@@JayHemmsSportsI don't know another player that could play that great through the pain and injuries he played with. I feel like that alone makes him the GOAT. That makes it pretty much impossible to compare him to others. He's in a box all alone. Kobe had the mentality to play through pain and injuries and thank goodness he didn't have injuries as severe as Bird had. I don't know how he did it especially after his teammates saying he never took pills, shots or pain blockers. I have a back injury and I'm not made like that. Noway could I do anything like Larry did. He put in the time to be great.
He was the greatest individual player -- MORE important -- he was the greatest TEAM player. All those shots he didn't take, the ones he gave away to his teammates -- all those shots that would have given him the stats that so many people use to judge who is the GOAT -- he gave them away to create a TEAM environment getting everyone involved. He turned average players into Hall of Famers. Larry Legend -- the greatest of all time.
He was so fun to watch. He just did so many amazing things. Thing about larry every situation he could see many different options, and he was a team player.
LB best small forward in the WORLD. I personally think he is also the best basketballer in the world, any position. No one can do what he did, and best player to watch period.
LeBron is one of the greatest of all time without a doubt, but when it comes to this particular question, I defer to someone who has a little more expertise on the subject than I do: _"People ask me all the time who my all-time five top players are, and when I start saying Larry, they interrupt me. They say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. He can’t play with LeBron James!’ I tell them, ‘You guys don’t get it. Larry is far better than any small forward who played the game."_ -- Michael Jordan
Larry was such a great passer, because he could put a spin on the ball, while he was passing it. So it would pop up right where he wanted it to: directly in front of his teammate. He put an English spin, by skill, on a basketball. As if it were a pool ball! Kevin McHale said he tried it once, and almost threw it out of bounds. He’d never thought of putting a spin on the ball. Larry used geometry, as well as every other skill he could think of, to make himself better. Once you know that, you can see it, when he passes behind him, or between legs and people.
I just love listening to these greats tell the stories. I hated them all when they played but finally out of their uniforms and retired I can enjoy their work with the respect they deserve. I was a kings fan and each of these greats came into town and owned sacramento.
Great reaction as always bro. Bird played in the 1980's, an era that produced the greatest Hall O Famers, yet Bird won three consecutive MVP's and was runner up four other times. Unreal...
I was fortunate enough to have seen most of his pro career, including several times live up close. Hated him...because the guy was so good and used to absolutely wreck my poor Hawks. I got him 3rd best all-time. There's just no one like him. Joe Dumars said it best:"he was a basketball savant"
Thing about the Celtics is they had the Russell dynasty. In virtually ANY other franchise, Bird would have been the definite number one, all-time. However, in the Celtics, he has to share that spot with Russell. And that makes some extra sense to me, because both specialized in making their teams greater, rather than individual dominance. Bird's my first pick in an all-time draft, because I don't want any opposing team to have him, but he's "just" one of several players in my "GOAT tier", alongside Russell, Wilt, Magic, MJ and a few others. For the greatest rivalries, I have Russell-Wilt at #1 and Bird-Magic at #2 - and there's nothing as exciting as watching a good rivalry happening. Why settle for one "GOAT tier" player, when you can have two of them, battling each other? MJ's primary "rival" was basically the "Bad Boy" Pistons, and even though Isiah's usually cited, he was just the face of a mean, lean machine, which also happens to be my #1 top team of all time. Sure, they played rough, but they most of all played as a team, as a unit, with each cog driving and complementing each other. And in a team sport, I value team cohesion very highly. They were robbed in '88.
There's another video where Isiah Thomas points out Hawks coach sneaking his hand behind his back and the trainer giving him 5 after one of Bird's shots.
Larry was special. However, Bill Russell had more rings than fingers, whether it was Cousy or K.C. Jones.His last title was with Emmitt Bryant, Don Nelson, and Larry Ziegfried. I’ll say Russell 1A and Bird 1B.
One of the things about Larry Bird is that he played at a time where the NBA was overflowing with obscenely good players and at a time where the game was indeed extremely physical. Back then, you could get away with a lot more compared to the game today. It's not really possible to say who was ever the best player simply because the game has always developed over the years. What made Larry Bird so special was his completely insane basket ball brain. He simply saw and envisioned the game on a different level than most of the other players at the time. Larry Bird did not have to score a lot during a game for his team to win. He always managed to involve his entire team. Michael Jordan was and probably still is the best player ever but in a sense, Michael Jordan was more predictable than Larry Bird. If Michael Jordan received the ball in or around the hole, he would almost certainly force the shot. You never knew with Larry Bird. He could either decide to force the shot but he had such a high developed mind for the game that he would know by instinct if another player on his team may be better positioned and he would then fake the shot and pass the ball to that player which always made defending against Larry Bird a near impossible job.
For Larry to dislocate his forefinger on his shooting hand playing his brothers baseball game the summer before he took his first Boston shot…the finger was forever bent at 90 degrees toward his thumb..doctors could never fix it..Met with Red Auerbach ..and revealed the injury..they had Larry suit up..and out on the floor shooting baskets and drill..Red , the coach, said Bird is more than enough to become our newest Celtic..1985..off season..shoveling gravel for his mother’s new driveway..he tore most of the muscles in his back..which the doctors were never able to stabilize..and he wore that back brace for the last 7 years..couldn’t sit on the bench with his bad back..and lay on the floor by the bench to loosen his,back up during timeouts..like Red said…Larry always plays hurt…imagine,a healthy…healed Bird…UNSTOPPABLE…the dislocated finger forever looking deformed….true….his bad back…is legend….everyone knew..all the players knew how he got hurt…and he sat out exactly 12 months following double Achilles,surgery…and still a 12 time All Star selection..vote..but a slow guy getting 20 boards ..and founder of the 50-40-90 club…Coach of the Year 1998..& Executive of the Year 2012…
Are we sure that Sir Charles was actually a better rebounder? If he was ....it wasn't by much and I do believe that Barkley played 16 years to Birds 13. So the stat line is of course relative to the number of playing years. Anyway, That was my era in NBA, NFL and NHL...but, no shade on Sir Charles, I believe it's close, close enough to not say "better than" lol
Top 10? More like top, period. Larry had all of the basketball skills in his arsenal. His mind was the brightest in the game. His will to win was tops. His clutch play was the best of anyone, anytime, anywhere. He may not have the physicality of a Jordan or James, but he could bang with anybody. He was most certainly a great team leader and player. Overall, he was the best.
Where does LeBron have Jordan??Knowing that Jordan never beat Bird in the playoffs..in 6 years…in the playoffs..scoring 62 or dropping 63..MJ was zero for six…just never could get past Boston..til Bird retired Feb 4, 1993…So Bird is number 3 for LeBron….I guess facts don’t matter…the thing is I’m from Kansas..the man who invented LeBron’s game..BB, James Naismith…was our first coach and is buried in Lawrence, Kansas beside his wife(1939)..and the original Ten Rules of Basketball..are there behind glass next to Allen Field House..and Wilt..the most dominant 7 footer..went to Kansas..
Greater than Bill Russell? Are you comparing stats? Well, Mr. Russell avg, around 23 RB's per game for his career; and what about how he would change opponents shot. Jabbar spoke of the muscle above Bird's shoulders. Everyone knew that this attribute was also prominent in Russell's game.
Bird was top 5 if you have to rank. Mike to me is by far number 1, untouchable in that spot. A big problem with ranking players over different eras is the rule changes. Because of that lebron is not number 2 in my eyes, but definitely top 5 due to all around skill. He played in a defensive era for roughly a decade and didn’t win championships but there’s something to be said for who he played with. When the rules were changing to benefit offensive players he put himself in a great position. Still a great, but he wouldn’t be playing into his 40’s at a high level offensively if they allowed 80’s through mid 2000’s defense. Then again a lot has to do with who they play against as well. That’s the way I see it because I’ve actually seen it. Totally subjective of course
Really LOVE THE REACTION!!! Maybe check out NEIL PEART Buddy Rich HONOR????? Surprises awaits!! :) ♥AND, or... Victor Wooten bass music????????? :) “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Romans 15:13
You can't be from the 80s there were a lot of great players in the 80s. Bird was one of the greatest but Magic was solid not the greatest...Kareem was better....Moncrief, English, Gervin, King, Malone, Dr. J, Olajuwon, Free, Short, Ewing, etc.
@@JayHemmsSports Yes maybe great because he did have double-double ease with the points and assists...big guy to bring up the ball...great on the fast breaks too.
I think he was the GOAT. I agree with Majic when he says that there will never be another Larry Bird.
I agree with Magic as well 🔥
@@JayHemmsSportsI don't know another player that could play that great through the pain and injuries he played with. I feel like that alone makes him the GOAT. That makes it pretty much impossible to compare him to others. He's in a box all alone. Kobe had the mentality to play through pain and injuries and thank goodness he didn't have injuries as severe as Bird had. I don't know how he did it especially after his teammates saying he never took pills, shots or pain blockers. I have a back injury and I'm not made like that. Noway could I do anything like Larry did. He put in the time to be great.
True GOAT 🐐
He was the greatest individual player -- MORE important -- he was the greatest TEAM player. All those shots he didn't take, the ones he gave away to his teammates -- all those shots that would have given him the stats that so many people use to judge who is the GOAT -- he gave them away to create a TEAM environment getting everyone involved. He turned average players into Hall of Famers. Larry Legend -- the greatest of all time.
He's my first pick on my all-time dream team
He was so fun to watch. He just did so many amazing things. Thing about larry every situation he could see many different options, and he was a team player.
Larry Bird is the greatest small forward in NBA history
LB best small forward in the WORLD. I personally think he is also the best basketballer in the world, any position. No one can do what he did, and best player to watch period.
I personally think LeBron is better, but Bird is the 2nd greatest small forward in NBA History
I totally agree with you. LeBron the 🐐
LeBron is one of the greatest of all time without a doubt, but when it comes to this particular question, I defer to someone who has a little more expertise on the subject than I do:
_"People ask me all the time who my all-time five top players are, and when I start saying Larry, they interrupt me. They say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. He can’t play with LeBron James!’ I tell them, ‘You guys don’t get it. Larry is far better than any small forward who played the game."_ -- Michael Jordan
Larry was such a great passer, because he could put a spin on the ball, while he was passing it. So it would pop up right where he wanted it to: directly in front of his teammate. He put an English spin, by skill, on a basketball. As if it were a pool ball! Kevin McHale said he tried it once, and almost threw it out of bounds. He’d never thought of putting a spin on the ball. Larry used geometry, as well as every other skill he could think of, to make himself better. Once you know that, you can see it, when he passes behind him, or between legs and people.
Larry Bird was an exceptional passer; in my opinion, this aspect of his game is often overlooked. 🔥
Top three defiantly!
Love your commentaries! Great job as usual! ❤
Thank You, I appreciate it! 💯
I just love listening to these greats tell the stories. I hated them all when they played but finally out of their uniforms and retired I can enjoy their work with the respect they deserve. I was a kings fan and each of these greats came into town and owned sacramento.
I also enjoy watching these types of videos. It's very interesting to see what other greats think about their peers. 💯
Wilt Chamberlain was the most dominant center in NBA history.
Great reaction as always bro. Bird played in the 1980's, an era that produced the greatest Hall O Famers, yet Bird won three consecutive MVP's and was runner up four other times. Unreal...
Thank You for enjoying the video! Yeah, Bird was on another level 🔥
My Uncle?? Weatherman.. Channel 5. Boston! Dick Albert! RIP !!! :) ♥
Great video, thanks.
Thank You for enjoying the video! 💯
Bird and Magic made each other better players. Such a great story.
Amazing
To go along with his 3 MVP'S
Larry Bird was Clutch.
FACTS! 💯
He was the greatest in his prime if he had played for any team and I think thecDREATESTBCELTIC EVER!!!
I was fortunate enough to have seen most of his pro career, including several times live up close. Hated him...because the guy was so good and used to absolutely wreck my poor Hawks.
I got him 3rd best all-time. There's just no one like him.
Joe Dumars said it best:"he was a basketball savant"
Thing about the Celtics is they had the Russell dynasty. In virtually ANY other franchise, Bird would have been the definite number one, all-time. However, in the Celtics, he has to share that spot with Russell. And that makes some extra sense to me, because both specialized in making their teams greater, rather than individual dominance.
Bird's my first pick in an all-time draft, because I don't want any opposing team to have him, but he's "just" one of several players in my "GOAT tier", alongside Russell, Wilt, Magic, MJ and a few others.
For the greatest rivalries, I have Russell-Wilt at #1 and Bird-Magic at #2 - and there's nothing as exciting as watching a good rivalry happening. Why settle for one "GOAT tier" player, when you can have two of them, battling each other?
MJ's primary "rival" was basically the "Bad Boy" Pistons, and even though Isiah's usually cited, he was just the face of a mean, lean machine, which also happens to be my #1 top team of all time. Sure, they played rough, but they most of all played as a team, as a unit, with each cog driving and complementing each other. And in a team sport, I value team cohesion very highly. They were robbed in '88.
You should watch the video “5 times Larry played hurt”. Which was his whole career!
There's another video where Isiah Thomas points out Hawks coach sneaking his hand behind his back and the trainer giving him 5 after one of Bird's shots.
Larry was special. However, Bill Russell had more rings than fingers, whether it was Cousy or K.C. Jones.His last title was with Emmitt Bryant, Don Nelson, and Larry Ziegfried. I’ll say Russell 1A and Bird 1B.
One of the things about Larry Bird is that he played at a time where the NBA was overflowing with obscenely good players and at a time where the game was indeed extremely physical. Back then, you could get away with a lot more compared to the game today.
It's not really possible to say who was ever the best player simply because the game has always developed over the years.
What made Larry Bird so special was his completely insane basket ball brain. He simply saw and envisioned the game on a different level than most of the other players at the time.
Larry Bird did not have to score a lot during a game for his team to win. He always managed to involve his entire team.
Michael Jordan was and probably still is the best player ever but in a sense, Michael Jordan was more predictable than Larry Bird. If Michael Jordan received the ball in or around the hole, he would almost certainly force the shot. You never knew with Larry Bird. He could either decide to force the shot but he had such a high developed mind for the game that he would know by instinct if another player on his team may be better positioned and he would then fake the shot and pass the ball to that player which always made defending against Larry Bird a near impossible job.
Also, he had more defensive rebounds per game than Barkley.
For Larry to dislocate his forefinger on his shooting hand playing his brothers baseball game the summer before he took his first Boston shot…the finger was forever bent at 90 degrees toward his thumb..doctors could never fix it..Met with Red Auerbach ..and revealed the injury..they had Larry suit up..and out on the floor shooting baskets and drill..Red , the coach, said Bird is more than enough to become our newest Celtic..1985..off season..shoveling gravel for his mother’s new driveway..he tore most of the muscles in his back..which the doctors were never able to stabilize..and he wore that back brace for the last 7 years..couldn’t sit on the bench with his bad back..and lay on the floor by the bench to loosen his,back up during timeouts..like Red said…Larry always plays hurt…imagine,a healthy…healed Bird…UNSTOPPABLE…the dislocated finger forever looking deformed….true….his bad back…is legend….everyone knew..all the players knew how he got hurt…and he sat out exactly 12 months following double Achilles,surgery…and still a 12 time All Star selection..vote..but a slow guy getting 20 boards ..and founder of the 50-40-90 club…Coach of the Year 1998..& Executive of the Year 2012…
It's insane that Larry Bird endured all of that and still had a Hall of Fame career 💯
Larry Bird had more defensive rebounds per game than Shaq.
It's not trash talking when you back it up
Top 3
Are we sure that Sir Charles was actually a better rebounder? If he was ....it wasn't by much and I do believe that Barkley played 16 years to Birds 13. So the stat line is of course relative to the number of playing years. Anyway, That was my era in NBA, NFL and NHL...but, no shade on Sir Charles, I believe it's close, close enough to not say "better than" lol
Top 10? More like top, period. Larry had all of the basketball skills in his arsenal. His mind was the brightest in the game. His will to win was tops. His clutch play was the best of anyone, anytime, anywhere. He may not have the physicality of a Jordan or James, but he could bang with anybody. He was most certainly a great team leader and player. Overall, he was the best.
Where does LeBron have Jordan??Knowing that Jordan never beat Bird in the playoffs..in 6 years…in the playoffs..scoring 62 or dropping 63..MJ was zero for six…just never could get past Boston..til Bird retired Feb 4, 1993…So Bird is number 3 for LeBron….I guess facts don’t matter…the thing is I’m from Kansas..the man who invented LeBron’s game..BB, James Naismith…was our first coach and is buried in Lawrence, Kansas beside his wife(1939)..and the original Ten Rules of Basketball..are there behind glass next to Allen Field House..and Wilt..the most dominant 7 footer..went to Kansas..
Greater than Bill Russell? Are you comparing stats? Well, Mr. Russell avg, around 23 RB's per game for his career; and what about how he would change opponents shot. Jabbar spoke of the muscle above Bird's shoulders. Everyone knew that this attribute was also prominent in Russell's game.
The greatest prime in history and forsure top 5. My goat is 1A 1B. Bird and MJ. Either one can be 1A
Wilt is by far the best center to ever play
I don't know about “by far”, but its definitely close
@@JayHemmsSports Wilt was faster, stronger, better scorer, rebounder, defender, vertical, stamina and passer.
Larry’s probably better than Sir Charles, but it’s like comparing caviar to Lobster….You can’t go wrong with either dude.
Bird was top 5 if you have to rank. Mike to me is by far number 1, untouchable in that spot. A big problem with ranking players over different eras is the rule changes. Because of that lebron is not number 2 in my eyes, but definitely top 5 due to all around skill. He played in a defensive era for roughly a decade and didn’t win championships but there’s something to be said for who he played with. When the rules were changing to benefit offensive players he put himself in a great position. Still a great, but he wouldn’t be playing into his 40’s at a high level offensively if they allowed 80’s through mid 2000’s defense. Then again a lot has to do with who they play against as well. That’s the way I see it because I’ve actually seen it. Totally subjective of course
Yea shaq was a beast until dennis Rodman shut him down completely
Really LOVE THE REACTION!!! Maybe check out NEIL PEART Buddy Rich HONOR????? Surprises awaits!! :) ♥AND, or... Victor Wooten bass music????????? :) “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Romans 15:13
Thank You! I appreciate it! 💯
Barkley was undersized but not close to Bird
I agree 💯
You can't be from the 80s there were a lot of great players in the 80s. Bird was one of the greatest but Magic was solid not the greatest...Kareem was better....Moncrief, English, Gervin, King, Malone, Dr. J, Olajuwon, Free, Short, Ewing, etc.
There were a lot of great players in the 80s. I would say Magic was great, not solid.
@@JayHemmsSports Yes maybe great because he did have double-double ease with the points and assists...big guy to bring up the ball...great on the fast breaks too.