Larry Bird was long considered the best winger of all time, until LeBron James came along and pushed him off the throne. A few years ago, the Hall of Famer gave his honest opinion on the King.
Apart from perhaps Kevin Durant, no one seems able to go after them at the top of the hierarchy. Even legends like John Havlicek and Scottie Pippen remain a few steps behind the juggernauts of Larry Bird and LeBron James among wingers. Two players who have much more in common than one might think, given their very different physiques.
Because if the Laker is an athletic monster while the former glory of Boston was barely capable of jumping over a sidewalk, both are among the most versatile basketball players in history. Certainly able to score bags of points, they also impress with their talent in distribution. Bird notably praised the mentality of the quadruple champion to ESPN in 2015:
Larry Bird is full of praise for LeBron James
I used to go out on the field and play, and try to see what we needed. LeBron is the same. He sees the game a little differently than most other players, and he has that mentality that if someone is open, he’s going to give them the ball. This is how the game is supposed to play. These are called fundamentals.
When you’re young, everyone wants to be this and that and score points and do their thing, but when you come into this league and you look around you’re like, “Damn, these guys want to have their piece of the pie too,” and if we give them their piece of the pie, we will be more successful. there is no doubt.
LBJ has never hidden it, he much prefers to redact his teammates rather than go and score himself. But because he was so good at both, he set about becoming a completely unstoppable machine on offense. Paradoxically, if Larry Legend is convinced that he would have greatly enjoyed playing with the superstar, his preference would in fact have gone to a contemporary of the King:
If you want to have fun like I did with Bill Walton, play with LeBron. It probably would have been more fun to play with LeBron, but if you want to win and win and win, it’s Kobe . Not that LeBron isn’t a winner, but Kobe’s mindset is to go to every practice, every game, to get better.
When an orange ball icon like Larry Bird speaks so highly of you, it’s a compliment you’ll probably never forget. LeBron James can rejoice, his way of playing has earned him the respect of the former Celtic while he has often been criticized for being too altruistic, especially in hot moments.
