
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Take a look at the Orlando Magic. In an effort to become more lean & cut operating costs like a lot of companies, they laid off their long time asst. general manager & 6 scouts (6)...Teams are not spending "tons of cash" because they revenue isn't there. If you don't understand that & if you can't see the economy has had an effect on the NBA & they it operates, there's nothing more I can explain. Cheers. :D
 
If you need specific examples about advanced scouting being downsized here's an article when it all started in 2009 from SI.com

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/steve_aschburner/08/21/scouting/index.html

& here's a article from the Orlando Sentinel from June 2012 referring to the Magic cutting staff.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...k-0625-20120624_1_twardzik-scout-rob-hennigan

I don't know how you come to think there's tons of cash to be spent, but it's just not so. Just Google search NBA team layoffs & you should see a myriad of articles showing teams are cutting back substantially. I sincerely hope you understand this a bit...
 
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JapanAir21 said:
You guys act like there weren't any athletes back in the 80s. Magic Johnson was a pretty damn good athlete, and that was his main rival. Then you got guys like Clyde and Dominique. And of course Jordan. Dominique is about as fricking athletic you can get. Then guys like Charles, Admiral, and the 80s Denver Nuggets.
No one mentioning that Larry was the best-passing forward of all-time. He was as complete offensively as any forward. He wasn't a slouch either defensively. He didn't use his athleticism to be a decent defender.
The East was no slouch in the 80s.
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Yeah, they're basically saying none of those guys could be as good today either. 
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psk2310 said:
Take a look at the Orlando Magic. In an effort to become more lean & cut operating costs like a lot of companies, they laid off their long time asst. general manager & 6 scouts (6)...Teams are not spending "tons of cash" because they revenue isn't there. If you don't understand that & if you can't see the economy has had an effect on the NBA & they it operates, there's nothing more I can explain. Cheers. :D
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Or perhaps new Magic GM Rob Hennigan wanted to start new and hire his own people and not keep the holdovers from the previous regime.
 
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PMatic said:
psk2310 said:
Take a look at the Orlando Magic. In an effort to become more lean & cut operating costs like a lot of companies, they laid off their long time asst. general manager & 6 scouts (6)...Teams are not spending "tons of cash" because they revenue isn't there. If you don't understand that & if you can't see the economy has had an effect on the NBA & they it operates, there's nothing more I can explain. Cheers. :D
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Or perhaps new Magic GM Rob Hennigan wanted to start new and hire his own people and not keep the holdovers from the previous regime.
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He hired 3 new people, Donte Green, Wesley Johnson, & Rob Murphy which is down from 6. I think he hired 2 people for the asst gm position, but that's still less people than the original staff. I just wanted to illustrate how incorrect the thought that teams were spending "tons of cash" was. The Magic then laid off 20 more people back in December to cut operating costs but not sure what areas these folks worked in.

NBA headquarters alone laid off 11-15% of it's staff in NYC & Jersey to save $40-$50 mill in salaries alone prior to the lockout but didn't plan to hire any of those folks back post lock out.

I think a lot of people see the salaries being paid & think teams have cash to spend. They might on players but not for the overall operational side of the business.

I just wanted to make sure he understood that (hopefully).
 
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Larry Bird would murder these guys that play now....people play no defense now-a-days.....no hand check = 15 foot fade away's all day...
 
JapanAir21 said:
You guys act like there weren't any athletes back in the 80s. Magic Johnson was a pretty damn good athlete, and that was his main rival. Then you got guys like Clyde and Dominique. And of course Jordan. Dominique is about as fricking athletic you can get. Then guys like Charles, Admiral, and the 80s Denver Nuggets.
No one mentioning that Larry was the best-passing forward of all-time. He was as complete offensively as any forward. He wasn't a slouch either defensively. He didn't use his athleticism to be a decent defender.
The East was no slouch in the 80s.
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By what measure? Magic was an average athlete at best.
 
To Cooper, Larry Bird was still merely larry bird (lowercase intended) -- an overrated Great White Hype who captured a nation's imagination more for his pigmentation than his playing ability. Cooper had seen it all before. Doug Collins. Mike Dunleavy. Tom McMillen. Mike O'Koren. White guys came, white guys went. Larry Bird? Who the hell was scared of Lar--
"I'm getting ready to wear your f***** *** out.

"Covering Larry -- that meant everything to me," he said. "People said he was overrated ... f---, no. If anything, he was underrated. What made him so good was you didn't just have to worry about his scoring. You had to worry about this guy's defense, his passing, his ability to save balls from going out of bounds, his ability to set picks and get people open. Larry could beat you in many ways. And he was the hardest player for me to play against, because you had to guard against all those things. Most players are one- or two-dimensional. Larry was ten-dimensional."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20140304/showtime-excerpt-michael-cooper/#ixzz2v85yryj8
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the SF hierarchy would look like this...


1. Bron
2. KD
3. Bird
4. Melo
5. Paul George.
 
100027 said:
Keep holding on bro...

Carmelo ain't as good as Paul George.
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It's debatable, Paul George is a transcendent talent in his own right.


I think this era will go down as the greatest era for small-forwards in NBA history. So I feel people lose sight of how good a guy like Melo or even a Paul George is.


Paul George is still developing and I do think he'll surpass Melo within a season or two, some like yourself feel like he's already surpassed him, and that's fine.


But if we really look at it, we're talking about 4 future HOF bound/caliber guys. And when we bring Bird into the fold, the fact that we're not exactly sure how he'd fare against the forwards of today, just goes to show how stacked the position is right now.


And while I'm not sold on Wiggins & Parker quite yet, seems like the position is only going to continue to see more special talent.
 
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