Blasphemy!
Allow me to go all 1115.org up in this piece for a moment.
Gotta love the double standards floating around in this country. Especially when that little DB Spike "I'm Not Related To That TV Network, Although I Still Got Paid Because Of It" Lee is concerned. Yesterday, during ABC's pre game telecast of the New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks game, Spike was given the airwaves for one minute to voice his opinion on something that really mattered to him. So what did that little, no talent runt come up with?
"Listen to the white media and it is like nobody has ever played basketball before Larry Bird."
Spike went on to say "Here you got people like Magic and Garnett dunking out of the womb and here you have people paying $12 to watch Bird shoot 20,000 free throws", and that Basketball Jesus was the most overrated player in the history of basketball! Read that last sentence again.
But wait, it gets better! Byron Scott, a former rival of Bird when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, added (and I'm paraphrasing) that the people that played against Larry Bird were lucky that he was white. If he would have been black, he would have been able to jump "alot higher" and we'd all be talking about who's better, Jordan or Bird. Gimme a fucking break!
Hello? Isn't this the same thing that got Rush Limbaugh fired from ESPN? I realize that ABC can't fire Spike as he is not an employee of the network, but surely they can reprimand Scott for his remarks. However, I imagine nothing will happen here because these two black gentlemen were simply speaking their mind but when Rush Limbaugh says something similar he's racist.
Someone form the Real GM Celtics messageboard put it best when they said:
Larry Bird overrated because of race: 100% false
Spike Lee overrated because of race: 100% true
i didn't know that we were an adverb now, but well done.
Allow me to go Coolfer all over your post:
Nice job, Byron Scott. Hey, didn't Jimmy the Greek get shitcanned for saying a very similar thing? Why yes, he sure did! (And Jimmy was saying if off the record. The reporter went ahead and printed his comments anyway. Then Ted Koppel ran a few Nightline shows on the topic...but didn't lose his job.)
As for Spike TV, nothing he says could possibly matter. He's a disgruntled fan who has shelled out way, way too much money to sit courtside and not see his Knicks win an NBA title.
He is an overrated player, not the most overrated, but still overrated -- in his effect on the game he isn't Jordan or Chamberlin or even, [ack!] Bill Russell. I hate, hate, hate Larry Bird, he's on the all time ass eating team -- of course the best player of all time is Bill Lambeer, followed closely by Manute Bol and Rick Mahorn's ass. That said, I don't really think he sucks cause he's white or because George Gervin who I like better gets less respect, he sucks cause because I hate him and he knows Robert Parish who sucks infinitely more. Definite shades of Limbaugh, except you can't really fire him cause he's not really hired, he's talking about a historical player so his subjectivity doesn't really affect a current situation and he somehow has less credibility than a drug-addled professional hate monger. Still, Spike, no buzz, you should have said “I hate Larry Bird, cause he beat up on the Knicks and he fired Zeke and he's a douche bag, and even if he was blacker than Dkembe Mutumbo at night, I would loath him, no I'd even lurth him, my hate is so strong I'd have to make up words.” Honesty good, racism bad.
I think that larry bird is the most overrated player ever. He could not jump, he was slow. I find it funny to compare him to stars like magic, or jordan? I also watched some kevin mchale, he was great.
Quickness and how high you can jump have little bearing on your ability to play basketball. Just look at Chris Mullin.
Bottom Line, Larry Bird was one of the top 10 players in NBA history.
Top 10 in his position certainly, but top 10 all time? I think chewing the varnish off the parquet you stole from the garden is addling your mind -- that and the reality of your current group of celts eating at your like a terminal case of bo-sox blues.
I know from which I speak, I root for the Lions and Tigers.
Next you're gonna try and tell me Isiah was better, right?
Name 10 better players than Bird.
i'm with The Leafblower on this one. just look at my bracket, i know A LOT about basketball ... um, er, what I REALLY mean is that I know A LOT about NBA Basketball. i think i'm one of the few people in the world who prefers NBA to NCAA hoops.
Bird was a winner, pure and simple. Gorilla, I think your memories of Bird might be a little tainted by the latter year of his career (when The Pistons and Celtics were rivals, Bird's skills were clearly beginning to decline). But if you watch tape of him in the prime of his career (I'm talking like 83 - 87), he could drop a triple double on yo ass without even BOTHERING to jump. And as far as his jumping ability is concerned, the new NBA jamz DVD I just bought has not one but TWO highlights of monster Bird badunkadunks. Throbvs.
Finally, how best was Bird in that "Bird vs. Dr. J" (and later vs. Jordan) computer game? SO BEST!
I used to play that Dr.J / Bird game all the time on my Apple IIc. The salad days!
For the Record:
MVP in 1984, 1985 and 1986.
Named to the all NBA First Team for 9 consecutive seasons from 1980-1988.
Twelve time NBA All-Star, including ten times elected by the fans to start
All-Star Game MVP in 1982.
Celtics won the World Championship in 1981, 1984 and 1986. NBA Playoffs MVP in 1984 and 1986.
Member of the Dream Team that brought home a Gold Medal from the Olympics in Barcelona.
See when you have a basket ball team you 5 players which leaves you two at every position for a top 10, and while I love oh Isiah, I don't think he's one of the top 4 guards -- like Bird he could take over a game, he's close to, but not top 10.
top 10 are...
C Wilt and Kareem
F Balyor, Dr J, Barry, Haywood
G Jordan, West, Maravich, Magic
I said name 10 players better than Bird. Forget what position they played.
Here are the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History
http://www.nba.com/history/50greatest.html
Out of those 50 I only see the following as being even close (and 4 of them are centers)
Kareem
Wilt
Magic
Jordan
Shaq
The Big O
Russell
Jerry West
There is absolutely no way Rick Barry is better than Bird(Barry's stats were inflated by playing in the inferior ABA), much less Kareem being better than Bill Russell or Pistol Pete better than Bob Freaking Cousy! And that's not the Celtic in me talking. I'm not even sure Maravich is better than Isiah.
I agree if you're gonna say that position doesn't matter (which clearly it does) that basically you're gonna end up with a long list of centers, for example Moses Malone had more of an impact than Bird in his prime. I hate Larry Bird, but he was a fierce competitor, I wouldn't deny him a top 5 forward spot, but he's still overrated, you're exemplifying that by mentioning him in the same breath as someone like Bill Russell -- he practically invented the blocked shot, Bird was merely a tireless competitor and a fabulous basketball player. It's nice, but it isn't top 10. Lets assume your 8 "maybe better than Bird" are correct, cause clearly they're all great and lets let your Barry bashing slide -- you still conveniently leave out two forwards that are better than Bird AT HIS OWN POSITION, in Baylor (considered by almost everyone the best forward of all time) and Haywood, who was better than Bird and on more drugs than Rick James.
Clearly we aren't gonna come to any middle ground here while you're wearing the green tinted glasses.
PS, Duke blows.
How can you argue that Haywood, Barry and Baylor are better than Bird when you said that Pistol Pete is better than Cousy? Cousy invented everything that Maravich did on the court!
I was on the fence about Malone and Baylor.
Still mad about losing to Duke in the '92 Finals?
No just effing with ya, the fab 5 did as well as they were gonna do in 2 years. We can discuss the mismanagement of the NCAA another time.
No doubt Bob's good, but I see Pete as the Jordan to Bob's Dr J, some invent it and some perfect it. Nice attempt to deflect my clear example of forwards that are better Bird by trying to undermind my guard choices though. But I did forget Oscar Robertson -- easily more important and better than either Bob or Pete. But everyone's got their biases, I happen to think Moses Malone was probably as good as Jordan (obvs he played too long), but one rings, no Nike, no Looney Toons... big buzz reducers.
Damn, I hate when I'm late to these things.
First, Rick Barry's stats weren't "padded" by the "inferior" ABA. ABA stats don't count in NBA career stats. Also, the ABA was NOT inferior -- look who made up the 1977 All-Stars! Even Barry himself said the ABA was better comp than he imagined. I recommended you pick up Terry Pluto's "Loose Balls," an incredibly hilarious history of the ABA.
Second, anyone was says Bird was overrated doesn't know squat about ball. Spike Lee is even wrong about this -- he will be welcomed back in Indiana, as long as it's because he's paying an obscene amount of money for courtside playoff seats. Raise your hands if you want a Pacers-Knicks first-round series? Mine is way way up. Hicks vs. Knicks!