Is Luka a better scorer than Larry Bird?

[1987_Lakers]

Yes or No.

[Baller234]

Tough to say.

He carries like a motherfukker and gets away with it.

[FKAri]

Pros for Luka:
A better rhythm scorer. His bag is more sophisticated and has more tools. After all he has 40 more years of basketball knowledge than Larry did. Stronger and better at finishing through contact.

Pros for Larry:
A better natural scorer. Better pure shooter. More agile. Possibly better touch around the basket. Possibly better at finishing awkward angles.

Overall? Hard to say. When in doubt go with the modern player. Relative to era? Bird.

[GOBB]

No.

[Real Men Wear Green]

If you just go by setting scoring records you could believe that most of the best scorers of all time are playing today. And as athletes, techniques and strategy do evolve it would make sense for the current crop of players to generally be the best crop of players. But it's never going to be fair to compare the numbers of a modern perimeter player like Doncic to legends of the past like Bird. This season Doncic is averaging 10 threes. The most threes Bird ever averaged was 3.3 and he had many seasons averaging 1 or less. No one of Bird's day would have thought to dominate the ball like Doncic and if they did they would get benched. We can't say what Bird does if a coach tells him to spam threes and he's unleashed on defenders that will get a flagrant foul if their feet are beneath his when he lands on a jumper. It just can't be quantified.

[90sgoat]

I don't think so.

Both are supremely adapted to their era. Bird had a handle for sure, but it wasn't as important for his game as Luka's handle is to Luka.

If you took away their handle, then Bird scores a lot more than Luka.

[BarberSchool]

They’re about equal, as far as being able to score from all levels, and go off for insane nights, and hit hella buzzer beater shots.

But Luka has the advantage of playing in a more modern era, where there is less physical punishment at the rim in the modern game. Also refs aren’t as strict with carries or travels in this era. Also, Luka has the advantage of modern analytics and modern offensive evolution post-curry, to play in a faster tempo, higher scoring era.

[elementally morale]

To me this is absolutely a relative to era thing, so the answer is no. When Bird had the ball in certain situations you knew he would score. Same with Jordan. And neither was a hot streak thing they could do it in games they were otherwise cold in. Luka is more streaky to me.

[tpols]

I feel like Luka does have a bigger bag especially off the dribble it's not even close but that's the problem... Lukas scoring style requires absurd ball domination which is why his teams are always bottom rank in team assists and he doesn't fit well with a lot of other stars thus capping his teams ceiling.

Where as Bird OTOH led top assist teams and GOAT offenses that elevated everybody on the team and produced dynastic results. So when you take into account how their scoring affects their teammates Bird played a way more sophisticated style ~ chess to checkers basically

[tontoz]

I don't like these comparisons because you have to keep each guys production in context of their era.

Having said that there are dozens of shorts on youtube of Bird's opponents talking about Bird trash talking them. Bird would tell them the move he would make and then do exactly that and score. Even if they knew what was coming they couldn't stop it.

[L.Kizzle]

If you just go by setting scoring records you could believe that most of the best scorers of all time are playing today. And as athletes, techniques and strategy do evolve it would make sense for the current crop of players to generally be the best crop of players. But it's never going to be fair to compare the numbers of a modern perimeter player like Doncic to legends of the past like Bird. This season Doncic is averaging 10 threes. The most threes Bird ever averaged was 3.3 and he had many seasons averaging 1 or less. No one of Bird's day would have thought to dominate the ball like Doncic and if they did they would get benched. We can't say what Bird does if a coach tells him to spam threes and he's unleashed on defenders that will get a flagrant foul if their feet are beneath his when he lands on a jumper. It just can't be quantified.

Jordan played in Birds era and dominated the ball. So did Adrian Dantley and some others.

[tpols]

Jordan played in Birds era and dominated the ball. So did Adrian Dantley and some others.

Jordan and Bird didn't dominate the ball anywhere near as much as Luka. Once Phil implemented the triangle MJ didn't even dominate the ball at all.

[L.Kizzle]

Jordan and Bird didn't dominate the ball anywhere near as much as Luka. Once Phil implemented the triangle MJ didn't even dominate the ball at all.

I'm talking pre Phil.

[tpols]

I'm talking pre Phil.

True but we can see when MJ played like Luka and was chasing triple doubles his teams eventually got crushed in the playoffs. When he elevated to a superior brand of ball he went on a 6peat.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Jordan played in Birds era and dominated the ball. So did Adrian Dantley and some others.

No one has ever dominated the ball like Doncic. Not Jordan, not Iverson, certainly not Bird. Harden took it to a new level and now Doncic is going even further.

[StrongLurk]

This comparison is impossible to make.

The NBA is in uncharted territory with this recent era. Luka's scoring can ONLY be compared to other scorers in this era. We legit have NO IDEA what Bird would turn into if he was drafted when Luka was.

So the true answer is no one knows.