“Larry Bird Was the Ultimate Winner”: Rick Carlisle Once Refused to Choose LeBron James Over the Celtics Legend

The 6th pick of the 1988 Draft, Larry Bird, probably came into the league in the wrong era but still had one of the most successful careers of all time

The timeline in the NBA is broadly divided into two parts, the Modern NBA which started in the 80s, and everything before it, i.e. since the start of the game in 1946.

We can also separate these two eras by ‘Before Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’ and ‘After Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’ because they are no lesser Gods of basketball than Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Michael Jordan.

Since coming in as the best college players of the 1979 class, the duo came in to take over the league and changed the game’s legacy forever, starting their first year.

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Bird might not be considered by most as a better player than Magic, but a basketball genius who has won championships both as a player and a coach believes that the 3x NBA champ has the most complete resume ever.

Rick Carlisle once said Larry Bird has the most decorated resume in the NBA

You either fouled the man or expect him to miss, there was no stopping Bird when he was in his zone. In his 13-year NBA career, the Indiana State forward played for the Boston Celtics, he led them to 3 Championships in one of the toughest eras of all time.

He made the most out of his time in NBA and made 12 All-Star appearances, 10x All-NBA Teams, 3x All-Defensive second teams, 2x 50-40-90 club and won 3x MVPs, 2x Finals MVPs while averaging 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.

That’s why his former teammate, Rick Carlisle believes that Bird has the best resume of all time and refused to pick LeBron James over him in an interview with Dan Patrick.

Bird was the ideal build for today’s NBA, he came in 30 years too early

Larry Legend was the start of the change in the league, as we see it today. His 6’9 stature could never keep his extraordinary talent with the ball to just dunks and lay-ups, which was the go-to way for getting buckets until then.

Bird’s shooting was something that the NBA had never seen from a man of his size. His jumpers were almost unguardable for most defenders because of the way he took off.

He was the true and arguably the first prototype of a modern NBA player who came into the league way too early for his time.

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Had he been playing now, his 3-point attempts and conversions per game would have been double or triple per game, and with all the new rules to protect the shooters the man would have been a cheat code, to say the least.

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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