Question to the Bear: Bird or LBJ?

For now Bird is safe, but whenever LeBron James hangs up his jersey, he will be the greatest small forward to ever play the game. But I have to be honest, when you start to look at ‘Larry Legend’ stats; you begin to remember how good he was. His stats speak for themselves, but with the championships and the level of competition he had to face to back then, it makes his resume that much more impressive. His consecutive three year MVP run from 84-86, years in which his Boston Celtics appeared in three straight NBA finals, and won two, could be compared to LeBron’s current run with the Miami Heat, where he has also made 3 straight final appearances and won two; both have won two final MVP’s and been the most dominate player on the best team. stats

But then you go to the defensive side of the ball and that’s when the separation starts, Bird made three all-NBA Defensive second teams throughout his career, in comparison to five all-NBA Defensive first teams for LeBron. The defensive versatility of James makes him a more valuable asset to a team than Bird was, keep in mind James can currently guard every position on the floor, point guard to center.  Although Bird was crafty on the defense side, creating steals and playing superb team defense, it’s hard to imagine him guarding the point guard of any opposing team in any era.

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