this is why Larry Legend is the GOAT SF

[jzek]

In a game in Washington, D. C. against the Bullets in 1987, the Celtics trailed the Bullets by 3 points with 6 seconds remaining in regulation. A three-pointer by Bird had been waved off because their coach, K. C. Jones, had already called a timeout. Bird then made another three-pointer to send the game into overtime. When the Celtics trailed by two points near the end of the first overtime, Bird was fouled and converted both free throws. In the second overtime, trailing by 1 point with 2 seconds remaining, Bird made a buzzer-beating running shot to win the game, 140–139.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmmrcY4NxCM&t=1m13s

There was a timeout with 13 seconds left in a tied game against the Seattle Supersonics (remember them?). Bird told head coach KC Jones to just give him the ball and tell everyone else to get out of the way.

Bird then walked onto the court and told Xavier McDaniel, who was guarding him, “I’m going to get [the ball] right here and I am going to shoot it in your face.” As McDaniel remembers it, he responded by saying, “I know, I’ll be waiting.”

Then in about that exact same spot, Bird gets the ball and buries a shot right in McDaniel’s face, turns to Xavier and says, “I didn’t mean to leave two seconds on the clock.” McDaniel said of that play, “He wanted to shoot it with zero seconds on the clock. I just walked back to the sidelines, like damn.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6sLMupoQLQ

We've seen players take free throws with their eyes closed, centers orchestrate fast breaks, and plenty of other attempts at showing off how truly talented players are. None of them, however, come close to touching Larry Bird's famed Left-Handed Game.

Having won 14 of 15 games heading into Portland on Feb. 14, 1986, legend has it that Bird became a bit bored with making those wins look so easy. So what did he do? He played left-handed. That's correct; the right-handed forward chose to shoot the ball left-handed throughout the contest, mostly with shots anywhere around the paint. However, only astute onlookers would have realized this in the midst of the game. Why, you might ask? Well, because Bird still managed to pour in 47 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 11 assists (21-34 FG) and sent the game to overtime and then drilled the game-winner in OT. Not bad.

The night before in Seattle he had 35/15/11, so this was his second consecutive triple double in just as many nights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R76nMD8buR8


More:

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rg1sFMxnbM
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vHEWOqdyTg

[LosScandalous]

That is an absolute myth and all these guys can buy into it, but there’s a young man from Akron Ohio, that is not signing up on that bandwagon.

Bird gets the legacy and era advantage but LeBron's peak and future is better than Bird's. I do think Bird would dominate todays zone though.

Both had stacked teams but Bird never lead a scrub team to the finals (see 2007 cavs).

[Soundwave]

The mental focus the greats of the 80s/90s really shames today's mental midget superstars (LeBron, DRose, Dwight, Wade).

Can't see any of them having the balls to say something like that and then back it up by hitting the big shot.

[jlip]

[QUOTE=LosScandalous]That is an absolute myth and all these guys can buy into it, but there

[LosScandalous]

Bird was the primarily catalyst for a Celtics team going from 29-53 the season before he was drafted to 61-21 his rookie year making it to the ECF.

You won't see me ever argue LeBron's rookie season over Bird's but he nearly got swept in that ECF by a lower seeded 6ers team. I'm not even a LeBron fan but I give him a lot of credit for leading the 07' cavs team to the promise land w/Larry Hughes as a second option. 1980 Celtics lineup wasn't full of scrubs neither though.

[KyrieTheFuture]

As awesome as this is, my absolute favorite Larry moment was the merry christmas shot

Edit: Also, I love LeBron, but Larry would never ever pull a 2011 like LeBron James did. Or a 2010.

[tikay0]

Larry Bird will forever be the GOAT SF. Only bandwagon, Justin Bieber fans will disagree.

[The Iron Fist]

You won't see me ever argue LeBron's rookie season over Bird's but he nearly got swept in that ECF by a lower seeded 6ers team. I'm not even a LeBron fan but I give him a lot of credit for leading the 07' cavs team to the promise land w/Larry Hughes as a second option. 1980 Celtics lineup wasn't full of scrubs neither though.

a lot of credit for beating 2 .500 teams ??.

[Round Mound]

[B]He

[bdreason]

[QUOTE=LosScandalous]That is an absolute myth and all these guys can buy into it, but there

[sportjames23]

If this Legend character is GOAT SF.. then he must be > Michael Jordan.

Bird has a better claim to that than Lebron does.

I swear, you stans don't quit.

[Harison]

Larry Bird will forever be the GOAT SF. Only bandwagon, Justin Bieber fans will disagree.

This.

Prime Larry Bird would be the best player in the NBA today.

and this.

[Marchesk]

For being so unathletic, it's interesting that Bird was a superior rebounder to Lebron, and averaged the same amount of steals and blocks.

And here's Bird's famous steal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpJXDPnQTE

[LAZERUSS]

I'm sorry, but Lebrons' resume, including post-season play, is already superior to Bird's, and LBJ probably has a good five more quality seasons left in him.

[Rooster]

For being so unathletic, it's interesting that Bird was a superior rebounder to Lebron, and averaged the same amount of steals and blocks.

And here's Bird's famous steal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNpJXDPnQTE

I believed Bird is the most skilled ever. I don't think anyone can do what he did sans athleticism and quickness. The way he zipped those passes , the way he pump fakes and step backs, the way he rebounds even though he can't jump over piece of paper, the way he steals even he was slow to begin with and of course no one can shoot better than him.