After dominating NBA basketball for 20 years, LeBron James has certainly established himself as the greatest player of this generation. Flaunting a long list of laurels, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is often put up against Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate. After clinching the NBA’s all-time scoring record earlier this year, Bron made the debate spicier than ever. While the James-Jordan debate seems to be never-ending, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas recently claimed in an interview that Larry Bird would easily beat LeBron James in a 1v1 setting. As a response to this bold take, Dennis Rodman had quite the take of his own, believing that Bird wouldn’t even be playing in the league if he played today. Adding more context to the topic, the Bulls legend even stated that the $50 million worth Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is much better at his job than the Celtics legend ever was.
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A few weeks ago, Arenas made an appearance on VladTV and spoke about a hypothetical clash between Bird and James. Explaining that a one-on-one contest would require LBJ to play without using his physical strength and speed, Agent Zero went on to back Larry Legend in the matchup. He further corroborated his theory by pointing out that 1v1 requires quick one-two dribble shots, which were Bird’s speciality.
After learning about Arena’s take, Rodman was left dumbfounded for a few seconds initially. Let’s just say that the Chicago Bulls legend had a completely different view on the matter.
Dennis Rodman believes Larry Bird wouldn’t have made it in the modern NBA
During a recent sit-down with VladTV, Dennis Rodman addressed Arenas’ take on the Bird-LeBron conversation. After fumbling with words for a moment, Rodman gave a different perspective to the discussion. According to the Hall-Of-Famer, the Boston icon, as great as he was, wouldn’t even make it to the NBA today. Rodman went on to claim that Bird would be playing somewhere in Europe in this era.
“If Larry Bird played in this era, I think he’d be in Europe. He’d be somewhere over there. His game was fit for Boston at that time, in the 80s. Today’s world, oh hell no. I’m not downplaying him cause he’s a great player at that time, as I was, but there’s no way,” Rodman said, during the interview.
In fact, the 62-year-old further stated that Nikola Jokic was a better player than Bird despite being “slow as hell”. “I think the kid from Denver is way better. Oh my god. He’s slow as hell. I think he’s better than Larry Bird. I mean, in this day and age, yeah,” Rodman added.
The Worm seems to be a firm believer in the fact that players wouldn’t fare well if they were to play in different eras. While he stated that Bird wouldn’t even be in today’s NBA, Rodman once made a preposterous claim about LeBron playing in the 1980s as well.
Rodman once said LeBron James would be an average player in the 80s
During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show in 2013, Rodman stated that LeBron James would merely be an average player in the 1980s and the 1990s.
“If LeBron was playing in the late ’80s and early ’90s, he would be just an average player.”
Back in the 80s, the league was much more physical than it is today. LeBron James, who is widely regarded as a physical specimen, would’ve fared much better than an average player.
Furthermore, it is also ridiculous to believe that one of the best players of all time wouldn’t even be in the NBA in 2023. A 6-foot-9 Small Forward who could shoot the ball well… Bird would’ve thrived in this generation.
