Is Larry Bird the most skilled offensive NBA player of all-time?

Question

I'm only 26 years old, and I didn't get the privilege to watch Bird live in his prime. I have seen some clips and a couple of old games on ESPN classic and from what I saw, the guy has no weaknesses on the offensive end (shooting touch, passing, working to get open shots, etc) and he's a great rebounder.

Is it safe to say that Bird was the most skilled and versitle offensive player ever?

Answer 1

Kobe is.

Answer 2

mik jordan

Answer 3

I bet your just saying that because hes white.

Bird = overrated

its uncommon for a white player to be good every average one turns into great  

Answer 4

You dumb Jordan Jockers obviously have been watching too much Space Jam.

When you're talking about Larry Bird, you can throw all your stats out the window. Bird was not somebody who played for numbers. His goal was to make every one of his teammates play at a higher level and to win games.

If Bird really wanted to, he could have scored many more points than he did. Anyone who ever saw him play can attest to that. There was NOBODY who was going to stop him. The difference between Bird & Jordan, is that if they were double or triple teamed, Jordan would still shoot. Bird would hit the open man. Bird had much greater court awareness than Jordan ever did.

It's hard to say if Bird was the most skilled offensively, but he's definitely up there. Wilt Chamberlain has to be mentioned as well - he owns most of the scoring and rebounding records, as well as being the only center in history to lead the league in assists.

But Bird, despite being slow, was able to make the most of his abilities through hard work and practice. He was probably the most disiplined player ever, always adding another dimension to his game every season.

Bird was a much better shooter than Jordan as well as a better passer (pass was a 4-letter word to Jordan). Bird was also a better free-throw shooter and had greater court awareness. So, how is it that Jordan is better offensively???

Interesting story about Bird:

Bird was actually a better shooter in college than in the pro's (if you can believe that!). Right before he joined the Celtics, he broke 3 fingers on his shooting hand playing in a softball game. The doctors were unable to set his fingers correctly resulting in 2/3 of his hand being permanantly disfigured.

This injury would have ended the careers of most players. Bird had to totally re-learn how to shoot the ball in order to compensate for this. He ended up winning rookie of the year and led the celtics to the best record in the league.  

Answer 5

I think Larry Bird is the best all-around player ever.  Who else has 25 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assist, and good defense as a career stat?  He could post up, 3 point sharp shooter, rebound, shoot, pass, block, steal, you name it, and he was clutch.

Answer 6

it goes Michael Jordan -Larry Bird- Kobe Bryant -Magic Johnson then LeBron James

Answer 7

The best offensive NBA player was Wilt Chamberlain. Seriously, who else can avg 50+ pts for a season? Wilt is also a beast on the defensive end.

Answer 8

Michael Jordan!??? compare stats

But Larry Bird is the greatest 3-point shooter of all time

Answer 9

he is one of them but mj is the best

Answer 10

Some people don't understand that skill is something you can learn it's not about high flying dunk and showboating Larry Bird was a Gym Rat that worked on his game endlessly made himself better at the basic skills that why Basketball was more fun to watch then,he wasn't a highflyer just a player with a great Basketball IQ. That's way they called him Larry Legend.

Answer 11

I don't think anyone, without supreme athletic ability, produced the numbers that Bird did. Jordan is better offensively, but if you took away his ultra quick speed and leaping ability he'd be more like Mitch Richmond. Still very skilled, but I doubt he'd be droppin' 37 a game without those athletic gifts.

For the people who say Kobe is more skilled, they're either stupid or just don't know any better. Kobe shoots 45% from the floor, 84% from the line, and 34% from three. Kobe is only offensively dominant and efficient when the defense is soft. When a team locks in on him ('04 Pistons, '08 Celtics) Kobe will score less and shoot around 35-40%. Kobe can go on some mean hot streaks, that's about it.

Anyway, Bird...most skilled ever, I don't know, but I'll say he had every offensive tool in the book, minus the athelticism.  

Answer 12

i actually got to watch bird in the garden at boston when i was a kid for about three years and was a fan of his (not boston) for years after. the point everyone is missing is skill. bird was dangerous from everywhere. the mere fact that he wasn't a high flyer and and still avg 10 boards and could get 25 to 30 on any given night is even more of a testament to his skill. he was super balanced knowing when to shoot and when to pass and when to anticipate steals. also everyone was more athletic than bird and he would still put up his crazy numbers with a high efficiency.

yes bird was the most complete offensive player skill wise. he had no offensive weakness. him not being able to dunk from the free throw line is not a weakness. he could bang inside as well as post up and shoot over either side.

Answer 13

Arguably he was,  His weakness was explosiveness, buy his IQ helped compensate for that.

Answer 14

Skill have to go to Jordan.  Bird is probably the smartest player.  

Answer 15

yes Bird is the most skilled basketball player i ever seen i watch the Celtics for about 30 years  

Answer 16

If your going off numbers, I like Magic, or Oscar Robertson for the debate. Magic has the most official triple doubles. He played all five positions in a game before. And Oscar robertson averaged a triple double for a season. 30+ points, 12+rebounds, 11+assist

Answer 17

He's a great offensive player but so were these players Individually some of these players blow byrd's stats out of the water. Overall you know there has to be one that was better than him so i'm sorry i would have to disagree.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Elgin Baylor

Wilt Chamberlain

Julius Erving

Magic Johnson

Michael Jordan

Pete Maravich

George Mikan

Bill Russell

Jerry West

Kobe Bryant - He still has the rest of his career so anything can happen in that time, remember over last few years he's selfishly given up scoring to help him teammates out.

Answer 18

Michael Jordan>kobe bryant

Answer 19

Great shooter, some of the greatest passes I've ever seen, rebounded, and had unbelievable confidence (seriously, read the story about the 3-point contest sometime), the guy was never afraid to take a big shot, and would call out his teammates if they weren't playing up to their potential.

That said, Jordan was better strictly because of his athleticism.  I think you could make a strong argument for Bird (and I watched many of his games growing up both in person and on TV), but he never had the physical ability of Jordan.

Bird was one of the greatest offensive talents in the history of the NBA, unless the person either doesn't understand the game, hates the Celtics because their teams got waxed repeatedly by them, or has deep seeded social and racial issues with a white farm boy from Indiana being one of the best players to play the game.  I grew up a sixers and mavs fan, and even I can recognize how truly great he was as a player.    

Answer 20

Michael Jordan

Go Ask Larry

He Knows

Answer 21

Michael Jordan...