When did Larry Bird become a top 10 player of all time?

[StrongLurk]

Same for Magic. When did they surpass players like Oscar Robertson and Jerry West?

Was Bird really a top 10 player of all time after like 6 seasons?

[SouBeachTalents]

By '86/'87, they'd both have extremely strong arguments for being top 10. It's not like Bird did much of anything after '88 anyway

[StrongLurk]

By '86/'87, they'd both have extremely strong arguments for being top 10

I agree, which is another reason why past players are overrated as far as all time arguments.

It's almost impossible to be a top 10 player of all time within 7 seasons nowadays simply because there are so many players in history and they had first mover advantage.

If Larry Bird had the exact same first 7 seasons, but in this era, no way would he be considered top 10 all time already.

[kennethgriffen]

when you look back at 1980 the top 10 players of all time to most people was probably

#1 russell
#2 Wilt
#3 Kareem
#4 Oscar
#5 West
#6 dr J
#7 Pettit
#8 Havlicek
#9 Cousy
#10 Mikan


so it wouldn't have taken very long for magic/bird to crack the top 10... possibly after 84 both were in it

[FKAri]

The media and NBA brass desperately hyped Magic/Bird and couldn't wait to crown em. A lot of this was due to politics, PR, and non basketball reasons.Fortunately for them they delivered. Unfortunately, both had their careers cut short.

The league also disrespectfully swept aside every player who came before them. Especially the ABA guys. They just had trouble sweeping aside Wilt's overwhelming dominance and Russell's 11 rings. It wasn't until MJ became the new face of the league that the NBA started respecting it's history again.

[SouBeachTalents]

I agree, which is another reason why past players are overrated as far as all time arguments.

It's almost impossible to be a top 10 player of all time within 7 seasons nowadays simply because there are so many players in history and they had first mover advantage.

If Larry Bird had the exact same first 7 seasons, but in this era, no way would he be considered top 10 all time already.

I'd love to see where people would rank Jordan after winning his first title in his 7th season if that happened today

[FKAri]

I'd love to see where people would rank Jordan after winning his first title in his 7th season if that happened today

He was considered a talented chucker until he won. Then he kept winning and everyone loved him. In reality he was already the best to play before he won his first ring. His whole 90s career just gives him a cushion imo. He was just that good. And the only things the 2nd 3peat showed us that we didn't already know was that: He could adapt as he aged and that he could learn to trust teammates.

[Odinn]

By the time, nearly half of current top 10-15 weren't playing. So it wasn't that hard.
Wilt, Russell, West, Baylor, Big O, Erving, Moses, Pettit, Reed, Hondo, Gervin, Cousy, Archibald, Frazier were the names.
Aside from Bird and Magic; Jordan, Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, Hakeem, LeBron, Chuck, Karl, Dirk, Curry, Durant, Garnett, Robinson, Zeke. None of these were around for such claim. It wasn't that hard.

[iamgine]

I agree, which is another reason why past players are overrated as far as all time arguments.

It's almost impossible to be a top 10 player of all time within 7 seasons nowadays simply because there are so many players in history and they had first mover advantage.

If Larry Bird had the exact same first 7 seasons, but in this era, no way would he be considered top 10 all time already.

I don't know about that. He had 3 straight MVPs, along with 3 rings in that 7 seasons. All while being the clear best player in his team, making teammates better and being ultra clutch. If there's a player like that today, I'm sure he'd be in the top 10 all time.

[MrFonzworth]

2011

[Marchesk]

#1 russell
#2 Wilt
#3 Kareem
#4 Oscar
#5 West
#6 dr J
#7 Pettit
#8 Havlicek
#9 Cousy
#10 Mikan

Come on, dude. Elgin Baylor is ahead of Havlicek and Cousy, at least.

[mr4speed]

I agree, which is another reason why past players are overrated as far as all time arguments.

It's almost impossible to be a top 10 player of all time within 7 seasons nowadays simply because there are so many players in history and they had first mover advantage.

If Larry Bird had the exact same first 7 seasons, but in this era, no way would he be considered top 10 all time already.

I disagree and here is why. Bird's rookie season 79-80 he was ROY by a huge margin and actually was 4th in season MVP vote. In 81 and 82 and 83 he was 2nd in MVP voting each year. In 84 and 85 and 86 he was the MVP. In 87 he was 3rd and in 88 he was 2nd. That is an impressive run for 9 seasons and during those 9 seasons his Celtic team - in games Bird Played - won 534 games and lost 177 of 711 games for a win % of .751 = the highest win % of any NBA player ever and the Celtics were in the stronger eastern conference. Given the Celtic turn around from 29 wins to 61 wins in Bird's rookie year, and what followed, he deserved to crack the top 10 all time. Who else has done that and put back to back 50-40-90 seasons together?

[Manny98]

When he swept Jordan

[Marchesk]

When he swept Jordan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oACRt-Qp-s

"You and me for my Big Mac?!?"

[Mask the Embiid]

idk bruh

i think some random guy just said it in a bar one night and no one checked him.Then it just snowballed from there.Now Larry Bird is top 10 and you cant tell them nothing


it is what it is. i just stopped arguing it....let them have a bone