Young basketball fans don’t know just how incredibly talented and dominant Larry Bird was. He was Kevin Durant before Kevin Durant, sort of speak, a big man with the handles of a guard and unprecedented shooting skills at the time.
Bird was the first NBA player to consistently rely on the three-pointer as an offensive weapon, and while he wasn’t the kind of volume shooter we see nowadays, he still paved the way for modern offenses as one of the greatest shooters of all time.
But more than that, Larry Bird was also an elite trash talker. We’re talking about a guy who didn’t want to score with his right hand before facing the Los Angeles Lakers to “save it for them” and who still put up 47 points vs. the Portland Trail Blazers while playing left-handed.
That’s why it wasn’t a surprise to see both of his biggest strengths at full display when he took the hardwood for the 1988 season three-point shooting contest, as he easily won without even taking his warmup jacket off and told everybody ‘so, who’s coming in second’? even before taking his first shot.
Larry Bird has an unorthodox mechanic but he was money from all three levels. He created separation with his hip and his great footwork and was one of the most efficient scorers of all time.
Bird is one of the few members of the exclusive 50/40/90 club while also playing great defense and being a top-notch playmaker, and even though younger fans think otherwise, he was vastly athletic.
Most analysts believe that Larry Bird’s game would perfectly translate to today’s era and I won’t be the one to disagree. He could be as dominant as ever – if not more – nowadays with his ability to knock down shots over his defenders in today’s pace-and-space offense.
