According to ‘Pistol” Pete Maravich, Larry Bird was the best player in the league, however, wasn’t the best in any particular skill.
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Larry Bird is one of the greatest players to have blessed the sport. Spending his entire career with the Boston Celtics, Larry Legend had every attribute to make himself the perfect basketball player – reliable handles, accurate shooting, incredible vision, high IQ, confidence, passion, and the craze to win at the highest level.
Very few players have been able to replicate the achievements Bird has managed to accomplish throughout his career. Over the span of 13 years, Bird built up one of the most decorated resumes in NBA history – 12 All-Star selections, 10 All-NBA selections, 3 All-Defensive selections, the 1980 ROTY, 3 MVPs, 3 titles, 2 Finals MVPs, got inducted as an HOFer in 1988, and was even a part of the league’s 75th Anniversary Team.
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Larry’s style of play attracted fans, opponents, and even the former legends of the association. One of the many greats to have been impressed by Bird was ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich.
“Players like Larry Bird are so far above everyone else because of the way they think the game of basketball”: Pete Maravich
Back in 1987, Pistol Pete appeared on ESPN’s “Up Close” and spoke to host Roy Firestone about Bird being the greatest player in the NBA at the time. The Utah legend also spoke about Larry Legend being a great player despite being slow-footed because of the way he envisioned the game.
“I think he is the best, you know. Larry is not really the best rebounder in the NBA; he is not really the best passer, I don’t think, he’s not the best dribbler, he’s not the best shooter, he’s not the best scorer. He’s just the very best.”
“The reason for that, Roy, I think is the fact that you do more than to play with your feet. I can name several coaches who said Larry Bird would never make it in the NBA because he was too slow-footed.”
“But there are certain players with an instinct like Larry Bird, a guy like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, that are so far above everyone else because of the way they think the game of basketball. You can’t practice that, that’s just something that is god-given and Larry Bird has that.”
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