Malone, Barkley, Dr. J gang up on Bird (infamous fight)

[nosurrender]

ive seen these bird "torching" pippen highlights. and they just show pippen and bird going at it. with pip giving just as good as he got. except pip is fighting through screens and picks.

and i wouldnt even want to show bird scoring on an old julius erving as evidence of his greatness. not cuz of what bird was doing but cuz of what julius wasnt doing. not moving his feet and playing smart defense. you see this clown going under screens, giving a great jumpshooter too much room especially when he really had no intention to drive to the basket. its bad defense. it almost looked like he didnt play defense on purpose.

and jordan is a better scorer than bird theres no comparison. i dont even know why bird continues to be brought up.

what else can we expect from a guy with the name "97 bulls"

[97 bulls]

what else can we expect from a guy with the name "97 bulls"

lol i cant help the fact that i have to set you guys straight sometimes. its obvious you guys dont know basketball. just stats. theres a reason that bird isnt in the goat discussion. or when he is brought up he shot down. no defense. and showing a few clips of birds dominance isnt going to change it. in fact, he wasnt even the best player of the decade. that goes to magic, who beat his ass 2 out of 3 times.

[CB4GOATPF]

What do you want? Highlights of Bird torching Pippen, Jordan and Grant in the post? Because we can get you those too. Bird is THE most intelligent post player ever. Impossible to double team him because of his passing (Bird would have a 30 point half and in the second half use the post to just pass from the doubles, eg. game 7 vs. Knicks that I posted), impossible to overplay him as he would pick up on it immediately and he is also taller than any SF who defended him so he can easily turn around and shoot, so I can see how he makes it look easy. Couldn't defend him with players 6'10 or taller because he's too quick and skilled. Couldn't play super tight on him because then you are just inviting him to pass. If someone was quick, tall with great defensive instincts, Bird could drain tough shots on you night long (other than Jordan/Kobe, no one is better at creating/making tough perimeter shots than Bird). Just a nightmare to guard on and off the ball. at 75% of Bird's points being team efforts, unless you are talking about just this game. wow. Bird was excellent at moving off the ball and using screens (like Jordan) and got a lot points this way, but 75%? Hilarious. Jordan's scoring efficiency didn't change at all from '86-'89 to '90-93, so apparently that terrible 80s defense continued on in the 90s.

This is to be expected by someone who thinks Pippen's passing ability > Bird's. or Pippen = Bird in the right situation.

[godofgods]

Bird >>>>>>>> Pippen. Anybody who thinks otherwise is an idiot.
And 91-93 Bulls >>>>>>> 97 Bulls (or any of the 2nd 'threepeat'-> rigged Bulls).

[97 bulls]

Bird >>>>>>>> Pippen. Anybody who thinks otherwise is an idiot.
And 91-93 Bulls >>>>>>> 97 Bulls (or any of the 2nd 'threepeat'-> rigged Bulls).

wow, the 96-98 bulls were so dominant that the games looked rigged? impressive.

[TheGrassIsGreen]

Brawl at the Palace changed everything. Once that happened, Stern emasculated the league.

Yeah because losing a handle on your emotions is sooo manly.

[1987_Lakers]

What do you want? Highlights of Bird torching Pippen, Jordan and Grant in the post? Because we can get you those too. Bird is THE most intelligent post player ever. Impossible to double team him because of his passing (Bird would have a 30 point half and in the second half use the post to just pass from the doubles, eg. game 7 vs. Knicks that I posted), impossible to overplay him as he would pick up on it immediately and he is also taller than any SF who defended him so he can easily turn around and shoot, so I can see how he makes it look easy. Couldn't defend him with players 6'10 or taller because he's too quick and skilled. Couldn't play super tight on him because then you are just inviting him to pass. If someone was quick, tall with great defensive instincts, Bird could drain tough shots on you night long (other than Jordan/Kobe, no one is better at creating/making tough perimeter shots than Bird). Just a nightmare to guard on and off the ball. at 75% of Bird's points being team efforts, unless you are talking about just this game. wow. Bird was excellent at moving off the ball and using screens (like Jordan) and got a lot points this way, but 75%? Hilarious. Jordan's scoring efficiency didn't change at all from '86-'89 to '90-93, so apparently that terrible 80s defense continued on in the 90s.

This is to be expected by someone who thinks Pippen's passing ability > Bird's. or Pippen = Bird in the right situation.

[Abraham Lincoln]

other than Jordan/Kobe, no one is better at creating/making tough perimeter shots than Bird

Nobody was better period.

[Psileas]

It's too bad that today more remember this game because of the brawl, instead of Bird's performance. It's also bad that many claim that they lost respect for Erving after seeing him doing this stuff.

As players, Bird > Erving, especially in 1983-87. But, when it goes to being classy, the Doc ranks above Larry. This was the absolute bottom for Erving, doing something that probably no-one remembered him ever doing. Compare this to Bird, the constant trash-talker who got into many more similar incidents (this one kept him from having a 50-point game). Of course, Bird's basketball value not only covered this, but instead glorified him even more, because it's cool to be a great player and a badass altogether.

Of course, many will say that they lost respect for Erving hitting Bird while Bird was held by Malone/Barkley. Well, he was furious and it was a general brawl. What was he supposed to do? Order his teammates to leave Bird to him? Watch them throw him down and do nothing? It was a classless move, but it's not Erving's fault that Malone and Barkley quickly ran to the rescue.

(You can watch the start of the brawl at 1:08)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvo7__wwBU

[momo]

It's too bad that today more remember this game because of the brawl, instead of Bird's performance. It's also bad that many claim that they lost respect for Erving after seeing him doing this stuff.

I personally do not (and did not then) have any less respect for Doc after this... honestly it was less remarkable then than it is now. It was different then, and the Celts were in a way the bad boys before The Bad Boys... they had a lot of "incidences" .

[Johnni Gade]

Dr. J being a *****