That's exactly my point. The reason we can't compare different eras is because it wouldn't be fair to the guys in the older eras who wouldn't be able to compete today with the MUCH better athletes. Larry Legend would still be a legend....but most likely a legend in China.
Also, my point is that a lot of the alleged feats are clearly BS, there's no chance Wilt legitimately benched 500 pounds with those skinny super long arms....Shaq could only manage 450 at his best and prime Shaq was stronger than the stilt ever dreamed of being. Wilt didn't bench 500 pounds, Vanilla Ice wasn't from "the streets", and Crash Holly didn't really weigh "well over 500 pounds" and everyone over 20 should realize that without having to be told
As we all should be, if Yankee stadium was the house that Ruth built, Death Row was the label Van Winkle built
Please name the list of bigs, any in the last 30 years, that were more athletic than Wilt AND knew how to play the game. You're bringing up a legendary RB that he ran just as fast as at 7'1, 275 WITH a 50" vertical and a 7'8 wingspan. Oh and again, could bench 500 pounds. At this point you're just playing the bobbythetroll role. Must be drinking, because there's no way you actually think that ish.
Wilt dedicated himself power lifting when he retired, and those arms definitely weren’t skinny when he was lifting with body builders. Lazy ass Shaq could go 450, I don’t see why a motivated Wilt with old man strength couldn’t get close to 500. Also, Arnold said he saw Wilt bench 500 at 48 years old. He said he was the strongest guy he has ever trained with.
First off, Wilt's lie was that he could bench 600 pounds when he was playing. I just got done watching a video of him telling that obvious lie on a late night talk show. Second, even if we ignore the actual lie he told and focus on the steel man version of the myth, that after he retired he dedicated himself to power lifting and after years eventually managed 500 pounds.... it's still VERY unlikely given how skinny he was, how long his arms are, and how relatively thin his arms were. I'd fully believe that he was a very strong guy, but a lot of the stories are just BS. I've simply known too many legitimate power lifters to believe over the top lies. Benching 500 pounds is flat out absurd for ANYONE, there's maybe 2000 people on the planet that can genuinely pull it off and every single one of them are hardcore power lifters.... and NONE of them have a 7'8 wingspan. Literally zero. To put this in context, Thor Bjornsson can only bench 551 lb.
Here is a reminder Steve Francis dude was a freakish athlete but had no basketball IQ it was almost worth covering your eyes if he tried to pass on the fast break because the ball would probably end up in the 5th row.
Really. Tell that to Jordan who is still the GOAT. He would tell you that Larry would make Luka look like a little B. Larry would crush soft ass players today. Shoot ask John Salley.
Ya it's a stupid take, Bird swept Jordan in the playoffs when Jordan was at his absolute athletic peak, and i don't think anyone would say jordan couldn't play today
It's not about player evaluation, it's about competition. Larry was unbeatable. Go study up on Larry Bird and come back and give us your thoughts. I think you'll change your point of view.
Sure, in his day, against that level of competition....it's not like I didn't watch it back then...I just realize how much better the NBA is today than it was then.
Do you think jordan or hakeem could play today? If you're under the general premise that sports evolves such that nobody from 30 years ago could play today i could get behind that, but bird whooped both jordan and hakeem in their athletic primes and i think their athletism would still hold up
Sure, they are close enough in time where they'd be fine today, Hakeem would probably even be better in this era based on how he wanted to play and how fouls are called now. Jordan would have to work on his 3 point game, but I'm sure if he played today it wouldn't be a problem.
Bird wasn't THAT far before they were, only 5 years earlier. He's a GOAT level shooter and passer, those skills translate. He's probably have a tough time against a Kawhi type and maybe he wouldn't be an MVP, but he's be a top 5-10 player for sure.
And you might be right, but I think the increased athleticism of the league now along with the increased size of players now would hurt a guy like Bird who was fairly unathletic even for back then. I think Bird would get straight up bullied on defense....and then he'd do some dirty **** to retaliate and get tossed because the league no longer tolerates that kind of thing....unless you're Draymond Green. It's not as absurd as talking up players from the 60's, but there's still a decent era gap.
