The unique skills that made Larry Bird a GOAT candidate | Greatest Peaks Ep. 4
Support at Patreon: / thinkingbasketball - How good was Larry Bird at his peak? Was he overrated because of his defense? How did he compare to the all-time great passers? And did he have the highest basketball IQ in NBA history?
This is the 4th episode in a series on the greatest peaks in NBA history (focusing on 1977-2020), featuring detailed scouting reports and film breakdown on the best players in NBA history at their best, along with analysis of their impact using historical data & stats to size up the highest peaking players ever.
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Twitter: @elgee35
Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
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www.basketball-reference.com
stats.nba.com
For more, see the Thinking Basketball stats series: • NBA Stats 101 Series
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
Series music:
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Imperfect Place
Lost by Alter Ego
Restless Knight
#ThinkingBasketball #GreatestPeaks #NBAGoat
“Larry Blurred shots into passes.” I see what you did there.
what does it mean?
Rahul Bora it’s a play on words, Larry Bird/Larry Blurred.
@@yd856 oooh got it. Hey thats a smart joke right there
@@yd856 4eva is a mighty long time mate
Yeah that was a fucking bar no doubt about it
This man thinking basketball has the best content on the platform
YES!
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it’s not even close.
yes, you’re spot on. i give honorary mention to The NBA Storyteller.
@@ebrown112 And coach daniel
"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game I'd choose Michael Jordan; If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life...I'd take Larry Bird." - Pat Riley
IMO he is a top 5 player ever
@@splash_basketball is that even supposed to be debatable ? Lmaoooooo him and magic SAVED the NBA they gotta be up there just for that BUT they got the accolades to back it up 😂😂😂😂 lowest you could put him is 6 MAYBE 7 but then you pushing it
@@splash_basketball who else in that top 5 though ?
@@WtJah If I understand this series' criteria, Mj, Magic, LeBron, Duncan, Shaq, Kareem and Hakeem had greater peaks than Bird
@@WtJah Even Steph will be put above Bird offensively, because of his spacing and scoring. He's the engine for the best offense of all time and stats love Steph
More film makes the video so much better. And more modern we get more film we get
I watched Bird his entire career and this is the best breakdown I’ve ever seen. Great observation about his weak layups and great outlet passes. The brutal physical defensive play of the era really punished him in the playoffs.
That entire Celtics team became a fast-break running, extra pass-making machine during his time there. He mentions Bird's fantastic, always on target outlet passes, but notice how his teammates expect them and just take off down the court. The other thing about Bird's passing was how he always seemed to hit his man right where that guy liked his passes, so the passes led right into the shot, no resets needed. In 1984 Bird had a triple double to knock the Knicks out of the playoffs and after the game Knicks coach Hubie Brown only wanted to talk about his defense. He said Bird disrupted our whole offense because he plays like a free safety off the ball and disrupts way more than his own man. The video points out he was all NBA Defense from 82-84. This stuck out to me because his first back injury was in 85. If you look at Bird from 80-84, he is noticeably more bouncy and active on defense. In fact many consider 1986 his peak year. He almost took that year off to get back surgery and then he heard Bill Walton was coming to join the Celtics and the rest is history.
@@busterkeaton1001 Buster, Bird led the NBA in defensive win shares 4 times and was 7 times in the top 5. Bird was once 2nd in DRTG and 6 times in the top 10 in DRTG. In the 82-83 season ( the first year of the DPOY award) Bird finished tied for third place. If the award had been present the previous 3 years Bird would have been in contention for the award - not saying he would have won it, but definitely in the discussion. Pat Riley has talked about how Bird read the other team's offensive sets and was disruptive and knew where the ball was going and knew the plays being run almost as good as the other team.
@@busterkeaton1001 yes i believe it was over that summer he hurt his back. But he said "we had such a good team, i had to play." A truly special season. Largely due to the fact that the Celts had by far their strongest bench (in Bird's era).
@@mrho4speed Yeah, even with Parish and McHale he was great on the defensive boards. His defensive rebound rating is higher than Kareem's or Alonzo Mourning's
Not to mention he broke his back in 1987 I think. He played in the worst era for his skillset, yet was prob the best pure b-ball player of the 80s
I love how you put into context all these all time players games. From their limitations and flaws to their skills and mastery of certain aspects of the game.
This is the goal!
Thinking Basketball did the greatest and most complete job on that, Bird himself would love this.
@@ThinkingBasketball Great job on this video and analysis, many do not understand its not just the stats per game, because there's no stat that includes the difficulty of a play, or of a pass, and Bird frequently made some of the craziest passes and shot attempts......as well as all the other areas of difficulty like stealing the ball as you said likening it to a goal tender in hockey swatting a shot away. Bird actually said once, he thought of himself as a gymnast, because of the degree of difficulty he liked to attempt.
You got me thinking when you said " he typically shoots 4ppg avg less during the playoffs VS the season ". I know he makes the clutch shots, but he isn't making as many baskets. Then the video just got to your section on his passing and it clicked. His assists are inversely proportional to his scoring in the playoffs. His double digit assist games doubles during the playoffs, while his points slightly drop off. I am assuming the greater defence from the other teams doubling him, leaves his team mates open for his god tier passing. @@ThinkingBasketball
The one thing I think is most remarkable about Bird is that he finished 2nd for MVP in 81, 82 and 83 and then won it in 84, 85 and 86. He nearly won 6 straight MVP's. And this was in a decade that many consider to be the apex of NBA talent and competition. And then Bird's 50-40-90 years were AFTER that run of almost winning 6 straight MVP's. And with a chronic bad back. Also, he averaged 10 rebounds. Shaq only averaged 10.9 rebounds. But the first paragraph is still much more impressive.
to be fair to Shaq, his pace during his apex was incredibly slower than Bird's was so there are less shots to rebound overall. If you take into consideration their Per 100 possessions rebounding numbers, there is a larger gap in rebounding b/t Shaq and Bird. However, your first paragraph is a lot more impressive as you mentioned. The other thing about Bird's 50-40-90 seasons was that he was the first to do it in multiple seasons (the 2P% in his era was higher than the 90s and 2000s, however, Bird makes up for it for being an elite 3 Point-Shooter for his era*). He would also be the last (and first) high volume scorer in the club until Dirk in 2007**. *- to go back to Bird's 3-Point shooting, he made the most 3s in '86 and '87 and was 4th in '85 and '88. However, his 3P% ranked 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 7th in that span, respectively. To compare him to the future 3-Point king of the next decade, Reggie Miller's highest finish in 3P% was 3rd in 1994 but he only ranked 10th in the league in makes that same year. The two years he led the league in makes (1993 and 1997), he didn't make the Top 10 and he ranked 6th, respectively so I would say that Bird may be a greater 3-Point shooter than Reggie was but with a far smaller sample size, of course. **- I want to give a shoutout to Peja in 2004 though. He only shot 48% so he didn't make the 50-40-90 club, but he did average 24.2 PPG in one of the slowest and worst shooting eras in NBA history. To compare him to Dirk in 2007, he shot 51.1% from 2-Point range while Dirk shot 51.5%. He did however, average more than 3x the amount of 3s that Dirk shot in 2007 though so had he shot less 3s, he'd no doubt make that club. This was also an era where they didn't completely do away w/ hand-checking either so that's why I believe Peja's 2004 season was vastly underrated as a shooter.
@@kawaiiafangirl The fact that the Kings never get over the hump to either a finals appearance or a sustained run of excellence devalues each of its stars, especially in the era of Kobe and Shaq and Duncan. The Kings aren't naturally a glamorous team or a big market, so unless they did something extraordinary (or had someone extraordinary: cf. LeBron with the Cavs, the only reason they have been relevant in the last 30 years), they are somewhat lost to history. Williams, Divac, Webber, Peja, Bibby, Jackson, Hedo, Christie, they're all just "good players from back then." I had no idea that Peja eventually won a ring with the Mavs in 2011, because I had forgotten he was still even in the league by then.
@@SteveGellerMusic I agree that him not going to the Finals with the Kings kinda makes people forget about him but my point was more geared towards how the 50-40-90 club isn't fair for players who peaked around his era.
@@kawaiiafangirl Nods. I also think, though, that people still discount the fact that Bird (and others in his era) never practiced the 3-point shot growing up. Curry was probably practicing it at age 8. In the 1981 Finals, I think Bird only took 1 3-point shot (the famous one at the end of Game 6). So even though he was shooting far fewer of them, and that perhaps made it easier to have a higher percentage, for him to be a 40% 3-point shooter at the time was remarkable. Josh Richardson shoots 40% from 3 now, and he isn't among the 30 best shooters in the league.
@@SteveGellerMusic yeah. I remember hearing someone compliment Bird on his 3-Point shooting but he said that he never practiced 3s in the first place. Lol.
As a diehard Laker fan, let me say Bird has the greatest Basketball i.q. Of any player I have ever seen. He knew what you were going to do before you did. That one play when he misses a shot then goes in for the rebound while everyone else is standing around sums him up.
That damn play was like Jordans free throw line dunk. When i think of a legendary move from a certain player, both those moves come to mine.
Ya you are exactly right. IQ is the right word to use for Larry. He made up for an average body by being the smartest basketball guy on the court. And those hands! Ya im old and I love dr j and magic and micharl and all those other guys too, but Larry was just so FUN to watch you know? Anything could happen and always did.
lets appreciate robert parish unbelievably high release. this dude made some of the most unnecessary difficult shots ever
Parish McHale Bird best front line ever? Hard to imagine anyone else being better. Have to admit, though, explosion of 3-point efficiency in the Curry era has dramatically changed defenses. You can't sag off of shooters now like you could in the Bird and Jordan eras, daring players to take 3s you knew they weren't going to make. Now you have to extend your perimeter defense well beyond the arc meaning more lanes are open for passes to cutters. It's far more difficult to defend.
The thing I liked about Parish was him storming down the court on the break. He often beat the whole team to rim. A gigantic advantage for the Celtics. Not only you got points, but it would tire the other center out. Games where they beat the Lakers, you usually have Parish running well.
@@moeball740 they should just bring back hand checking back so defenses actually means something. players can go left right stepback and through defenses with push offs, pass/alley oop, not to mention the ability to draw fouls so easily now. i wish the nba followed the concept of too much of something is a bad thing.
Robert parish was a great center,hail to the cheif!!!!!!!
Well the fact that Parrish was stoned out of his mind too helped him stay cool as the other side of the pillow most of the time.
There will never be another Larry Bird because, as you said, "His body broke down at age 31". No one will ever play like Larry, giving it all every play because it's not a good long term strategy. I appreciate Larry so much having grown up watching him!
Larry ruined his back paving his mom's driveway (so not basketball related) which ultimately led to his retirement. Context matters.
@@youtubedick-tators1991 And that happened before his career really started
bird had the highest iq. He was able to get 24 points and 6 assist withotu dominating the ball. He was the master of the touch pass. The craftiest player ever. And some of his shots you would be perplexed by how simple his moves looked and yet how unstoppable it was. He was the perfect teammate.
facts! I like the way you think bro
Just wait till the lbj video then we will decide who has the highest iq
Thinks two plays ahead and mentally tough. Only Jordan matches that.
@@joelcranny3860 I am definitely not putting LeBron down by praising bird. It's just that if you're an unathletic white guy who can't jump and yet you get the equal amount of assist that LeBron gets at an equal amount of efficiency, it means that you have to overcompensate by using more of your head than anything else. And that does not take away from LeBron
@@joelcranny3860 I’ll go bird. Bird really did make his teammates better. N he didn’t have to dominate the ball
I think a lot of his drop-off in playoffs was due to the fact that he was usually injured, often badly, come playoff time (including 86) because he played every game, including preseason, like it was the finals, sacrificing his body in games that didn't mean much. There's a reason he has the best win ration ever in the regular season. He also played huge minutes, so by the time playoffs came he wasn't as effective. In 1986 he was second in the league in minutes played.
I love your videos man
Yeah, he was permanently badly injured after the '84-85 season when he severely injured his back during the summer. He was not the same player after that.
Teams work harder on defense in playoffs.
His drop-off was because he got others involved in the game. He said " you win as a team and you lose as a team ". Scoring dropped, but other stats picked up steam....passing, picks, cutting off passing lanes and running the fast break. He was the most dangerous when he WASN'T scoring. He did what was necessary to win.
Hey Merkin, love the content man.
The first clip after the Larry intro, where Larry knew he missed the shot but followed it, and put it back in with his off hand while falling out of bounds, IMO is one of the greatest sequences I've ever seen...I think this was in one of the Finals games against Houston...not sure if '81 or '86
81
Here is why I love this. This is the first time where I have seen legitimate tangible evidence of HOW a great player makes his teammates better. It isn't just that he had the shot, which he absolutely did. and it isn't just that he passed and got assists but the "shot pass" FORCED his teammates to pay attention at all times to what he was doing and ALWAYS be ready for the pass because they really had no idea what he was going to do until he did it (and even then they didn't sometimes). This not just forces them to be ready but it also lets them know that he will feed you if you do your job and get open which makes guys work harder to get open, which of course makes the offense run best, but it also makes those player play at a higher level every night. We hear talking heads talk about "floor leadership" and "making teammates better", but 9 times out of 10 they are just looking at lobs and raw assist numbers. Bird's impact on the floor was so much deeper than any other SF that has ever played and arguably deeper than anyone not named Jordan or Johnson. They call him the legend for a reason
Well said. Bird had his teammates convinced that he's always looking for them, so their antennas had to be up. There was no looking around waiting if you were his teammate.
Bird was an all around player.. Johnson was a cement head.. Jordan was the best player ever inmho, but an absolute horrible abusive teammate..not a loved man, and in some regards, not respected..Bird was feared AND respected
My favorite series on YT rn. I feel like a kid again waiting for the new episode of a show on TV every week. 😁😁
Facts. I love real in-depth basketball analysis.
@Noah Leeman haven’t started S2 yet!
NO ONE had a better fusion of basketball insticts, heart and skills than Bird.
there isn't enough talk about Bird. He was simply amazing. I loved his toughness the most.
Can’t believe this channel doesn’t even have 200k subs
Sadly there’s a small demand for detailed content on any topic tbh. Science, politics, sports, etc. it’s just how it is
He should have 1 million if we are being real
He needs more click-baity title
@@joram4139 we don't want but him to devolve into that though.
@@sed1589 we dont but we also want him to earn more for his content
The master of the extra pass. Passing is my favorite part of the game especially Bird's extra pass.
Also like the way you show Larrys strengths and weaknesses. Instead of just Larry Legend througout. It actually makes him an even more unbelievably good player as he had to overcome the weaknesses on jumping by going low and hitting the ball away or getting quick scrappy steals. He applied his thinking ahead skills even to the weaknesses of his game. Bravo dude. Great video.
Anyone that says Bird was a bad defender either never watched him or doesn't know what they're talking about., he was a great defender. He is 42nd all time in steals per game, 33rd in defensive win shares, 38th in Defensive +/- and a ferocious defensive rebounder. Bird may have not been great in one on one, but he's one of the best team defenders ever, even when players blow by Bird you'll notice a lot of time he funneled them into the direction of Parish and McHale to block the shots, this was called the venus flytrap back in the day. He also made all 2nd defensive team twice.
Merkin - Bird actually made the all defensive 2nd team 3 times early in his career. It was 3 years in a row and in the 82-83 season Bird actually finished in a tie for 3rd place for the DPOY award. This was the first year of the award and if it had been created a few years earlier, Bird would have been in the discussion. I do not think he would have won the award , but it shows how good of a team defender he was - Bird could pick up on the offensive sets the other teams were running and many times knew what plays the other teams were setting up.
Bird was a Horrible individual Defender but an all time great team defender. He was Great at anticipating and funnelling defenders into that all time great front line.
LOL
@John and in game 6 in 86 while the box score wasn't anything we haven't seen from him before it's considered his best game in the playoffs for a reason. He was everywhere doing everything.
@John Ask anybody that played with or against bird. They will tell you that bird was who they targeted defensively, they couldn't target ..tiny, cornbread, Parash, Mchale, Dennis or even Danny Ainge (although they tried) the goal was to get Bird on their best Perimeter scorer. Bird would always pick up quick early fouls especially in his first 3 years in the league. So Boston always had athletic defensive perimeter players for that reason. Bird was a above average post defender but that's about it when it comes to "individual" defense. However as team defender Bird is a all-time Great. He understood your teams weaknesses and was outstanding in baiting teams into horrible shots. His anticipation and intuition was next level. Larry Bird was the first player that I watched and studied that saw the game literally two, three moves ahead. And he was also an all-time great, off the ball as well. He was the first player I seen dominate games without touching the ball.
bruh. i knew bird was a legend but man just pure wizardry
The thing about Bird people don't get if they just watch highlights is the SPEED at he played and Ben points this out. He would made crazy passes immediately if the flow of the game. His anticipation and visual sense of the game reminds me of Wayne Gretzky. Where Gretzky always knew quicker than everyone how the play would develop.
His intangibles were on another level. He's my favorite all time player, and one of my top 3 best players. His numbers would be crazy nowadays, but what made Bird great was his ability to get the whole team involved.
He even went hardcore in softball 🥎
THIS guy WAS unbelievable!! I'm a big Magic Johnson and Lakers fan!! The 80s saved the NBA as we currently know it. 3s back in the day were not a part of team's offensive game. No set plays unless they were for last second/ game winning/tying plays.
1:33 Lefty hook post game 2:03 PASSING in paint 2:23 Quick release fadeaway Larry's money maker 💰 4:20 Floaters & flips 6:39 Off ball movement 8:42 Shots into PASSES 11:13 Best outlet PASSER ever 16:20 Most memorable play vs Pistons 18:40 Summary and Metrics Score
This series is so good, I can’t wait until you do Hakeem.
He did a podcast on him
Hakeem in his prime might be the greatest 2 way player of all time.
@dhsilv2 that's why at age 34 he had a crazy low defensive rating while anchoring a top ten defense, huh? Duncan might have more accolades but Hakeem at his best was a more efficient versatile volume scorer. A more versatile perimeter defender while also being a better shot blocker and rim protector.
dhsilv2 Hakeem in 1993-1994 won MVP, DPOY, averaged 27.8 ppg in a slower paced era, had a 95 defensive rating in the regular season and a 97 in the playoffs. He also had 56.5% TS in the regular season and 56.8% TS in the playoffs. Not to mention leading the league in ppg in the playoffs with 28.9 (33 the next year) and averaging 4 blocks a game in the playoffs. At his peak he was the best 2 way player in the NBA.
@dhsilv2 so what reasoning do you have for this? Any opponent percentages? Cause right now your're making mostly baseless claims that stats and eye test say different
Bird in MVP voting 1980-1988: 4th, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, MVP, MVP, MVP, 3rd, 2nd.
He should of had a couple more MVP’s
@@susanbloodgood3572 for sure!!
Great post
@@susanbloodgood3572 how about his defense, Charles barkey not a fan of Larry bird defense, not Tommy heinsohn either
What does this prove 💀
OG Larry Legend with the step back ankle breaker lol, brilliant video Bird had insane highlights lol
Larry was legit
The back injury curtailed his career by atleast 5 years. He is the best player in his era.
Would've been crazy to see if Bird kept the dynasty going into the early 90s. Jordan might've had less rings.
@available2094 It absolutely would have meant less rings for Jordan had Len Bias and Reggie Lewis not passed away and had played with Bird. UNSTOPPABLE
One thing that you touched on but warranted a more in-depth mention is that guys back then didn't even practice taking threes. You can find interviews with Bird where he says that he never even practiced them other than a little bit right before the 3-point contest at the All Star games. When you look at the percentages that he shot from three when he never practiced them, it makes what he did even more amazing.
"The delivery on some of these would make UPS jealous"
Ben Taylor really loves pointing out Bill Walton 😂
He and Arvydas Sabonis were 2 Star Centres that we never really got to enjoy due to injuries 😲
@@willhooke u mean Sabonis in the nba. Because we saw Sabonis in his prime in Europe.
@@billkevin4501 yes, true 👍
@@willhooke Indeed
I feel MJ watched A LOT of Bird because he did a lot of what Bird is doing in these clips. Especially what Bird was doing in defense, including the passing lanes.
True. Because of MJ s obvious athleticism & that they played different positions, few realize this. But it's there. I guarantee you most of their opponents knew. The great ones anyhow.
People don't realize how much of a student of the game Jordan was. His effort to improve and be as fundamental as you can be is forgotten when people mention jordan. People usually bring up the Scoring, athleticism, clutch,etc. People forget how fundamentally sound he was, MJ wasn't just a raw athlete that relied soley on athleticism. He could have still had a good career with just that. But he had the desire to work on everything in his game.
I would say Larry read the game like no one ever has. His understanding anticipation of how basketball happens allowed him to dominate a game that lends itself to the athletic archetypes. #LarryLegend #BirdMan #33
I think he had an injury in high school like a broken arm that kept him on the bench and he said he really learned a lot that year from just watching the game. Amazing to think he watched virtually no NBA games as kid and of course this was before ESPN and highlight culture. My game improved immensely by watching him play and practicing his moves.
Seeing the complete lack of spacing in these highlights is just triggering something in my head
nbatv showed a bunch of old games during the shutdown. as a rockets fan, i watched lakers/rockets game 5 from 1986. it was insane watching akeem try to post up with 2 defenders in his lap because literally no one was more than 20 feet from the basket. it took 6 years for someone to go "hey, maybe we should give our all-time great post player some room to operate, whaddya think?"
3 pointers was seen as ineffective Basketball in the 80s
@@aprophethere Its all about trends and working with what you had. The Ralph Samson/Olajuwon pairing was short lived but a potent in playoff matchups. Not many teams had a legit answer to it. Towards the prime end of Hakeem's career the Rockets were lucky to get talent that was more complimentary to Olajuwon getting space. He also had a career high in assists and exemplifies the in and out way for a big to generate offensive looks passing from the post and having the perimeter talent to take advantage.
@@aprophethere you needed a generation to develop their 3 point skills. The generation that played in HS with a three point line. And you need multiples. A dude of Robert Horry's size shooting threes? In the 80's that was practically only Bird.
You can't shoot threes and stepbacks with a hand on your hip. You can barely drive. Thats the real difference. When they changed and enforced handchecking that opened up the perimeter. Guys like Bird and Maravich could shoot the lights out in today's game. Even guys like Predrag would benefit.
That Professor X part was superb😁👌🏾
Yes! So glad I’m not the only one who caught that
@@JonCom3dy he literally said it in the video how could anyone miss it?
How can someone dislike these videos... Just facts, statistics and well thought conclusions. This is just perfect to me.
10:02 Never seen that one before, holy crap
Mad
Yeah, he had that in his arsenal and busted it out a few times. I grew up watching him and I remember quite often plays where I didn't actually see what he did until the slomo replay.
That’s my all time favorite.
That was fucking filthy.
Not just blind fanboying, but a balanced analysis that seeks to uncover all aspects of Bird’s game, good and bad, while still paying homage to the legend that Bird is. A masterclass breakdown of an all-time great. This video too is a legend.
I honestly thought he would talk more about the touch passes, that to me was the one thing Larry was absolutely the best at. Never saw anyone else that could do those with such efficiency.
I can finally understand why all those analysts were saying so-and-so player would be the next Larry Bird
He is doing a lot of things back then that are common now so people that have his athleticism and size aren’t usually as good now because a lot of the little thing matter as much now because a lot of people know all the fakes and stuff like that so smalls have to have crazy range now
only Luka really is comparable in terms of basketball iq tbh
@@devvv4616 nah Jokic is a far better comparison
@@devvv4616 On offense and in terms of manipulating the defense it's Jokic who is the closest right now. Doncic reminds me more of a James Harden and a less athletic LeBron James.
@dhsilv2 Luka is a far better passer and a more motivational leader. Harden is just a much better scorer and that might be where Luka is a poor mans Harden. Overall right now Harden is still better but I wouldn’t be surprised if Luka becomes a better leader and overall player in the near future.
best assessment of Bird's subtleties on KZhead. Simply put, he was a genius.
xmjones100.wordpress.com/2020/12/20/larry-birds-effect-the-only-player-that-matters/
My Pop's was in love with Red Auerbach and his mighty Celtic dynasty they provided him with some memorable games. He would brag about Larry Bird and Larry never let him down.
It used to be bill Russell & John havlichek
15:23 turned basic entry passes into an adventure, love it. This is how I tried to be and I've always looked for it from players. People don't realize how many passes you can get your hands on if you really try to be quick and anticipate. The passer is often not ready for aggressive quick hands. But like Kendall gill said: don't use it all up in the beginning, let them throw some lazy passes on you, then once they get used to it, take their lunch.
And now I look forward to magic next week, ben out here making me look forward to Monday's
😂😂
I never knew why Bird was so good beyond his shooting. This video really helps me appreciate his game!
Then you'll love this little bit. Players used to have to retrieve their own missed shots when practicing where as now they have people to do it for them so it's faster. That made it much slower and more difficult to practice your shot, so there was less of a focus on it. Edit: I misread your comment
In the early 80's Bird was routinely considered one of the best all around players ever. Even with 7 foot Robert Parish and 6'11" Kevin McHale, Bird was the best rebounder on the Celtics. Bird had crazy hand eye coordination. One time got pushed out of bounds and as he was falling out he shot from behind and over the backboard and swish, all net. His passing was insane and his anticipation of where the play was headed was among the best ever in the NBA. This made him a very effective defender, despite not having elite quickness. He didn't just get by, he routinely disrupted games, paticularly before his multiple back injuries. If you look at Lakers Celtics footage. Kareem hated being guarded by Bird, because he could see the skyhook coming and often got close before Kareem got the shot up over his shoulders
Amazing video. It feels so fun learning of all the intricacies these GOATS had that made them transcendent. When you showed Larry Bird's passing, I had the biggest smile. They were so precise, quick, and seamless that it felt like poetry in motion. Can't wait to see Magic Johnson.
This was the best breakdown I have seen on KZhead. Looks like I will be binge-watching all the other videos you have made. Excellent video.
Nice Video, very thorough as usual! I saw Larry Bird play a lot during his career and although he had some weaknesses like his jumping ability (28" vert in his prime) and his lack of high end foot speed, I don't think it affected his game all that much. I mean, Larry was a large small forward at a big 6'9" yet he had truly great skills for a player of any size. He really didn't have any weaknesses in his game and too much is made of his ability to guard slashers. Remember, Larry had an all-time great basketball IQ so leveraged that in the half court team defense that Boston played. On offense he could do it all and at a high level. Bird is proof that the ability to dunk is overrated when compared to his vision, timing, ball fakes, quick release, other worldly passing ability, his ability to finish with both hands in the paint, etc... I still haven't seen any forward, before or since, that could match Bird. People also make too much of his 24 ppg in the playoffs - defenses were more geared to stoping him and because he was a team player, his teammates got more, open shots and Bird was ok with that. Larry just wanted to win any way possible and he did a lot of that in his prime.
Larry was a large small forward at a big 6'9" .......this plus his shooting range and ability to go both left and right made him a nightmare matchup. People don't talk about how he changed the game. Very, very few big forwards could guard him because he would take them out of his comfort zone and take them out 20-25 feet. Because he was threat left, right and center with his shot meant you needed someone quick which usually meant a smaller guy. When you put the smaller guy on him he would take you in the post and put you on his back. You needed guys who were both fast and strong to guard him and hopefully big. You can see the forward position start to change in the 1980's start to change partially due to him.
It's not about jumping, it never was about jumping. It's about winning.
It's not about jumping, it never was about jumping. It's about winning.
If it was about winning... magic and mj ate his lunch
@@GOzHARd901 The NBA went into expansion and MJ won in a watered down NBA. Also, Bird was 6-0 against MJ. As far as Magic goes, Bird was just a better all-around player, period.
I’ve been waiting for this one....
Another excellent video. Not simply the break-down and connections but the overall digestibility of what you are describing.. the painstakingly selected video clips to demonstrate the argument you are making verbally... top tier stuff! Larry Bird is one of these weird super-human legends but not because of any one super-human attribute. Larry's physical ability wasn't much more, perhaps even less than the current roster of NBA talent. It was the other factors Larry had.. his desire, vision, drive, willingness to sacrifice and out work everyone, everytime, till his body broke and then some, combined with his achievements is what made Larry Bird the Legend!
I have watched a fair few of your videos before but I am absolutely loving this series. Your videos are always entertaining and educational but this series and comparing the greats is on another level.
This was an amazing video. Larry Legend is timeless.
This series is unbelievably good. Keep it up, we love it!
All your videos are so detailed and awesome, please keep doing what you do, its so dope to see your deep analysis and breakdowns. I could not wait until you got to Larry and Magic since they were before my time. I'm sitting here like a kid who can't wait to get home from school to see the newest episode of their favorite show.
This video is great on so many levels please keep doing what you’re doing.
Best content on the platform, easy. Always a good day when Thinking Basketball has a new video
Birds scoring isnt as high as some because he fed his teammates rather than hog the scoring...as robert parrish said he wouldnt be a hall of famer if it wasnt for bird.
Bird had the highest basketball IQ ever. Bird & Magic made passing and rebounding "cool" again. In his prime Larry was the greatest of all time.
In his prime he’s definitely in that conversation. He’s my all-time favorite athlete but I have to give the edge to Jordan just because of what he did overall. But in terms of who was the best at their absolute Zenith I think it really is between Bird, Jordan and magic Johnson though some would cogently include Russel, Chamberlain, Maravich or Alcindor.
Hard not to go with MJ, but the Celtics won 32 more games when they got Bird. The Bulls never beat the Celtics in a playoff series. It's a shame that Larry was so driven that he messed up his back in 1985 helping build his Mother's driveway. Take care!
Larry bird doesn’t have a goat case
@@dododump3144 Wrong. Try again.
@@MaximusWolfe I’m right bird doesn’t have the longevity to be in the goat case and his peak wasn’t as good as Kareem’s, LeBrons, MJs Shaqs or Hakeem. He also dropped in the playoffs and wasn’t as good of a defender at his peak as any of the people I named
I've seen a lot of Larry Bird greatness videos but I enjoy this the most because you put so many technicality aspects to his skills. Good Job!
I really hope currys 2nd mvp season is on this list. That season was insane. Kd also had a crazy mvp season.
It's a two year streach so curry's back to back MVP seasons will probably be in here.
@@hawthornedouglas will probably be 2016-17 and 2017-18, he averaged way more points after his second mvp than before, though to be fair his assists went down. Maybe he will do all 3 seasons?
@@hawthornedouglas He said at least 2 seasons, so Curry's peak is probably from 2014-2015 to 2018-2019.
Nbs
I think he will consider Harden, Westbrook, KD, Curry and Giannis out of modern era players. LeBron, Wade, Dirk, Kobe, KG, TD, Shaqtus, CP3 in the era before that. LeBron kinda fits in both, but that's just because he's a freakshow.
hahaha I love the curb reference. "Long ball Larry"
This is my first comment in youtube since 2016... Greatest Series Ever!! Thank you for all the analytics of this era... Remarkable work !
Loved this!!! Bird is my guy so this is the first one I've watched. Going to watch the rest of the series. Great work!!!
Larry Legend and Magic is the reason I watched Basketball. Air Jordan cam along and I was completely hooked. When these three retired I stopped. Larry was my favorite player to watch and made the game exciting to watch. His Basketball acumen was superior and it seemed as though he was two steps ahead of his defenders.
To add to this, the. Game in which he proceeded to score 27 points left handed, truly impressive and I love to know which player in today’s game could achieve such a feat
My hero. He was and is the symbol of blue collar tenacity in sport. I think he had the best court vision and understanding of movement of any athlete in any sport. Nobody could beat you in more ways and nobody was more moves ahead of you. Len Bias’ death cost him another world title but not his mystique. The greatest Celtic of them all, including the magnificent Bill Russel.
Already here, love your knowledge in the sport nobody studies the game like you. True Talent
Ok. Just signed up for Patreon. The quality from Ben is so consistent. This is TV-worthy.
I never knew how fast his hands were that’s crazy
This man's puns are insane: "delivering passes that would make ups jealous" followed by "you can still see the whole package"
BARS!!! Lol
Great content. Great analysis
Amazing commentary and data insight. I'm definitelly a new subscriber.
Bruh just imagine him and magic in this era that shit would be crazy
2 basketball offensive savants on the same team, I would salivate watching that
I think their defense would fall off a bit because they couldn't camp in the paint as much but they'd for sure benefit on offense
@@sed1589 true but I’m think in this era they are more athletic due to better training so I think they would still be the same level defender
magic is between average and good. He's average due to his size working against him against fast perimeter guards but he can still use his length to his advantage and be a good defender when he hustles and michael cooper was the one guarding quicker guards while bird's defense would also fall off but just a bit since he still has a great iq and active hands and would only fall off with him needing to guard fast perimeter players on switches
bird would be much better if he played today. 1. 3's. I don't need to explain that. 2. he'd be more athletic. modern training methods would help him so much. His exercise routine back then was basically playing ball, doing farm work, and bonkers amounts of endurance running. distance running makes you less explosive. that was the primary reason his foot speed/jumping ability were so iffy
wow this is a great video on his impact on the game, and how he'd be applicable in the NBA today... his help defense, passing out of the post, and quick hands are super reminiscent of a certain Draymond Green's game, although Larry obviously has a much much more elite jumpshot/scoring game. he'd make an amazing 4 and small ball 5 today
Loved this! Saw lots of Larry in his playing days...but this shows me a ton of stuff I missed!!
Great series, sharing the hell out of this top job mate ,
"Choreographed embarrassment" Excellent.
I'd like if Dr. J has some appreciation
Dr. J was sort of an unfortunate cut from the starting point (1977), and also his best years in the ABA right before the merger are short on film for this series. I would like to do a J video at some point though...
@@ThinkingBasketball Ben, check out this amazing article recalling Bird's Indiana days and this crazy story about Bird playing against two Hall of Famers before he made his college debut. The coaches weren’t about to let Bird go anywhere. Earlier that season, Mel Daniels, the Indiana Pacers and ABA great, had visited Terre Haute at the request of King, who had coached Daniels at the University of New Mexico. Daniels brought along Pacers teammate and future Naismith Hall of Famer Roger Brown for an afternoon of pick-up ball with some of the Sycamores, including Bird. After the game, Daniels, himself a future Hall of Famer, offered King and Hodges a scouting report on Bird. “Let me tell you something, Coach,” said Daniels. “That’s the best damn player I’ve ever played against.” Brown, who rarely, if ever, gave compliments or praise, agreed. “Ah, come on, Mel,” said Hodges. He laughed, noting that Daniels had played among the likes of Connie Hawkins, Julius Erving, and George McGinnis. “I’m telling you,” said Daniels, “the best damn player I’ve ever played against.” www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/larry-birds-greatest-shot-one-didnt-take
@@busterkeaton1001 Thanks Buster for providing the link below. I already knew most of the story but still this is a great read about how tough it was on Bird as a youngster. I think this helped make him as tough as nails and gave him the "never say die" attitude that was present in his style of play and endeared him to many hoops fans!
@@mrho4speed I also think Bird was more messed up as a young man than we realize. That's why he was so quiet when he came in the league. He basically didn't talk to reporters in Boston for years, they thought he was some kind of idiot savant. But he wasn't good at expressing his emotions and came from basically a small super poor place. Cedric Maxwell said you couldn't talk current events or movies or anything other than basketball with Bird. He walked off Bobby's Knight's Indiana team, because he couldn't handle things in a bigger town and suddenly realized how poor he was compared to other people....he only had two days worth of clothes and had to borrow from his roommate. It was culture shock and he had no resiliency at the time. His head wasn't right. Especially with his Dad's tragedy. So he just turned his back on his scholarship and left without telling his coach, One thing that impresses me, is he genuinely doesn't care what people think of him. Lots of folks say that. He actually does it for real. I can't imagine walking around with people thinking like I'm an idiot and not trying to change their opinion.
Loving this Peakiest Peaks series Very uplifting and insightful 🔬
My favorite player ever analyzed by my favorite youtuber ever. Bird was something else, but Ben is something even greater
Bird, Dennis, Parish, McHale........I so badly want to go back to that time. Things were so good with the NBA and life in general. I miss the Lakers and 76'ers also.
Like the 1960s/ 1980s Boston Celtics star& basketball hall of famer at every position
Best series on youtube
"The delivery on some of these passes would make UPS jealous This clip is blurry but you can still see the whole package" 👏 👏 👏
Congrats !!! KOC made a mention of this series in Bill Simmons podcast. You made it 👏🏽👏🏽
Surprised you didn't talk about Birds impact at the end of games when the score is close with the game on the line
I think Ben's method of analyzing basketball discounts that. Yeah.....it's called winning bias and he did a video on that...............kzhead.info/sun/jJZqc7xwsaR5mnk/bejne.html
I love Larry legend, awesome upload
I love your videos, you always see so much more in the game than I do!
Every video on this channel is so good. Best basketball content on the internet for sure
Also have to disagree when people say Bird was a bad defender, he was a great defender. He is 42nd all time in steals per game, 33rd in defensive win shares, 38th in Defensive +/- and a ferocious defensive rebounder. Bird may have not been great in one on one, but he's one of the best team defenders ever, even when players blow by Bird you'll notice a lot of time he funneled them into the direction of Parish and McHale to block the shots, this was called the venus flytrap back in the day. He also made all defensive team twice. Anyone that says Bird was a bad defender either never watched him or doesn't know what they're talking about.
People who never got to see him play much just kind of assume Bird was a bad defender b/c of his lack of athletics.. but they miss what high IQ and determination offers on defense. Prime Bird made 3 all defensive teams in a row through smart defense alone..
all these kids respect is freakish athleticism and they equate blocks and steals to great defense
@@eroslogan3514 Bro there are people who say Bird couldnt even play today, imagine thinking that, when he played in the league at the same time as MJ and swept him twice. Not even just that, but just look at Jokic, who's about to go back to back MVPs with far less athleticism than Larry.
@@daddyfuse50 unfortunately they're not going to give it to jokic they're hell bent on giving embiid this year
@@daddyfuse50 Bird did not "sweep" Jordan twice. Bird had a team of superstars and Jordan had a team of nobody's. It took an entire team to stop a young Jordan. It certainly wasn't Bird
can't wait for the Michael Adams video next week!
Don’t you mean Magic Johnson?
The short-shorts era! What a great video series. Love your narration.
I'd love for one these players to react to your analysis of them. So good man!
When I was a little kid in Massachusetts Larry Bird drew me into a lifetime of Celtics and NBA fandom. I’ve found it hard to compare him to current players- LeBron with a better shot, but without the insane athleticism? Luka with unlimited 3 point range and defense? Giant Steph without the crazy off the dribble 3s? Smaller Jokic + defense? Of course that’s a silly thing to do. Bird is Bird. The one and only. Thanks for making a video that demonstrates his uniqueness as a basketball player.
It would be amazing to see Bird in the 3 point era. It's a shame they didn't know 3 > 2 back in the 80s lol
We need to get bill simmons reacting to this
@dhsilv2 the guy who really needs to start appearing is j.kyle mann,now that guy is good
@dhsilv2 he is the guy who does all of those cool videos for the ringer about draft prospects,maybe you remember him from the lebron teammate retrospective.Sadly bill keeps him locked in his basement so he makes videos about once a month for them
@@donttalkaboutmymomsyo j.kyle is on the ringer pod pretty often
@dhsilv2 it was an outlier piece,he focuses more on up and coming talent,but his eye for evaluating players mixed with his humor seal the deal for me
@@Rex2Riches sadly not on the bs podcast,i need that interaction between bs and mann haha.tho i dont know if he's featured super often,i know he's done a handful but i dont remember when he last was on except for the one with the draft and tjarks,mind giving me some pointers?
I love this series because I get to learn about the games of all these legends. Often the conversation about the greats is limited to "he's better than this guy but not that guy." It lacks specifics. More than that, there's hardly ever ANY talk about these players' weaknesses. This episode was great as always.
Wow. First time watching this channel. Kevin O’Conner mentioned it. Looking forward to checking out the rest. Liked and subscribed. Thanks for the great content 🙏
Magic did not crush the offensive boards, bump and grind inside, or dive to the floor for lose balls to the same extent Larry did. Magic was great of course, but he did not embrace the physicality that Bird experienced during their first 9 seasons, 1980-1988. That physicality and hustle plays did not make it into the stats. But I urge people to watch these two guys play, and you'll see the amount of time Bird pushes and grinds inside, and how Magic prefers to stay out more. Of course part of this was that Magic was a point guard.
Your analysis of Bird's use of his left hand is excellent. You are spot-on that a lot of it was necessitated by a lack of explosiveness at the rim and a need to use his body to carve out whatever space was available. But you're wrong to call the left-hand game in Portland a tall tale. It's been verified he said he would take all non-jump shots with his left hand, and for most of the game, he does that. I believe his first 19 points scored in or around the paint are with his left hand. It's less impressive than someone might think when you consider how much the left hand was a part of his regular game and that he essentially just took the shots he knew he could get against a team that wasn't exactly a defensive stalwart at the time. So, great job with the video, but had to jump in and defend part of the Legend's legend.
ooo that Curry-like 3 at 3:37 is something I've never seen - kudos for plumbing the depths of videos to support all your points!!!
Nice video as always man. Keep up the great work! wondering if you do a third player from the 80'