Has LeBron surpassed Bird?

[KG Living Legend]

 No.

[BballTim]

This thread is a very nice indicator of why any sort of Basketball Mt. Rushmore is inherently flawed.

LeBron is almost certainly going to go down as a better player than Larry Bird, for better or worse, when that sort of designation misses the point entirely.

  Better player in terms of having a longer and healthier career, not better player in terms of, well, being a better basketball player. He'll get more accolades as time goes on and the comparisons are based more on statistics and less on people who actually watched Bird play. Bird was a significantly better shooter, passer and rebounder than LeBron.

But Lebron statistically averaged more assists than Larry Bird. I think he surpassed Bird in that area.

  LeBron's a good passer, better than most of the point guards in the league. Bird's arguably the best passer of all time.

[Endless Paradise]

Best passer of all time? Naaaaaaaaah.

[GreenFaith1819]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IPMMO7xiLQ

Clearly, I have made my bed in this thread.

And I will lie in it, warmly and very comfortably.

[nickagneta]

Not going to read the whole thread to see if this has been discussed but most who anoint Lebron better than Bird would never acknowledge that Bird played and put up his stats in a league with a lot more top heavy talent than the NBA Lebron has played in. That has to count for something. The league is now watered down due to more teams and the among of truly elite talent as a percentage of overall players is much less than in Bird's playing days.

[knuckleballer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IPMMO7xiLQ

Clearly, I have made my bed in this thread.

And I will lie in it, warmly and very comfortably.

I feel like guys were more creative with their passing back then than they are now.  Magic was incredibly creative with his passing as well.  Not sure if there's a reason for it or it's just how I remember it.

[GreenFaith1819]

Larry Bird was "The Matrix", before Shawn Marion was, lol.

He made the game seem SLOW...like he was the only one moving.

[GreenFaith1819]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IPMMO7xiLQ

Clearly, I have made my bed in this thread.

And I will lie in it, warmly and very comfortably.

I feel like guys were more creative with their passing back then than they are now.  Magic was incredibly creative with his passing as well.  Not sure if there's a reason for it or it's just how I remember it.

Larry and Magic had a "feel" for the game that IMO will never be duplicated.

That is not to take away from Lebron, but Magic and Larry's gamesmanship and the way they could affect the outcome of games will NEVER be duplicated again.

I think, sadly, that with the emergence of ESPN and the current culture of sports the media and current generation of sports fans want to believe that "Their" players of "this" time (Lebron) are the best....the media wants to puff out their chests and say "The best player(s) of all time played in Our Era".

Not so.

Doing that only disrespects the Larry's, Magic's, Kareem's, Worthy's, Hakeem's....Russell, too.

To that extent I wish ESPN would tone it down in regards to crowning Lebron and Durant....I simply don't see them affecting games like Larry and Magic did.....place Lebron's greatness in relative terms with others.

[knuckleballer]

Larry Bird was "The Matrix", before Shawn Marion was, lol.

He made the game seem SLOW...like he was the only one moving.

I read once how Bird used to drill passes off the heads of his rookie teammates in practice in order to get the message across that they always have to be ready for a pass. 

[GreenFaith1819]

Larry Bird was "The Matrix", before Shawn Marion was, lol.

He made the game seem SLOW...like he was the only one moving.

I read once how Bird used to drill passes off the heads of his rookie teammates in practice in order to get the message across that they always have to be ready for a pass.

Haha..never heard that before but I believe it.

[BballTim]

Best passer of all time? Naaaaaaaaah.

  He's always been in the conversation, including the best passing point guards. Look at it this way. People were talking about whether or not Bird was the best passer ever while Magic was in the league with him. LeBron's nowhere near that level.

[BballTim]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IPMMO7xiLQ

Clearly, I have made my bed in this thread.

And I will lie in it, warmly and very comfortably.

  One of the things to pick up from this video was that Bird was making those unbelievable passes and his teammates were pretty much expecting them. Parrish was waiting for that pass between Sikma's legs, and there were multiple plays in those 10 where Bird was laying on the ground and his teammates were cutting to the hoop and calling for the ball.

[fitzhickey]

As someone said before, there is:
Tier A: Russell, Jordan
Tier B: Magic, Kareem, Wilt
Tier C: Hakeem, Lebron, Shaq

I put Bird in a tier in-between A and B

[knuckleballer]

As someone said before, there is:
Tier A: Russell, Jordan
Tier B: Magic, Kareem, Wilt
Tier C: Hakeem, Lebron, Shaq

I put Bird in a tier in-between A and B

I'm a huge Bird fan, but I have to leave him in B,  my take:

Tier A: Russell, Jordan, Wilt
Tier B: Magic, Kareem, Bird
Tier C: Hakeem, Shaq, Kobe, Lebron (very close to B)

[D.o.s.]

I feel like guys were more creative with their passing back then than they are now.  Magic was incredibly creative with his passing as well.  Not sure if there's a reason for it or it's just how I remember it.

It's always harder to be the first person to do something. Part of the reason that Cousy is still one of the best ball handler's of all time.