Danny Ainge compares Pierce to DJ, KG to Bird

[bbc3341]

When Ainge talks about DJ and Pierce or Bird and KG in the same sentence it does not mean he is saying they're the same or equal. He was making comparisons and commenting on some ways that DJ and Pierce are similar and KG and Bird are different. There is no disrespect or anything at all controversial to my mind anyway...

[Andy Jick]

wonder why danny didn't compare scalabrine with fred roberts...

[Reyquila]

Maxwell? How did Bird and Magic come out head to head? If we are going to talk abou weak divisions? Then we would have to check and se ehow many of the 11-13 titles the Celtics won in the 60's were won in weak divisions.  You obviously were too young to watch a 6.9 point guard do what Magic did. When Magic beat Bird in the NCAA finals, Bird was also in the finals, right? You mean Bird got to the NCAA with no team? How did the NCAA allow that? I thought only 2 teams out of 64 got to the finals and Bird's team was one of them. Must have had a pretty good team. The Lakers had the better team of the two and both Magic and Bird were poetry in motion. So was Jordan. In fact, my all time greatest team has: MJordan as the SG; Magic as the PG; Bird as the SF. Duncan as the PF; and you cant lose with either Wilt, Russell, Jabbar,or even Shack (long shot) as the Center. Honorable mentions: Baylor & KMalone PF; Dr. J & Hondo as SF: Oscar R, as PG and West as SG.

Going back to Bird and Magic; the general concensus of fans during the 80's was that to build a franchise, Magic would be chosen over everybody else. Bird was Superspecial and Im his biggest fan, but you got a little more for your money than with Bird. Jordan came on strong a little; later so he was not competing with Bird and Magic as  being a franchise player.
Whn Jordan became what he became, he became the all time franc
hise player. lololol  

[Bahku]

If you read the original post, he's not so much comparing how they are alike, but comparing their differences. Really interesting stuff, and believe it or not, I have to agree that KG is much more team-oriented and less selfish than Bird, (though Larry will always be a hero of mine). I loved DJ, too, but I'd honestly take Pierce over him if I had to choose. I've honestly never seen a team in all these years that has the kind of first-year selflessness, and defensive intensity, and team chemistry that this 2008 Celtics team has. I'm very excited about the prospects for this team in the next few years to come ... it's going to be an incredibly rewarding time to be a Celtic fan!

[Reyquila]

KG more team oriented and less selfish than Bird? Bahku, you talking about the same Larry Bird? "nough said about the subject" either you or I dont know what we are talking about. Ill assume its me. Evening, sir.

[Zoots]

Although Larry was the first guy (literally) to congratulate Danny after the Celtics won the title this year.  On that issue, I think Larry was sincere when he said he wanted the new generation of players to get their time in the sun; he apparently told Magic the same thing, and criticized him a bit for hogging the limelight.

It's hard to peg Larry.  He and Danny still have a good relationship, and I know that he got along with quite a few of his teammates.  Others, though, things were a little more tense with, and obviously there was the stuff with his daughter.

Well, none of us really know him, but just from having watched him over the years, my impression was that Larry is somewhat uncomfortable in social situations.  I didn't get the impression he tries to be standoffish or cold, just that he's not comfortable socially, or being interviewed, or being in the public eye.  Some guys eat that up.  Magic does, to be sure.  Paul is very comfortable in the spotlight.  I think Larry was intensely uncomfortable having to speak publicly.  Many people are, and yet when in a comfortable setting with those he trusts, are fun to be around.

Who really knows though.  All we have to go by are the images we see, but that's my take.

He was plenty comfortable on the court, and a natural born leader, and I loved the dude as a Celtic. 

[Bahku]

KG more team oriented and less selfish than Bird? Bahku, you talking about the same Larry Bird? "nough said about the subject" either you or I dont know what we are talking about. Ill assume its me. Evening, sir.

Excuse me?!? Yes, I am. I've been a C's fan for over 40 years and Larry has been an idol of mine for a very long time, but he was not the same caring team-mate that KG is. Please, if you'll take the time to read the original post, that's exactly what Ainge is talking about ... how KG was shagging rebounds for Rondo after his extensive workouts, and that Bird would never do that in a million years ... that he would have Danny grabbing boards for him, but not the other way around.

I've found through making similar (painful) mistakes, that it's best to read the original post before telling people they "don't know what they're talking about". Jeez ... I wouldn't say that to someone even if I thought it! I loved Larry, but he was nowhere near as selfless as KG ... that's just a fact. Thanks for the kind words, though. 

[johnnyrondo]

Bird had only two players that were more productive than he was at his prime; 1. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson; funny, they were both MJ's. Magic could do everything, from being a 6.9 pg that controlled all aspects of the game. On a 7th game in a title series agaisnt Philly, with Jabbar sidelined with a injury, he took it upon himself to play Center and not only won the title but scored 46 points in that crucial game. Not bad for a point guard, wasnt he? He beat Bird for the NCAA championship flag and then won several NBA titles (more than Bird). Being the third best player of his era wasnt bad, in an era full of great players.

Third best player??-----Magic Johnson's college team actually had good players on it....Bird was the ONLY good player on his team....Also, the Lakers were in the Weak Weak WEAK West...and they cruised to many Finals....Bird and the Celtics had to fight it out with GREAT Eastern teams, just to get to the Finals---THAT's why Magic had more Titles-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And Magic definitely wouldn't have more titles if it wasn't for Bias passing away.

[Andy Jick]

part of what we loved about larry was that we knew he was an enigma...

larry never cared what people thought about him, and he didn't give a rip about the media's impression of him either. 

funny, but when the celtics won this year i was happy for my 8 year old son who idolizes this group of celtics.  as a 36 year old, i was appreciative of the championship, but i'm not as emotionally attached as i was to larry bird, who was my idol growing up.  i loved larry bird and i didn't care about how he was portrayed...i loved him because he was a winner and i believed in him.  i wanted to play ball like him, but i was never really caught up in who he was as a person...my parents and my church upbringing shaped my morality, not an athlete.

[Fan from VT]

what i love about the original quotation from ainge is that one does not need to draw any insults from any comments he made. He is comparing and contrasting the personalities of four different boston champions, all of whom he has worked with very closely. Read it for what it is worth, a first hand view of different champions spanning generations.

[Celtic_E]

Larry Bird the player is entirely different from Larry Bird the person. I've read some articles and books on Larry so I wasn't really surprised with Ainge's comments about him. Ainge's comments only gives more credibility to the articles and books I've read about Bird the person. Bird is a great basketball player but not much as a human being. But don't get me wrong, I'm one of Bird's biggest fans. I'm just calling it the way I see it.

As for the KG to Bird comparison, I think it has its own merits. Both Bird and KG share the same work ethic needed to be a great basketball player but I think the similarities end there. They both have different skill sets and Bird, in my opinion, is a better leader on the basketball court than KG. I won't go to the personality stuff because it has already been tackled by the other posters before me  .

[Roy Hobbs]

Misleading title.  This doesn't sound like a KG-Bird comparison to me at all....

Unless by "compare" you mean Danny juxtaposed the two and claimed they are nothing alike...

com·pare, verb: "to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences"

Danny examined two players -- Larry and KG -- and noted their similarities (both are intense and focused) and their differences (KG gets along better with his teammates).

I'm not sure with why you feel the need to criticize other posters all the time, Brick, but before doing so, perhaps you could try going to dictionary.com or something.  You could save us both some time.

[Brendan]

On essay questions they usually say "Compare and Contrast" - yet compare on its own does the job. As for Magic versus Bird - Magic wasn't even the best player on his own team early on, that was Kareem, who took it upon himself to win the 85 finals, after Magic's choke job in 84. Starting in 87, the Celtics didn't have a healthy team, it's well documented, but injuries to McHale and Walton undid that team.

IMO Bird would benefit from the advances in training and medicine of the modern era and have a longer peak. Magic would be just as dominant (and hopefully more understanding about AIDS) he was still playing at an elite level when he left the game after the 1991 season. (By the way Basketball Refrence lists him at 6'8".)

[celts32]

If KG had more of Birds cocky nasty side in him he would be the best player in the world. 

[RodneyRogers]

I just thought that Danny's quotes about KG/PP/Ray were pretty telling, both in how they won the championship, and putting these players in an historical context. From the frontpage SI story, enjoy:

"They're completely different," says Ainge. "KG is more of a sentimental guy, more feeling, kinder. Larry was not kind. Larry was grouchy. That's how he was born, that's how he competed. He would bust everybody's chops, get angry and frustrated.

"But here's what KG is like: We're in training camp in Rome [last October], and I see him in the weight room. Then he goes to practice, works his butt off and gets his shots up after practice. Then, for the next 45 minutes, KG is running around the gym rebounding for [point guard] Rajon Rondo . Let me tell you something: In a million years Larry Bird would never do that. He might make me rebound for him, but not the other way around. KG is focused and intense like Larry, but he really cares about the feelings of his teammates, cares that he's perceived as almost the team mother."

Ainge is rolling now.

"As for Paul, he's a very determined player, like Larry, but he reminds me of DJ. Like DJ, Paul can get a little salty. He's up and down moodwise. And on the court he's kind of an energy conserver. He doesn't play all out all the time. That used to drive me nuts about DJ because I was the other guard and I'd think, This guy is so gifted. What's he doing coasting? But then, like with DJ, Paul has stretches that are unbelievably special. You need something to happen, whatever it is—a blocked shot, winning a jump ball, a steal, a rebound, a pass, a shot—and Paul supplies it. That's how DJ was.

"As for Ray, he is just an amazing basketball player. We didn't have anybody as cool and poised and who could shoot the ball like him."

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1141107/1/index.htm