KG Passes Bird on Scoring List. Is He More Clutch than LB..Better Than Duncan?

[Big Ticket]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

[drza44]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

I literally just wrote an article that'll run tomorrow entitled "Where is KG on Kobe's Milestone Monday?"  This seems like a story with obvious parallels, but KG's half of it is getting no run at all.  Oh well.  TP.

[drza44]

Actually, changed my mind and blogged about it tonight and I'll probably go more in depth with the KG/Kobe duality in the actual article.  But here's the blog:

http://rotosynthesis.rotowire.com/Where-is-KG-in-Kobes-Milestone-Monday-BBD1695.htm

[Roy Hobbs]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

KG is a great player, but he's still not in Larry's class, in my mind.

Larry: 24.3 ppg, 10.0 reb, 6.3 ast, .514 eFG%

KG: 20.0 ppg, 11.0 reb, 4.1 ast, .502 eFG%

Of course, the impact of each player goes beyond their stats.  Both are elite Hall of Famers, but Larry was simply better.

[Fafnir]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

KG is a great player, but he's still not in Larry's class, in my mind.

Larry: 24.3 ppg, 10.0 reb, 6.3 ast, .514 eFG%

KG: 20.0 ppg, 11.0 reb, 4.1 ast, .502 eFG%

Of course, the impact of each player goes beyond their stats.  Both are elite Hall of Famers, but Larry was simply better.

Larry wasn't the best defensive player in the league for most of his career though.

I think its a closer than most people think.

[Drucci]

Congrats to KG!

Amazing how it is overlooked compared to Kobe's milestone. KG's milestone is not even mentioned on ESPN.

[Roy Hobbs]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

KG is a great player, but he's still not in Larry's class, in my mind.

Larry: 24.3 ppg, 10.0 reb, 6.3 ast, .514 eFG%

KG: 20.0 ppg, 11.0 reb, 4.1 ast, .502 eFG%

Of course, the impact of each player goes beyond their stats.  Both are elite Hall of Famers, but Larry was simply better.

Larry wasn't the best defensive player in the league for most of his career though.

I think its a closer than most people think.

I don't.  Beyond the stats, Larry took his team to the Finals five times, winning three titles.  Only once in his first nine seasons did his team lose before the Eastern Conference Finals, and as a rookie his team saw a 32 game improvement with his arrival.  When healthy, his teams never won fewer than 51 games in a season.

KG is an elite superstar.  Larry Bird is a top five player of all time, unquestionably.  Regardless, it's a great achievement, but I think anybody who thinks KG was in Larry's class has forgotten just how great Larry was.

[Greenbean]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

KG is a great player, but he's still not in Larry's class, in my mind.

Larry: 24.3 ppg, 10.0 reb, 6.3 ast, .514 eFG%

KG: 20.0 ppg, 11.0 reb, 4.1 ast, .502 eFG%

Of course, the impact of each player goes beyond their stats.  Both are elite Hall of Famers, but Larry was simply better.

Larry wasn't the best defensive player in the league for most of his career though.

I think its a closer than most people think.

I don't.  Beyond the stats, Larry took his team to the Finals five times, winning three titles.  Only once in his first nine seasons did his team lose before the Eastern Conference Finals, and as a rookie his team saw a 32 game improvement with his arrival.  When healthy, his teams never won fewer than 51 games in a season.

KG is an elite superstar.  Larry Bird is a top five player of all time, unquestionably.  Regardless, it's a great achievement, but I think anybody who thinks KG was in Larry's class has forgotten just how great Larry was.

This is one of the reasons it is so difficult to compare players from different eras. Larry Bird was either the best or 2nd best player of a decade that featured a stacked league. Regardless of defensive prowess, he dominated the leaugue in the 80's. KG was a top 5-8 player in his time which was a far more watered down league.

This is not to take away from KG who is one of the best defenders I have ever seen, but he has never been able to take over games like Larry and the rest of the greats have.

KG is definitely a top 15 all time talent (maybe even top 20) but he's not quite in LB's class.

Still it is an amazing acomplishment and he should be getting some recognition!


Edit: Just to clarify, whenI said

"KG was a top 5-8 player in his time which was a far more watered down league."

I mean every year he was a top 5-8 player. That encompases the 3 or 4 years when he was a top 3 player (if that makes sense).

[connerhenry43]

KG's consistency is to be marveled at. just an amazing player and an amazing career. I hope his knees allow him to be that player for a few more years. even fans who do not like him have to respect his intensity and work ethic. he was a ? coming out of high school, and now he is a hall of fame caliber player. plus, we all know what he brings to the table on defense.

congrats, KG!

[Fafnir]

On the all time points list. 

KG... 21,792 on 49.7% career shooting
Bird... 21,791 on 49.6% career shooting

KG is a great player, but he's still not in Larry's class, in my mind.

Larry: 24.3 ppg, 10.0 reb, 6.3 ast, .514 eFG%

KG: 20.0 ppg, 11.0 reb, 4.1 ast, .502 eFG%

Of course, the impact of each player goes beyond their stats.  Both are elite Hall of Famers, but Larry was simply better.

Larry wasn't the best defensive player in the league for most of his career though.

I think its a closer than most people think.

I don't.  Beyond the stats, Larry took his team to the Finals five times, winning three titles.  Only once in his first nine seasons did his team lose before the Eastern Conference Finals, and as a rookie his team saw a 32 game improvement with his arrival.  When healthy, his teams never won fewer than 51 games in a season.

KG is an elite superstar.  Larry Bird is a top five player of all time, unquestionably.  Regardless, it's a great achievement, but I think anybody who thinks KG was in Larry's class has forgotten just how great Larry was.

I agree that Larry is top 5 all, time I just think KG is much higher on the list than many believe.

As for all the playoff success I really don't put much stock in it, that's a team achievement.

How many years did Michael fall short while still being the best player in the league? It takes a team full of talented players to win.

[Cman]

I think anybody who thinks KG was in Larry's class has forgotten just how great Larry was.

Amen.  Larry! Larry! Larry!
I need to dig up some old Bird/Cs footage.

[moiso]

We'd be able to judge KG better if he played a considerable portion of his career with an elite scorer.  Because KG was great, but to me he's a taller Pippen type player.  He may be the best 2nd banana type of all time.  I've seen him in fourth quarters in the playoffs continually looking to find inferior players like Wally Szserbiak and hoping they win the game.  Bird made things happen and won the games himself.  Thats the difference.  Imagine if KG played with someone like Iverson.  Now that would have been perfect and KG would be in the best role for him.  And he would possible have mulitiple championships in that scenario.

[vinnie]

Tooo lazy to look, but how many more years has KG played than Larry played, 4 or 5? KG a great player and future hall of famer, but no comparison to Bird in my opinion.

[Fafnir]

Tooo lazy to look, but how many more years has KG played than Larry played, 4 or 5? KG a great player and future hall of famer, but no comparison to Bird in my opinion.

That's both a point in favor of Bird and against him.

[Greenbean]

Tooo lazy to look, but how many more years has KG played than Larry played, 4 or 5? KG a great player and future hall of famer, but no comparison to Bird in my opinion.

That's both a point in favor of Bird and against him.

I think it helps him more. We never really saw a truly broken down Bird hobbling around being the 8th man on a team.

This is not commentary on KG's injury situation by the way. I am not comparing KG to a hobbled 8th man.

More to your point KG has had great longevity in the league. In order for that longevity to bring him up to the bird level he would need to completely rebound from his injury and put in at least 2 more 08 type years. I hope I am making sense. It makes sense in my head.