Ever since he started balling out in the NBA, there is one player from the past that Luka Doncic always tends to be compared with, and that is Larry Bird. They were both lacking when it came to athleticism, but their all-around games combined with their high basketball IQ helped them dominate the game in a way that few others have done in the history of the league.
Bird was, in fact, the last player to win 3 MVPs in a row, which he did from 1984 to 1986, and someone who had to go up against him when he was at the peak of his powers was Byron Scott from the Lakers. Scott had Robert Horry as a guest on his “Off the Dribble” podcast, where the two were hyping up Bird, and Horry brought up Doncic as an example as to why Bird would dominate in the league even today.
(starts at 14:18 mark):
Robert Horry: “I look at guys in this era now and you say okay, you look at Bird and say, well, ‘I could have stopped him because you know he’s slow.’ Someone like Luka now, you watch Luka, Luka is so freaking slow and you’re like, ‘Why can’t they stop that?’ But when you’re crafty and you know how to play, that’s all you need.”
Byron Scott: “Yeah, I think Bird is fast compared to Luka. I see Luka, he’s going slow as hell and he’ll get by you. But Larry probably looked like a f*****g sprinter compared to the way Luka plays.”
Scott hilariously stated that Bird was a sprinter compared to the way Doncic is now, and it speaks to Luka’s greatness that even in this era where athleticism is off the charts, that he can dominate the game the way he does.
During this episode, Scott also called Bird the biggest s**t talker in the league back in the day, a sentiment echoed by many who had to go up against him during that time. It would have been incredible to watch Bird talk s**t and dominate in the modern NBA, but we have a pretty good consolation prize in Doncic, who is on his way to becoming one of the greatest players this game has ever seen.
