shoeking2101
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You do know Bird himself disagrees with this right?
Was MJ an average athlete??
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by airuphere23,
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You do know Bird himself disagrees with this right?
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He was a great...but Lebron is better. Definitely more versatile on the defensive end.
ryanjumpman420
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Well I'll just respectfully disagree. I tried having this talk with my pops who knows much more than I do. Just says it's a different game. And he's a Lebron fan too lol.
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I agree with this wholeheartedly. The absolute best level of talent this league has ever had...period.
ryanjumpman420
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And Larry was much more versatile on the offensive end. What could larry not do offensively?
shoeking2101
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I mean for christ sake, we have a prime Westbrook, Harden, Durant, Lebron, Curry, Chris Paul, I mean the point guard position alone is the best it's ever been. Can you imagine the freak athletes like a Lebron or Westbrook against 1 on 1 defense? :x or KD being a 6'11 wing in the 80's? :x
Defenses are far more sophisticated. It's harder to score now than it was back in the day. Much harder. Much easier to avg 10 plus rebounds and 10 plus assist when you play at a pick up basketball type pace with pick up style defense. (No exaggeration, everything proves that about 80's basketball)In every way, the league has evolved and that's how it's supposed to be. Evolution is supposed to happen. Lebron is better than Bird, and he's supposed to be.
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ryanjumpman420
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Better than u think.
Watch "Larry Bird - Defensive Impact (with highlights)":
Watch "Larry Bird - Defensive Impact (with highlights)":
- Feb 10, 2003
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You and these ****boy youtube highlight reels.
God you're sad when it comes to "debating"
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More versatile than Lebron? Do you think Larry Bird was quick enough to play point or two? Watched them both. Lebron is a better player imo. I like Lebron's chances of slowing down Larry much more than Larry's chances of slowing down Lebron....on his BEST day.
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I mean for christ sake, we have a prime Westbrook, Harden, Durant, Lebron, Curry, Chris Paul, I mean the point guard position alone is the best it's ever been. Can you imagine the freak athletes like a Lebron or Westbrook against 1 on 1 defense? :x or KD being a 6'11 wing in the 80's? :x
In every way, the league has evolved and that's how it's supposed to be. Evolution is supposed to happen. Lebron is better than Bird, and he's supposed to be.
People get caught up in accolades and don't separate that from ability. Do you really think any of those guys from the past could guard Kevin Durant? Lebron is literally Karl Malone's size with Ferrari speed. What would they do with him? The game is harder. The athletes are better. Think about the teams and players we call greats. Think about the guards. Do you think ANY of them could stop Allen Iverson? No zone. You have to guard him alone. Could ANY of them stop Russel Westbrook? What would they do with Dirk? Hell, my guy(AD) would give them fits and he's a pup. Think about the great Lakers and Celtics teams. Who on those teams can guard Kobe? Dennis Johnson? Danny Ainge? Michael Cooper? Byron Scott? Hell no. The league is better.
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Your comparing different eras and assuming the same physical attributes for today's player if they played back then. That's a hard assumption to make IMO
ryanjumpman420
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Yet they don't turn it the other way around and imagine if guys like Bird and Magic played today how would their physical attribute be? And why people always forget about bball iq and heart and guts is beyond me.
shoeking2101
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Which is why you either 1) Don't make the comparison at all, or 2) if you do you just take the facts of the situation. We don't know how players of today would be from a physical attribute perspective, which is why if you're going to make the comparison you just take it for what it is. Don't try and gauge what type of athlete Lebron or Westbrook would be back then. Fact is, in 2015 the lebron's and westbrook's and rose's of the world are incredible world class athletes that are far superior in that regard than their 80's counterparts.
I personally think that the physical disparity between generations isn't where the difference stops, as a whole NBA players are just far more skilled now than they were back then. Everything is a bit more sophisticated offensively and defensively. Numbers show this, eye test shows this as well.
And it's supposed to be that way. Evolution happens.
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You're thinking they would be less athletic if they played back then? All we can go on is how they played during the time they played. The game has evolved. Athletes are better. Think about it like this. They made a big deal of Dr J. and MJ dunking from the free throw line in the 80s. Stromile Swift dunked from the free throw line during a high school dunk contest. The athletes are better.
ryanjumpman420
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Larry would trash talk lebron right out of his game in my opinion. Lebron wouldn't know what to thinK having a country *** slow white boy tellin him I'm bout to drop 40 on you and doing it lol
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ryanjumpman420
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A dunk is only worth 2 points last time I checked.
ryanjumpman420
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If larry got mad larry would be swingingUntil he got mad......and then Larry would get baptized...Damon Jones style
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Of course they wouldn't be as athletic. That's my point. And the players of the 80s would be more athletic if born 30 years later and played today.
I also think some of you are discounting the athleticism of the 80s and 90s. Wasn't like some old guys that couldn't run down the court or jump
ryanjumpman420
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Yea someone like Charles Barkley would have had to grab him by the throat like he did while he was holding larry bird when larry had Dr by the throatHe'd catch a Dr. J beatdown
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Larry was swinging. My pops actually loved Bird and the Celtics. We used to have these arguments all of the time. Back then, believe it or not, I was arguing about a skinny two guard from the Bulls who they said shot too much to make his teammates better. It's amazing how much the narrative has changed on MJ. Winning will do that 
shoeking2101
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Prime example of what I'm talking about. Since you all post videos to prove your point, I'll take a stab at it
This is one of the more elite basketball players of the 80's. This is 1988. Many would say Dominique is one of the best players in the league at this time. Surely one of the best athletes of the time. Watch the video from the timestamp of 0:26. You can continue to watch the video in full, which will fully reiterate my point.
Dominque brings the ball up the floor, goes from the right side of the floor, to the left side of the floor, literally without the ball ever touching is left hand. No defensive pressure to address this poor excuse for ballhandling, and not only that, he goes to the left side untouched, and it becomes an isolation that results in a 20 ft bankshot.
In a nutshell, this **** wouldn't fly at all today.
ryanjumpman420
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Bird even got into it with Kareem of all people
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Prime example of what I'm talking about. Since you all post videos to prove your point, I'll take a stab at it
This is one of the more elite basketball players of the 80's. This is 1988. Many would say Dominique is one of the best players in the league at this time. Surely one of the best athletes of the time. Watch the video from the timestamp of 0:26. You can continue to watch the video in full, which will fully reiterate my point.
Dominque brings the ball up the floor, goes from the right side of the floor, to the left side of the floor, literally without the ball ever touching is left hand. No defensive pressure to address this poor excuse for ballhandling, and not only that, he goes to the left side untouched, and it becomes an isolation that results in a 20 ft bankshot.
In a nutshell, this **** wouldn't fly at all today.
In high school
