Stephen A Smith said Lebron is better than Bird about 15 months ago

[dh86]

The compare Lebron to guys that played 25 years ago thing is remarkably corny. Compare Lebron to guys he'll face on the court this season.

 

[Propaganda]

He is the sole reason his team lost the finals which year?

you said that bird always showed up in the playoffs. stop moving the goalposts.

i didn't put this together and i know he had a bad back late in his career but this shows that the narrative people attach to players don't always match up with the facts. larry's playoff legend actually isn't quite as pristine as advertised.

1980- Averaged a .511 TS% in the postseason. In game 5 vs. the Sixers, he shot poorly, 5-19 with just 12 points, as the Celtics lost the game. His man (Dr. J) averaged 25 PPG in this series. His team loses in 5 games despite having HCA and winning 61 games. Had a 18.3 PER in the postseason

1981- Has a .532 TS% in the postseason. He had a bad finals where he averaged just 15 PPG on .419 shooting and .460 TS%.

1982- PPG average dropped from 22.9 PPG to 17.8 PPG. He has an embarrassing .474 TS% in the playoffs. He averaged a pedestrian 18.3 PPG against the Sixers. Averages 17 PPG in the final 2 games of the series. The Celtics lose again with HCA. The Celtics won 63 games and had the #1 SRS in the league. Has a 17.9 PER in the postseason.

1983- The Celtics get swept by the Bucks. The Celtics win 56 games and had the #2 SRS in the league and lose again with HCA. Bird plays awful again. .478 TS%. His PPG average drops 2 PPG in the playoffs. Bird missed a game in the series but that game happened to be the closest one (Celtics lose by 4). In the 3 other games, the Celtics lose by 14.3 PPG with Bird on the court.

1984- Great playoffs. Averaged 27-14-4 in the Finals and had a .607 TS% in the playoffs. First great playoff of his career. Celtics win the title over the Lakers.

1985- Celtics make the finals, but Bird's numbers drop in the playoffs. His PPG drops by 2.8 PPG, Reb by 1.2 Reb, and AST by 0.7 AST. Had an average .536 TS% in the postseason. Bird plays even worse in the finals. His PPG dropped 4.9 PPG, his Reb 1.7 Reb, and AST by 1.6 AST in the finals compared to his regular season average. His Finals TS% is just .527. Not only that, but Celtics finish with 63 wins and lose once again with HCA a constant theme in Bird's career. This is the first time in Celtics history they lost in the finals with HCA.

1986- Great year. His best year ever. Wins the title. .615 TS% in the postseason and amazing finals.

1987- I think this is his most admirable playoffs up until the finals. The Celtics were quite banged up this year. Averaged 27-10-7 in the postseason with .577 TS%. Though his numbers in the finals dropped off once again. His PPG was 3.9 PPG down from the regular season, AST down by 2.1 AST and his TS% was just .534. In game 6, Bird scored just 16 points on 6-16 (.375) shooting. In the final 3 games of this series, Bird averaged just 20 PPG on .377 shooting and .492 TS% with 3.7 TOV. This is the first time Bird has played without HCA in the playoffs and his team loses.

1988- Bird's PPG drops by 5.4 PPG, Reb by 0.5 Reb. Bird shoots an awful 40-114 (.351) against the Pistons. Has a mediocre .538 TS% and 20.2 PER in the playoffs. The Celtics had HCA and the #1 SRS in the league and you probably guessed what happened next, Larry Bird loses with HCA once again.

1989- Injured doesn't play in the postseason.

1990- Bird shoots .539 TS% and has 3.6 TOV as the Celtics once again you guessed it, lose with HCA.

1991- In the first round, his team needs to go 5 vs. the 41 win Pacers. His PPG drop by 2.3 PPG and his Rebounds and Assists also drop quite a bit. Has a .490 TS% 15.8 PER in the playoffs. Against the Pistons Bird averages 13.4 PPG on .446 TS%. His 56 win team played with you guessed it HCA and loses with it.

1992- Doesn't play in the first round as the Celtics sweep the Pacers. In round 2, his team goes 7 against the Cavs, but Bird plays in 4 games and his team was 1-3 in those games. Averages a pathetic 11.3 PPG and 4.5 Reb which are 8.4 PPG and 5.2 Reb down from his regular season average. He has a .514 TS% and 16.4 PER in the postseason.


So out of 12 years, you get 9 years under .540 TS%, 5 under .520 TS%, and 3 under .500 TS%. From 80-83, he had a 19.9 playoff PER. In that span, Johnny Moore, Franklin Edwards, Gus Williams, and Bob Lanier all had better playoff PER and WS/48. Teammates Parish, McHale, Tiny Archibald, and Cedric Maxwell had better TS% in that span. From 88-92, he had a 18.8 PER which is 25th among players with 10 playoff games played. Players who had better playoff PER's in that span include Fat Lever, Terry Cummings, Roy Tarpley, Cedric Ceballos, and Sarunas Marciulionis. His teammates Reggie Lewis and Kevin McHale had better playoff PER's in that span.

 

[Jigganaut]

you said that bird always showed up in the playoffs. stop moving the goalposts.

i didn't put this together and i know he had a bad back late in his career but this shows that the narrative people attach to players don't always match up with the facts. larry's playoff legend actually isn't quite as pristine as advertised.

He has clutch gene though

 

[#SOG_soldier]

you said that bird always showed up in the playoffs. stop moving the goalposts.

i didn't put this together and i know he had a bad back late in his career but this shows that the narrative people attach to players don't always match up with the facts. larry's playoff legend actually isn't quite as pristine as advertised.

You got that. I was wrong but Bron 2011 finals was otherworldly trash

 

[Ceazy]

Brehs are forgetting the pace they played at during the 80s.

The Celtics were one of the slowest teams in the league and still were at 98.6. The Cavs were one of the slowest and were at 92.6.

LeBron averaged 30/11/8.5 these playoffs while having his worst shooting in years.

In 1987 he would have averaged 32/12/9 playing at the Celtics pace .

That's while playing with a new team/new coach.

Compare LeBron and Bird at 29 when they on championship mode squads.

The Celtics pace was at 101.2

The Heat were at 91.2

LeBron in the 80s would have averaged 30/8/7 with excellent efficiency on a team with great chemistry.

Bird at 29 averaged 26/10/7. Great, but LeBron's slightly better.

Why didn't you take the stats from this year when they both were 30

Bird turned 30 in the 1986-87 season, during which he averaged 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game.

James, 30, averaged 25.3, 6.0 and 7.4 last season.
Better stats and LeBron chose to go to a new team so that excuse is null I will give LeBron defense but that's more athleticism than anything. If anything he got exposed AGAIN in the playoffs to me.

 

[Sccit]

IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE....BIRD IS IN THE FIRST TIER OF OF GREATS. LEBRON IS NOT. /THREAD

 

[itsyoung!!]

negged for stupidity


illegal defense woulda been called 50 times a game trying to guard bron.
Bron is bigger than karl malone and quicker than damn near all the point guards back then but im supposed to believe he wouldnt dominate?

bron is bigger than Karl Malone ?

yall just type whatever on here and hope people just dap your posts and believe it to be true ? This some Media Take Out type posting here.. "Bron is bigger than Karl Malone!" in what fukking world ?

Karl Malone a good 20-30 lbs of muscle heavier than LeBron and was taller too they arent even close in size actually.. Comparing Karl Malone to Lebron is like comparing Lebron to Paul George in size you see how ridiculous that is ?

The league has got smaller, not bigger since the 80s/90s as evident by the PF/Center position and now is more guard focused so yall saying Lebron would bully people in the 80s/90s because of his size gotta be like 14 years old thats the only thing I can chalk up all the non sense being posted in this thread

 

[ajnapoleon]

bron is bigger than Karl Malone ?

yall just type whatever on here and hope people just dap your posts and believe it to be true ? This some Media Take Out type posting here.. "Bron is bigger than Karl Malone!" in what fukking world ?

Karl Malone a good 20-30 lbs of muscle heavier than LeBron and was taller too they arent even close in size actually.. Comparing Karl Malone to Lebron is like comparing Lebron to Paul George in size you see how ridiculous that is ?

The league has got smaller, not bigger since the 80s/90s as evident by the PF/Center position and now is more guard focused so yall saying Lebron would bully people in the 80s/90s because of his size gotta be like 14 years old thats the only thing I can chalk up all the non sense being posted in this thread

But no one would accuse karl malone of peds right he never got hurt and played so many games ..........but lebron does right? damn you guys pick and chose when and how you want to shyt on some one

 

[BXKingPin82]

They averaged like 120ppg in the 80s.

Just because you saw 4 or 5 Youtube clips of guys getting clotheslined doesn't mean that's how they were playing 24/7. Jesus christ I hope you were being sarcastic. A freak like LeBron would light the 80's up and have every record known to the league.

knowutimsayin

actin like these muthafukkas was on some Arch Rivals NES shyt every goddamn game

 

[Standing on business]

bron is bigger than Karl Malone ?

yall just type whatever on here and hope people just dap your posts and believe it to be true ? This some Media Take Out type posting here.. "Bron is bigger than Karl Malone!" in what fukking world ?

Karl Malone a good 20-30 lbs of muscle heavier than LeBron and was taller too they arent even close in size actually.. Comparing Karl Malone to Lebron is like comparing Lebron to Paul George in size you see how ridiculous that is ?

The league has got smaller, not bigger since the 80s/90s as evident by the PF/Center position and now is more guard focused so yall saying Lebron would bully people in the 80s/90s because of his size gotta be like 14 years old thats the only thing I can chalk up all the non sense being posted in this thread

Listen fukk boy Bron and Malone are the same damn height and weight so how do you assume Malone has 30 pounds more muscle?

Paul George is like 30 pounds lighter than them so how is that the same comparison.

The glove one of the best defenders then would get brons nuts in his mouth and straight bullied

 

[itsyoung!!]

But no one would accuse karl malone of peds right he never got hurt and played so many games ..........but lebron does right? damn you guys pick and chose when and how you want to shyt on some one

Listen fukk boy Bron and Malone are the same damn height and weight so how do you assume Malone has 30 pounds more muscle?

Paul George is like 30 pounds lighter than them so how is that the same comparison.

The glove one of the best defenders then would get brons nuts in his mouth and straight bullied

what the fukk yall talkin about stanning really impairs people from rational posts

where did the PED talk come from ? No one mentioned PEDs in this entire thread

and why the fukk would Gary Payton be guarding Lebron ?

are either yall even from America ? yall broken ass english and horrible posts in this thread has me wondering if yall even watched more than 10 basketball games

the coli turning into facebook comments section where people watch 2 games and just comment on shyt

edit: theres no rational way you watched Karl Malone and think Lebron is near his size Karl Malone is 1-2 inches taller than Lebron (so nah they not the same height) plus he was 260-270 lbs (I believe at one point weighing 280) , Lebron is 240-255 lbs

this aint even something to argue this is basic ass step on a scale and look at the number type shyt

edit#2: and this is about the 80s, Gary Payton was drafted in 1990

we are talking about Lebron James size vs Karl Malone size and Gary Payton is some how brought up

yall lucky im not a mod id ban both yall from this section for these posts

edit#3: Karl Malone was a big ass mafukka , how can you even fix your eyes to even think they are the same size

 

[Ceazy]

what the fukk yall talkin about stanning really impairs people from rational posts

where did the PED talk come from ? No one mentioned PEDs in this entire thread

and why the fukk would Gary Payton be guarding Lebron ?

are either yall even from America ? yall broken ass english and horrible posts in this thread has me wondering if yall even watched more than 10 basketball games

the coli turning into facebook comments section where people watch 2 games and just comment on shyt

edit: theres no rational way you watched Karl Malone and think Lebron is near his size Karl Malone is 1-2 inches taller than Lebron (so nah they not the same height) plus he was 260-270 lbs (I believe at one point weighing 280) , Lebron is 240-255 lbs

this aint even something to argue this is basic ass step on a scale and look at the number type shyt

edit#2: and this is about the 80s, Gary Payton was drafted in 1990

we are talking about Lebron James size vs Karl Malone size and Gary Payton is some how brought up

yall lucky im not a mod id ban both yall from this section for these posts

edit#3: Karl Malone was a big ass mafukka , how can you even fix your eyes to even think they are the same size

My G finally my breh talking sense in here

Karl Malone was widely known as a big dude people will say LeBron is built LIKE Malone but never the same size that's asinine

 

[itsyoung!!]

My G finally my breh talking sense in here

Karl Malone was widely known as a big dude people will say LeBron is built LIKE Malone but never the same size that's asinine

im still trying to figure out how Gary Payton was brought up when discussing Karl Malone and LeBron James in a Larry Bird thread

 

[Ceazy]

im still trying to figure out how Gary Payton was brought up when discussing Karl Malone and LeBron James in a Larry Bird thread

goal post being moved all around in this thread breh

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Why didn't you take the stats from this year when they both were 30

Bird turned 30 in the 1986-87 season, during which he averaged 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game.

James, 30, averaged 25.3, 6.0 and 7.4 last season.
Better stats and LeBron chose to go to a new team so that excuse is null I will give LeBron defense but that's more athleticism than anything. If anything he got exposed AGAIN in the playoffs to me.

Breh he averaged 25/11/8 vs. the Bulls, 30/11/9 vs. the Hawks, 36/13/9 vs. the Warriors.

Exposed

His adjusted #s at age 30 would have been 27/7/8. This was a BAD regular season for LeBron and it wasnt far off Birds 28/9/8.