Kevin Love Being compared to Bird around the league..

[BballTim]

It's similar to the Dirk comparison.

Bird had passing, shooting, rebounding,

Dirk has the shooting.

Love has the shooting and the rebounding.

neither have the total package, but I think Love deserves the comparison with outside shot AND inside toughness/rebounds.

Larry Bird was LITERALLY if you took Rondo's passing, Ray Allen's shooting, Paul Pierce's shot creativity, and KG's rebounding... Larry was the C's current Big 4 by himself.

But that was Bird over his entire career, not Bird in any particular year.  For example, his rookie year he shot 40% from three, but the next four seasons he was below 30% from three.  His RB% got worse pretty much every year in the league from his high as a rookie (16) to his low in his second to last season (12.3).  Bird was a good passer as a rookie, but he didn't really become all time great SF passer until he was in the league for 5 or 6 years. 

  I don't think that the three point shooting translates clearly across eras because it's incorporated into the offenses more now than it was then. The league average for threes was significantly lower in the 80s than it is now. And Bird was a great passer from the time he entered the league. He was one of the best passers of all time, not just for SFs.

[More Banners]

I don't think Love is a better rebounder than Bird.

Bird averaged a double-double for his career from the SF spot, and did it next to two HOF 7-footers.  Love is a PF.  Big difference.

And passing?  Love has never had a double-digit assist game.

There just is no comparison to the Legend.

[soap07]

I don't think Love is a better rebounder than Bird.

Bird averaged a double-double for his career from the SF spot, and did it next to two HOF 7-footers.  Love is a PF.  Big difference.

And passing?  Love has never had a double-digit assist game.

There just is no comparison to the Legend.

For his career, Love is averaging an exceptional 21.5 TR%. Last year, Love was at nearly 24%. Three players in NBA history had a better single season rebounding: Dennis Rodman, Jayson Williams, and Danny Fortson - all while, by the way, having a partial offensive game from the perimeter.

The 21.5 TR% - would, if he was eligible and if it career over a period of time, would put him as one of the greatest rebounders of all time - all while maintaining a perimeter game. That is truly exceptional rebounding.


Look, is Love Bird? Of course not. But there are similarities that go beyond the color of skin - the shooting, scoring in general and rebounding. Love is not nearly the passer or defender that Bird was (although I would argue that Larry wasn't exactly a stalwart defensively - good, not great).

Love is certainly closer to Bird than Dirk.

[get_banners]

Love is an outstanding young player who can board, score, and hit the outside shot. That being said...there is simply no comparison. Bird is one of the 10 greatest NBA players ever. I think people forget how great he was at pretty much every aspect of the game. The only guy in the NBA today who resembles Bird's (or Magic's, for that matter) game (minus the spoiled brat routine and choking in key moments) is Lebron. That's it. And he's a level below Bird and Magic. Let's not forget how insanely incredible some of the all-time greats really were.

[Fafnir]

Larry Bird was LITERALLY if you took Rondo's passing, Ray Allen's shooting, Paul Pierce's shot creativity, and KG's rebounding... Larry was the C's current Big 4 by himself.

Eh, Larry was certainly the best player of the four and had aspects of all their games rolled into one package. But KG is a better rebounder (career wise) and Ray Allen the better "shooter" (career wise).

I don't care about numbers, i care about results when it matters. Larry Bird doesn't go 0-13 from the field in an NBA finals game, he also doesn't get 3 rebounds in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Also imagine how great a rebounder Larry would be if he didn't share a career with Robert Parish and Kevin McHale alongside him...

I stick to my statement.

So you care about KGs numbers but not birds?

KG got to the Finals after his prime, something Larry didn't seems strange to hold that against him.

[Fafnir]

Just saw KG as scoring highest similarity to Bird. Next two were Petit and Dirk.

[CelticSooner]

OP - Around the league?  What league?  This is the first I've heard of the comparison.  No it's not being talked about.

/THREAD

“I think we used to call him kind of a poor man’s Larry Bird,’’ Denver coach George Karl said before the game. “I think you can take `poor man’s‘ off that comparison now. His ability to rebound is incredible and his offensive tools and skills are growing.’’

It's being talking about. Whether you agree with it or not is another story.

[LooseCannon]

I re-did my search from last night.

Players who averaged at least 9 rebounds per game while making at least 1 three-pointer per game with at least a 38% shooting percentage from beyond the arc:

Larry Bird four times, Dirk Nowitzki three times, Troy Murphy two times, Antawn Jamison, Shawn Marion, Donyell Marshall, and Kevin Love.

Love's 15.2 rpg last season is monstrous.  Troy Murphy is the only other guy on the list with double-digit rebounding and his best was 11.8.  Bird putting up more than twice as many assists than any other player also makes him stick out.  Murphy and Marshall are the guys who didn't average 20+ ppg (both around 14).

Statistically, the best comparison for Love may be to call him the filthy rich man's Troy Murphy.