He also did the the basic fundamentals of rebounding by boxing out and putting your butt into your man and taking away their lift in the process (as he said in his book). But I guess people today would say that would not matter in today's NBA, you have to be taller and jump out of the gym in order to rebound (insert Chuck Hayes vs taller more athletic players argument).
Bird wasn't that fast. No question about it, but I wonder if anyone in his era was any quicker. Combine that with a complete understanding of the game and his opponents, along with the ability to access that knowledge in milliseconds on the floor, his amazing shooting, his court vision, his absolute ruthlessness, which was unmatched, in my opinion, and you have a stone cold killer on the court, to borrow what was said earlier. Bird was a player you hated, while watching him with your mouth hanging open in awe.
you know someone is a beast when he tells you in your face where he'll shoot the ball and drain it in your face afterward.......how many players in the league does that today?
Wow, and how right he is. Nobody talks about him anymore. But what got me in this article was this sentence: Holy crap, is Chuck Hayes being paid more than Larry Bird in his prime?
Value of money my friend. Dollar for dollar, the value of money was a lot more back then than it is now. Back then it was a huge deal to be a millionaire and nowadays, even borderline players can become millionaires.
Evolution is a continuous process. It doesn't happen in a single point time. Birds didn't go and say "hey time for evolution boys! Let's all try to grow wings for the next 300 years, and then we'll stop until it's to grow feathers and lay eggs". Its something that's continually happening even now, its just that the changes are microscopic in a limited amount of time. So to answer your question, yes we are evolving even right now. Just look at how the Caucasian has white skin and a lot of body hair, while the African has a lot of melatonin to survive the harsh climate of Africa for more evidence. The league being faster and more athletic is the result of natural selection. Most owners and GMs realized that more size and more speed is good. So they started cutting the slow players in favor of the more athletic ones. Over 25 years and this selection process will raise the bar quite a bit, especially since the NBA is a global sport now and you can get players from all over the world and not just the US.
It isn't all about fundamentals, especially when you're talking about the most athletic position in the NBA. Kobe is a horrible example because how do you drain the 3 pointer with a defender up on your grill? You need lift, you need explosiveness, you need athleticism. Look at how Ray Allen fades whenever somebody focuses on him, that a result of him not being athletic anymore. How about Paul Pierce being neutralized by Artest? That's also a result of Pierce not having the lateral quickness to get away from Artest on a consistent basis anymore. Kobe at his age is still athletic, and it is this athleticism coupled with his skill that makes him one of the best in the league today. Nash is one of the best quiet competitors in the game. He's someone who doesn't mind getting a bloody nose or an elbow in the face if it means getting a win. You think with that attitude he's suddenly indifferent on D? There's just a difference between wanting to play good D and actually being athletic enough to play good D.
Unlike the players you mentioned, Bird never relied on his athleticism. If you want someone in the modern game to compare him to, Imagine a 6'9" Sam Cassell with a better shooting stroke and a killer mentality. Bird would kill in the modern game just like he did 30 years ago. Bird played against Jordan, Dr J, Drexler, Barkley, Karl Malone, Dream and Dominique Wilkins. Its not like played in a era of stiffs.
Bird (next to Hakeem) is my favorite NBA player ever and he was as cold blooded as they come at clutch time...the bigger the game the better. I still can't believe the Lakers let him get off a shot in the '87 finals game 4. After Magic's "junior junior" skyhook, he almost stole the game back with a 3 from the corner..... Only big miss I ever remember from him.
just stop talking about your idea of evolution. you are wrong. "evolution" hasn't taken place in the human race in 25 years. please educate yourself. as someone stated earlier in the thread a broke down larry bird averaged 20, 10, and 7 in 91-92 when he was 35. the league isn't more athletic than it was then. further, the foreign players that are brought over are not athletic specimens like lebron or kobe. you have a warped sense of history and athleticism. some of the best athletes ever to play the game challenged bird and were beaten by bird. bird would dominate in any era. he had the will power that made him never quit. his hustle isn't even really reflected in his dominant stats. further, he had the vision, creativity, and genius that allowed him to see the game 5 steps ahead on offense and defense. he always made his teammates better with his grandmaster level of thinking. very few guys like him have ever and will ever play the game at the level he did.
A jacket and short shorts restricting movement. Only 7 points with 2 racks left needing to beat 15 to win the contest. No problem for Bird. Hell he's got so much swag he'll make the contest that much more dramatic by bringing it down to the last money ball and put up the finger as if he won the contest before the shot even drops. PLAYER! <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mvzIPnfSaDI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mvzIPnfSaDI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I already posted this video (look post #40 in 2nd page) but its worth it to post it again, such a nice contest!
I loved Bird. He was always my favorite player. His basketball smarts, combined with his psychological domination of his opponents, indominatable will, the great, great basketball skillset he crafted and honed through thousands of yours of being a gym rat, while being the subpar nonathletic white guy, and his desire and determination to make whatever play had to be made at crunch time were the reasons why I always rooted for him. That game againt Dominique where he called the shot on Dominique was flat out epic. By the way, I always hated Magic when Magic played. Looking back on it, I was just a teenager then. I knew Magic was great but I liked old school, rock 'em sock 'em basketball. I liked the chess match of halfcourt basketball and the Magic show in LA was "Showtime" just running from one end to the other. It was beautiful poetry in motion basketball, beautiful. But I had to root for my brand, my guy, the underdog white boy. Now that they are long retired, when I watch footage of Magic, I love the way he played. Magic was some kind of sensational. I have nothing but admiration for his game. The more I watch footage of Magic, the more respect I have for his game. Doesn't matter black or white, I just love great basketball play. And the best basketball players are the guys with the sharpest, most creative minds, indominatable wills, and the desire to make it happen at closing time. Magic and Bird were the best of their generation. I miss their games so much. P.S. Dear Darryl Morey, please bring Ricky Rubio to H-Town. Please.
Oh come on you cannot be this stupid. Nice try trying to educate me on evolution, I have my masters in Biology, I think I know what evolution is. So you are saying hat in 25 years natural selection caused the human race to be more athletic? You are aware that that is only one generation right, natural selection doesn't work that fast. The difference between Caucasian people and African people didn't happen in 25 years it took ages for that difference to occur. Why do you think most studies on evolution are done with bacteria or fungus, because they have a short generation time, so you can see the changes that occur much faster than when you look at organisms that have a long generation time. If you are the standart for American education than I feel for you all. But my guess is you are not. The reason why the league is faster etc, is because of better training, and performance enhancing supplements. That is all, it has nothing to do with evolution of the human species. So If Bird played in the game today he would be faster stronger etc. But like most people already said it doesn't matter that he was not the most athletic player in the nba his skills and basketball IQ compensated for it. Speed, strength jumping ability are not everything, just look at players like Stromile Swift.
