Chandler Parsons knows a thing or two about delivering hot takes and we got another one from him recently. Parsons was reacting to Paul Pierce saying that the Luka Doncic-Larry Bird comparisons need to stop when he stated that the Dallas Mavericks guard is already better than the Boston Celtics icon.
“Hot take, Luka is already better than Larry Bird was,” Parsons said on Run It Back. “… He doesn’t have the resume, he doesn’t have the championships… As a basketball player, Luka Doncic can do everything Larry Bird did and more.”
(starts at 0:49 mark):
“Luka's already better than Larry Bird was."
– Chandler Parsons
(Via @RunItBackFDTV )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 23, 2024
Parsons’ take certainly didn’t go down too well with everyone. Five-time NBA champion Ron Harper blasted him for saying Doncic is better than Bird.
“Shut up!!! Stop talking please stupid over paid player.”
I don’t agree with Parsons either, but to an extent, I do get his point. If we are just going by skills, you could maybe make a case for Doncic over Bird. For me, Luka is the better scorer and is better at initiating the offense as well, which wasn’t really something that Bird did. On the other hand, the Hall of Famer was the better shooter, rebounder, and defender.
I think it’s close between them when you look at skills, but what gives Bird the clear edge in discussions about which is the better player of the two, is his resume. He won three titles, two Finals MVPs, and three MVPs. Doncic, meanwhile, hasn’t won a championship or an MVP just yet. Unless he wins a couple himself, the majority would view Bird as the better player.
Ron Harper Makes His Pick For Who’d Win A 1-On-1 Duel Between Shaquille O’Neal And Draymond Green
Not long after he blasted Parsons, Harper also made his pick on who would win a 1-on-1 between Shaquille O’Neal and Draymond Green.
“Hell yes.. and 1.”
Hell yes.. and 1
— Ron Harper (@HARPER04_5) May 23, 2024
Harper and O’Neal were teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, but he certainly isn’t being biased here. I agree that Green has little to no chance of stopping O’Neal.
O’Neal stood at 7’1″ and weighed over 300 pounds while Green is 6’6″ and weighs under 250 pounds. That size and weight difference would have been a bit too much for Draymond to overcome. The great big men in the 1990s and 2000s had no answer for O’Neal and the Warriors forward wouldn’t have had much success either.
Green himself admitted he couldn’t guard O’Neal when they were talking about who would win between the 2000 Lakers and the 2015 Golden State Warriors. It is not often that Draymond concedes that there is a battle he wouldn’t win and it speaks to just how great O’Neal was.
While Green acknowledged he wouldn’t be able to guard O’Neal, he did state his Warriors would have beaten the Lakers. That would have been quite the matchup, but I would pick LA to win.
I would change my mind if you add Kevin Durant into the equation, though. The combination of Durant, Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala would have been a bit too much to handle, even for those Lakers. I think a seven-game series between them would go the distance, with the Warriors eventually coming out on top.
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