Transcription
Alright man, peace. So, as many of you brothers probably know by now, the NBA players took a poll to discern who is the greatest player in the history of the NBA. And by 73 percent vote, Michael Jordan won that poll, which did not really shock me. It surprised me a bit because I would have thought that, yes, he would have won, but it, it would have been relatively close between himself and LeBron, especially since it's been almost 20 years since Michael Jordan left the league. The last time, even with just the Wizards, it's been over 20 years since he retired from the Bulls. So, right now, we're in the generation, the players who grew up mostly on Kobe and LeBron. So, I would have thought that the margin would not have been as wide as it was. It is what it is.
But the real focus of this video is going to be Max Kellerman's assertion, with which I agree, that Larry Bird has been the most forgotten all-time great player, probably in the history of the NBA. There are certain categories that I've created myself. One of them being the most overrated all-time great player in the history of the NBA, that being Kobe Bryant. The most underrated all-time great player in the history of the NBA could go to quite a few guys. It could go to Bill Russell, it could go to Tim Duncan, it can go to Moses Malone, it can go to Isiah Thomas, it can go to Dr. J. Well, probably the most forgotten all-time great player to ever play is Larry Joe Byrd. So, of course, they're gonna talk about it. No much. I'm in the top 70% of the fold and order cream. Now, look at how close the poll is between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. As I've stated, those are the two players who were playing while this generation of players was growing up. So, I'm not that surprised that it is that close. But I will say this, Kobe is gaining on LeBron even in his retirement. And that's why I say this time period, full of Brian James, is pivotal. I have him around that number six or seven mark on my list. I've always said I had Kobe around anywhere from 11 to 15. Who knows what a title LeBron James has done? If he did not win another championship and his team's flamed in the regular season like they've done this year, he could definitely drop underneath Kobe. These last four years, he could never catch Jordan, but he could drop under Kobe. And we know that Kobe Bryant's fans, they already have him wearing the Kobe as it is. They have Kobe hair's breadth underneath Michael Jordan.
I also think that Kareem getting that 1.7% is actually good for him. People might say, "Oh, that's terrible for Kareem." That's actually good for a player who retired 30 years ago and whose highlight reel is not exciting at all for the players to even think about him to an almost two percent range. That's relatively good. I agree with you, Malik Erm. I think that Bill Russell should get more love. That's why I've always had him at number three on my list. He could even be number two on my list. And as I've always stated, there are only three players that you can make a serious argument could be number one. And that's Bill Russell, Kareem, and from the outside looking in, Magic Johnson. Even though you can still make a relatively compelling case for him, he wouldn't win, but you can make the case that Magic is the greatest player of all time. He's number four on my list. But I agree with Molly, nobody puts Bill Russell on the list, and he should be there. Even if you want to say he played in the prehistoric era or the pre-modern era, he still won 11 chips. Even though it was only eight teams. So, even if you convert it, say, if you converted according to inflation to the modern era, he still'd be a four or five-time champion. Check out his defensive win share. See, by far the greatest defensive player to ever play in the NBA. Bill Russell was like a combination of Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Dennis Rodman.
What's your biggest problem with? Well, you mentioned Bill Russell. It's good that you did. Will these people see in those grainy color, you know, footage like when he was the Lakers, 110? It's at least in the early seventies. Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest natural athlete of the last 100 plus years, at least to be in professional sports. Do you feel like he's more of a modern player from what you just saw on that list? The way listed the fact that Kareem is solo, Kareem and LaRon. Not really surprised by that. Once again, I actually think the fact that Kareem got 1.7% is pretty good. Rod, it's not clear who's gonna go down as number two behind Jordan. I think it's hilarious, by the way, that still Stevie D's Jordan gets over 70%. This idiot still says that he's not quite sure who's gonna go down at number two behind Jordan. LeBron is not going to go down as number two. You, LeBron, not even want to end top five. He might not end top ten if he's not careful. Great question, sir. I have Larry number five on my list. People forget, and I've stated this in other videos, at one point, for about a three-year stretch, Larry was considered the best player in the NBA. And there were other years where he finished second in the MVP voting. He won MVP three consecutive years, '84, '85, '86, and he finished second in voting, I believe, in '87 and '88. And I think he also finished second in voting for the MVP being like '81 or '82, one of those years. Larry Bird, of that ever like Magic is considered greater because he won five championships, two Bird's three, and he became the best player in the world, you know, at a later date. That hurt. Absolutely. Magic Johnson made most of his gains on the greatest player of all time hierarchy in the late '80s after Bird got hurt. Magic won the MVP in '87, '89, and '90. That is when he started to become considered a greater player than Larry Bird. But from the early '80s all the way through the mid-'80s, Larry Bird was considered the best player in the NBA. Thank you, sir. Like it was really close, but he was the one who won three straight. And once again, people forget this. Isiah Thomas was the first team All-Pro for three years in the mid-'80s. Once again, Magic Johnson really made great gains in the late '80s when it came to how he was considered on the all-time great list, which is why Bird is right there. Bird was right there behind him. Larry Bird is the greatest passing forward of all time, and it's not particularly that close. Average ten rebounds a game for his career. I don't think that LeBron has ever had one season where he averaged ten rebounds a game. People get upset when I said that Larry Bird is a greater small forward than LeBron James. The difference between Larry Bird and LeBron James is that Larry Bird did not play in the performance-enhancing drug era. He basically accomplished in eight or nine seasons what has taken LeBron James 16 seasons to accomplish. The only thing that LeBron has on Larry is that he's won one more MVP. Regular season wise, the advantages that he has on him as the individual players that obviously is a far greater natural athlete, and he's a better individual defender, at least over the course of his prime. But offensively, Bird, better long-range shooter, better mid-range shooter, better free-throw shooter, better passer, and better rebounder. Yep. In Bird's first season, they went from 29 wins to 60 wins. And no Kevin McHale, no Robert Parish, no Dennis Johnson yet. Well, I wouldn't go quite that far. I wouldn't go quite that far. Larry Bird had a far greater basketball IQ than Michael Jordan had early in his career. Jordan's basketball IQ had to grow over a process of time. But Larry Bird made up for his lack of overall athletic ability with his extraordinary basketball IQ. That's why he seemed quicker than everyone else on the basketball floor. That's why he was able to bait Isiah Thomas into throwing the ball away in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 because he was already thinking two or three steps ahead. Not only did he make a great steal, he stayed inbounds, do a perfect pass to Dennis Johnson. The NBA and then Jordan showed up. It was even better. But people just forget. Well, Jordan became better in 1990 than the other emissions. Stephen A, where is? Will you go back and go rusty? Go back. We're shocked. People forgot about Shaq. Shaq is not the greatest player of all time. Now, if we had a list of the most dominant and being players of all time, this sure you can have Shaq on that list. Completely unstoppable. That's my beef. Well, I don't, I don't think about Shaq in that regard because the first order of business I think about is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Would listen. Here's the problem with Kareem, and this is where a lot of people have an issue with my assessment of Kareem. Kareem was never a leader. That's why he never won until he got leaders on the team like Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson. That's why there was such a huge gap between championships for Kareem. And I've always stated that Kareem is arguably the greatest weapon of all time. He was such a great weapon that he rises so high on the all-time and great player list. That's how I consider Kevin Durant as an all-time great weapon. Kevin Durant is also a player who, just off of his potency as a weapon, is probably going to finish his career in the top 15 greatest players of all time. I mean, as of right now, he's definitely top 20, but he's creeping towards top 15. I think that if he goes and takes over his own team and wins a championship, now we start talking about him possibly in that top 10 range, definitely top 15, but possibly top 10. He's a far more proficient scorer than Kobe Bryant ever was. Is he as explosive a scorer as Kobe? Absolutely not. But proficiency-wise, it's Michael Jordan, it's Kevin Durant, and it's everybody else in the last 30 years offensively when it comes to proficiency and output. And also LeBron James on the outside looking in when it comes to proficiency scoring, meaning shooting percentage and also points per game. Like this, and you just wonder why being even allowed to vote. What's that? It's all about Kareem. He's a 19-time All-Star here. The greatest scorer in the history. 19-time All-Star. He's the greatest scorer in the history of basketball. No, he's not. Kareem was not the greatest scorer in the history of basketball. He's the most prolific scorer in the history of basketball. There's a difference. Michael Jordan is the greatest scorer in the history of basketball. Why do I say that? Because over an elongated period of time, he has the highest average points per game of any player in the history of the NBA. That's what makes him the greatest scorer. Kareem is the most prolific scorer. Like, for example, LeBron James is a more prolific scorer than Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant is, as is Carmelo. They're more prolific scorers than Michael Jordan. They're not greater than him. Now, when it comes to scoring a basketball, the greatness of Michael Jordan, who averaged over 30 about nine times or whatever, couldn't eclipse Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And he is the only problem because of longevity. Only person in the history of basketball, and I even bring up the six rings, by the way. He's the only person in the history of basketball that is associated with one unstoppable move. From the time he was a kid to the time he was old and about to retire in his 40s, he is the only person that to the day he walked away from basketball had a move that no one ever could stop in his entire career. Well, that's not quite true. If you're saying ever, Kareem has had his hook shot blocked before. There are other great moves that players have had. Kevin Durant's turnaround jump shot is as close to being considered unstoppable as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook was. That's true. But in how many of those championships was he the MVP? Two or three of them. I believe he was the MVP in '71. I know he was the MVP in '85. Magic was the MVP in 1987 and '88. Now, Kareem probably should have been the Finals MVP in 1980. I can't remember who won the Finals MVP in '82. But Kareem is only the NBA Finals MVP in two or three of those championships. When I think about Larry Bird, here's what I think about. LeBron James is the greatest small forward that ever played basketball. Them, according to you all, the MVP. Right, right. All right. But I don't want the brought over Bird in the last two minutes. So what you really mean is that you don't want LeBron over Bird period. That's really what you mean, sir. Because if LeBron is greater than Larry Bird, then you want to fall 48. I want to hold 11 Bird's hands in the last two minutes. Because before there was Jordan, there was Magic with Bird, and there is no one who went against Bird that Bird did not strike fear in. I didn't say respect because they're all respected, but fear. You were petrified in going up against Larry Bird. Kareem stated that Larry Bird is the most skilled player that he ever played against and probably the greatest player that he ever played against. That's what Kareem said. Larry Bird was 6'10". He was closer to 6'10" than 6'8". He was listed at 6'9", but he was closer to 6'10". When Larry Bird and Kareem went nose to nose in the 1984 Finals, this was after Kevin McHale basically clotheslined Kurt Rambis and the Lakers lost their composure. I think that was in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals, and all of a sudden, Kareem got agitated. He threw an elbow at Bird, and Bird stood up to him like, "What are you doing?" They were almost nose-to-nose. And everybody knows Kareem was about seven-one, seven-two. Larry Bird was a legit 6'10", but he was listed at about 6'9", 6'9" and a half. Was get the shot off without it being a block, and you were literally praying it didn't go in. And the way that great of a sniper like LeBron, his vision was fun. You can see it. It's not fun parallel because Magic too, right? But Bird could pass it practically like Magic, and at that kind of court vision at the small forward, power forward position. But then you could shoot it a whole lot better than Magic, by the way. Bird, and a whole lot better than LeBron. Average ten, eleven rebounds a year. To absolutely. He was a basketball genius. Three consecutive MVPs. He ran the NBA. Larry Bird ran the Alpha, and he was contemporaries with Magic and better in his prime. Sorry, even if that have a better career and also played in the era with the greatest list of small forwards ever. Now, of course, LeBron has had to go up against KD, and for a short stretch, he went up against T-Mac, and also Carmelo. Gotta give Carmelo, I mentioned as well. But Larry Bird went up against Bernard King, James Worthy, Dominique Wilkins, Mark McGwire, Alex English, McDaniel, the list goes on and on and on and on. All the great players that Larry Bird had to go up against at the small forward position, and he would roast all those guys. Adrian Dantley, let me not forget him also. Bird was guarded by Dennis Rodman in the mid to late '80s, and he used to roast him. And Dennis Rodman is widely considered the greatest defensive small forward/power forward in the history of the NBA. [Music] Oh, let me also say, of course, how could I forget? Larry Bird went up against Dr. J at the small forward position as well. Three championships in college. Make the greatest college player who ever lived. Then turns throw it. You mentioned the all-time scoring leader, 19-time All-Star, six-time champion. When you take accomplishments over a basketball career, it was better than Kareem. Yeah. Hope a basketball life. If you're talking about what Kareem did at Pop Memorial, in high school, at UCLA, in college, and in the pros, yes, he's probably had the greatest career of any basketball player ever. You know, and when all said that, I don't matter. Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player who ever lived. The number two, like he took that really fun. Kareem guys also the other thing we had tied for the fifth spot. Kevin Durant. Is he already a top-five player all-time? No. Right now, I'll put KD top 20, top 25. Top 20. Well, he's a top-five talent. Well, you could look when you look at what transpired, that it wasn't what Kevin Durant is made of. He's damn near seven feet tall with a handle and a J. He's a sniper extraordinaire. He's a career 27.4 game scorer. He could have played in any era. He's a scorer machine. That's when you bring to the table. So he's definitely a top-five talent. The problem is that because he didn't win the chip until he got to go to the statement, you had people who would be inclined to disregard him because Magic didn't go. I'm sorry, Bird didn't go anyway. You know, Kareem ultimately was moved and went from Milwaukee to LA. And also, Larry Bird came on to a franchise that was struggling and turned him into a champion in his second season. So, I mean, that's the divide. There's certain cats. I remember I did a video on Larry Bird being greater than Kevin Durant. Certain cats got upset. They said, "Well, Kevin Durant does such and such better than Larry Bird." Absolutely. But Kevin Durant is not an alpha. He's not a leader. Once again, he's a weapon. He and Kareem are battling for being considered, in my view, the greatest weapons in the history of the NBA. Now, even Kareem has a little bit more leadership vibes and alpha vibes than KD. And Kareem was damn near antisocial. You say people are holding against KD that he left God OKC to go to Golden State, which might explain why or this all this noise about the likelihood of him leaving to depart for other pastures. Yeah, I would say KD, right? As a talent, he's a player really without a weakness. Like what offensively? Sure. I'm the other than his physicality, he pretty much has no weaknesses offensively. He doesn't pass the ball like LeBron or Mad, even the Greek Freak or someone like that. But he could pass the ball. He could put the ball on the floor. He could score from anywhere on the court. He doesn't. He's not a ball stopper. You can score in the flow of the game, out in transition, whatever. You say, once again, the issue with KD, and we're gonna find this out when he leaves Golden State, is that when he's put in certain positions where he has to execute and where he has to come through, he's gonna turn the ball over. He likes to dribble too much. And being seven feet, his dribble is so high that a very good defender is gonna be able to strip the ball from him. And we saw that over the course of his tenure with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Into a great defender, he always makes the proper basketball play. The one thing I think he needs, Stephen A, is to be able to, because he always makes the proper play, he's the kind of player that we haven't yet seen impose himself on the game. And other than the Warriors with an overwhelming advantage, but like impose himself on the game to the point that he wills a team that's no better than the other team, just as good, to victory, the way a lot of the names that I just mentioned have. Alright, you guys ready for one more poll? I got enough. So anyway, that's basically a hit on that. I pretty, I pretty much agree with Max Kellerman's assertions about Larry Bird being way too much forgotten and the overall lore of the NBA. But it is what it is. So, peace.