It hasn’t always been this way.

NBA players are some of the most recognizable athletes in the world with the opportunity for generational wealth over the past 30 years. The players often viewed today by NBA Twitter and mentioned other social media platforms as the most influential such as Steph Curry, the late Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson, entered a NBA that was already a healthy, vibrant product. Their impact is great, but for Bryant and Iverson in particular, their impact is much more related to influencing fans and popular culture, more so than the game itself. If the game itself is not healthy, popular culture and social influence matters much less.

Let’s take a look at the REAL most influential players of all-time. What they endured and their experiences directly impacted the league and its future prosperity. All players and fans benefit from what these six players (we lump two together) accomplished or changed about the league.

1. Oscar Robertson (Royals & Bucks) 1961-74
The Crispus Attucks (Indianapolis, Ind.) product didn’t have it easy while he was dominating the college game at Cincinnati. He was subjected to cruel racism, but he overcame that to become one of the greatest players of all-time and to fight for individual dignity and players' rights. By 1965, the Big O was the president of the National Basketball Players Association, which was founded in 1954 by the Celtics' Bob Cousy. Robertson was the first African-American president of any sports or entertainment labor union in America and in 1970 he sued the NBA to revoke its reserve clause. The class-action, anti-trust filed in U.S. District Court in New York by Robertson and a player rep from each of the 13 other NBA teams against the league was resolved when the NBA agreed to a class action settlement on April 29, 1976. The NBA eliminated the reserve clause in its uniform contracts, which previously bound a player to one team in perpetuity i.e. forever.

The suit was filed to halt the NBA-ABA merger until the anti-trust issues in player contracts were resolved. This was a major victory for players (employees) in their relationship with teams (employer), as the settlement led to players earning market value for their services and to eventual growth of the league. Eventually, the elimination of the reserve clause and the birth of free agency made the players millionaires and the owners billionaires. Without a victory in this lawsuit, NBA players would likely have to work in the off-season as they did until the mid 1970s and they would have little leverage in salary increases.

2. Spencer Haywood (Rockets, Sonics, Knicks, Jazz, Lakers, Bullets) 1970-1983
This Mississippi native who moved to Michigan as a teenager and was the nation’s top schoolboy recruit out of Pershing (Detroit) in 1967 was on a fast track to the pro basketball. There was a road block, however, for the son of a sharecropper with 10 children who made a reported two dollars a day for her family. At that time, players had to be four years removed from high school before they were eligible to be drafted by the NBA or ABA, but Haywood decided to turn pro after a season of junior college, Olympic stardom and one season at the University of Detroit. The ABA’s Mike Storen introduced a hardship exemption for Haywood because of the extreme poverty he suffered from. After a successful ABA rookie season, Haywood joined the NBA’s Seattle Sonics in 1970-71, as owner Sam Schulman filed an anti-trust suit against the NBA to fight its drafting policies. Similar to the Oscar Robertson Rule, Haywood’s case argued the NBA was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Haywood vs. National Basketball Association went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Haywood was granted an injunction to play in the NBA and eventually the case was settled out of court. The settlement led to the NBA allowing players to enter the league early via its new “Hardship Rule”. This opened the door for young players to have an opportunity to maximize their earning potential without having to wait until four years of college passed. Moses Malone bypassed college altogether in 1974 when he signed with the ABA’s Utah Stars out of high school, and he was an ABA All-Star at 19 years old. More importantly, he didn’t have to wait until he was 23 to earn a living in a trade he was capable of as a young adult. Haywood’s case was another significant ruling for player’s rights and also changed the way teams drafted and scouted players.

3. Magic Johnson & Larry Bird (Lakers & Celtics) 1980-1992
There is little doubt the Robertson and Haywood rulings were the most impactful moments in league history with regards to its future. The NBA tried to argue the elimination of the reserve clause would ruin the league, but in reality it opened up the door for prosperity, but it would take some time. With the ABA and the NBA fighting for talent in the 1970s, trouble was brewing. Many teams were bleeding money and until the talent was all in one league, the teams would be on shaky financial ground. The merger finally happened after the 1975-76 season with four ABA teams joining the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs.

We contemplated who was more influential, Magic-Bird or Dr. J, and when you look at the terms of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, it becomes clear the inseparable duo who came into the league in 1979-80 are more influential. Getting Dr. J in an NBA uniform was a big deal, but at the time of the merger nobody could see how wildly successful the NBA would be 10 years later mainly because of the point guard with the big smile out of Michigan St. and the Hick From French Lick out of Indiana St. If NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien and his trusted advisors (including lawyer David Stern) knew how big the money (particularly broadcast rights) were going to get, no way in heck does the league agree to the financial teams given to the ABA’s two remaining teams. The Kentucky Colonels’ owners were given $3 million to fold, while the St. Louis Spirits’ owners got $2.2 million in addition to a 1/7 share of the four remaining team’s television revenues in perpetuity. From the standpoint on the NBA, it was the worst financial deal in sports history, as the NBA’s popularity, and broadcast rights fees, exploded in the mid 1980s because of Johnson and Bird.

It’s hard to separate the two and their contrasts and comparisons. Both are 6-foot-9 and unselfish players who made teammates better. Both had a thirst for winning and played for the two most iconic franchises. Both won at each other's expense on the biggest stages. One happened to be African-American and outgoing and the other Caucasian and a bit more reserved in style. Together they are the two most important players in history in terms of changing the economic landscape that Robertson set in motion 15 years earlier. We also considered the Rocket’s Yao Ming and his impact in China (where there are over 1 billion people) and the rest of Asia, but that impact was already set in motion by Johnson, Bird and Michael Jordan (easily the most important figure in terms of marketing and cultural impact) as part of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, which helped spread the popularity of the game worldwide.

4. Julius "Dr. J” Erving (Squires, Nets, 76ers) 1972-1987
The Good Doctor wasn’t a high school All-American at Roosevelt (N.Y.), but he was a good prospect who became a force to be reckoned with at UMass. Because of the availability of the hardship rule, Dr. J left UMass after two varsity seasons and joined the ABA’s Virginia Squires. The Squires were on shaky financial ground and had to sell him to the New Jersey Nets in a move that kept him in the ABA. The Doctor flourished, as he was the league’s marquee player and gave it credibility until it merged with the NBA after the 1975-76 season. The Nets accepted the offer of the 76ers to buy Erving’s contract for $3 million and to pay the Nets’ expansion fee into the NBA (another $3 million). The NBA needed Dr. J because of what transpired during the ABA-NBA negotiating wars prior to the merger.

Fans thought the players had a money-first mentality and it resonated in the media and in public discourse. The league also suffered from poor marketing and poor visibility. Its games were not broadcast live or during prime viewing hours. The NBA also had a drug problem among its players in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but it had the Good Doctor. And he was the player that bridged that gap between the merger and the league’s boom in the mid 1980s. Many people followed the NBA because of Dr. J. He also rates right there with Allen Iverson in terms of his popularity among young fans. Dr. J was idolized, resonated with inner city youth because of his love for blacktop competition, and adults respected him unlike some of the other NBA standouts of the 1970s. Iverson has similar cultural impact, but didn’t impact the NBA’s finances or opportunities as Erving did. Unlike Iverson, Erving's image was also protected by the media because of his importance. Dr. J’s style of play also made it acceptable to attempt high-flying moves and dunks that was more a staple of the ABA. He brought excitement and flair matched only by a few who ever played and his influence is still seen in today’s players both on and off the court.

5. Kevin Garnett (Timberwolves, Celtics, Nets) 1996-2015
The fifth and final spot was up for grabs between players such as Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, Ming, and Iverson. Again, those players entered a healthy league and when all retire, will see the league in a healthy spot, which is not the case for the four players ranked above. Garnett, like Robertson and Haywood, was a generational high school talent out of Farragut (Chicago, Ill.) via Mauldin, S.C. He was the Mr. Basketball USA choice and national player of the year by USA Today in 1994-95. He was having trouble with a qualifying SAT score for college and the idea of him going pro was thrown around as early as the 1994 Nike Camp, the second consecutive year in which he dominated the prestigious grassroots summer camp. Hours before the 1995 NBA Draft, Garnett found out he got a qualifying score, but the wheels were already in motion for him be the first prep-to-pro player in 20 years.

Garnett was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves at No. 5, but his talent dictated he probably should have been drafted higher. And that’s where his impact is so great: Garnett changed the thinking of how NBA personnel and fans viewed young players. Many of the NBA’s old guard resisted scouting and drafting high school players, until these players started becoming widely successful. There were a handful of prospects talked about in terms of going straight from high school to the pros after 1975, particularly Albert King (1977), Ralph Sampson (1979), John Williams (1984) and Jason Kidd (1992), but nobody really thought they were going to do it. Garnett wasn’t an instant star, but by the middle of his rookie season it was apparent he would last and become one of the league’s better players in the coming years. If he fails, where does that leave the future high school standouts that wanted to make the leap? Do the Lakers eye Bryant that following year if Garnett wasn’t viewed in a positive light? Eventually all NBA teams took drafting young players seriously and took on a baseball model of looking at teenagers rather than waiting on an established college player.

The one-and-done rule was instituted after the 2005 season, but the game has gone younger since Garnett. There were a host of stars who made the successful prep-to-pro transition, including Bryant, Tracy McGrady and later LeBron James. Looking at the landscape now, NBA personnel are staples at big grassroots and high school events such as the Nike EYBL, NBPA Top 100 Camp, Pangos All-American Camp, Tarkanian Classic and GEICO Nationals. Garnett played a big role in that on his way to becoming NBA MVP in 2004 and eventually landing in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Ronnie Flores is the National Grassroots Editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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The NBA trade deadline is the second big topic of this week's special podcast and the crew go over the best long-term and short-term trades that went down. Besides the Suns acquiring Kevin Durant, which team was the big winner? Did the Lakers upgrade their roster enough to make a big playoff push? Who in the East got better? What is Portland and Chicago doing by not pulling the trigger on anything of significance?

Chelsea and Ani also talk about the Super Bowl and Rihanna's halftime performance and the greatness of two-time Super Bowl winning QB Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. How high can he climb on the GOAT list?

Ronnie and Ani also give their take on the unfortunate circumstances of New Mexico St. shutting down their basketball program? What's next for the program and are some college teams on the verge of losing control of their roster or is this just a completely isolated circumstance?

Chelsea also talks South Carolina-LSU and the Gamecocks' current WNCAA dominance!

The ITP crew and its special guest offers some terrific insight on the GOATs on the NBA and there are a couple of surprises, so make sure to tune in to Episode 154 from start to finish!

(0:00) - Intro

(2:09) - Quick Thoughts on Lakers-OKC Historic Game

(5:53) - Quick Thoughts on New Mexico St. Program Shutdown

(13:28) - Super Bowl: Rihanna, Mahomes’ GOAT Trajectory

(20:18) - Chelsea’s NCAAW Update: South Carolina Dominant!

(25:59) - ITP Podcast Info & Shout-Outs

(26:57) - Ani’s Quick NCAA Updates: Tobacco Road Blues

(32:42) - NBA Trade Deadline: Reaction To Best Transactions

(39:05) - Ani’s & Chelsea’s Best Short Term Move

(46:03) - What Are The Bulls, Blazers & Heat Doing?!

(53:35) - Chelsea & Ani’s Rihanna’s Super Bowl Grade!

(56:04) - Bron Celebration: Missing Boat on KAJ’s Legacy

(1:02:23) - Ceremony's Most Memorable Moment

(1:05:51) - ITP Crew No. 5 All-Time Player!

(1:12:08) - ITP Crew No. 4 All-Time Player!

(1:18:28) - ITP Crew No. 3 All-Time Player!

(1:26:47) - ITP Crew No. 2 All-Time Player!

(1:28:23) - ITP Crew No. 1 All-Time Player!

(1:34:47) - Reaction To Top 5s!

(1:40:06) - Bron-MJ Debate!

(1:53:20) - Bron-MJ Accolades Difference

(2:01:31) - What Young Player Can Crack Top 10?

(2:04:03) - Just Missed & Overlooked Players

The post In The Paint: NBA GOAT Debate: Bron, MJ, Kareem, Kobe? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

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On Episode 68 of our In The Paint Podcast, co-hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland take a closer look at the when, where and how of the return of grassroots and high school basketball. Some states are moving more quickly than others in reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so what will the prep sports landscape look like come fall and winter?

The guys then segue to the NBA continuing to take steps toward restarting its season with potential ideas floating around on social media. What's feasible and what's unrealistic? Should the NBA go straight to the postseason with the 16 qualifying teams? Or should the league attempt to play out its remaining schedule? Will the 2020 champion have an asterisk next to its name?

Lastly, Ron and Dev discuss episodes nine and ten of The Last Dance and give the six things they learned from the docuseries, which you can also read about here.

The post In The Paint Show: Updated State of HS, Grassroots & NBA Hoops, Plus Final Thoughts on The Last Dance! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

There's no questioning Jordan at the top, but is LeBron too high at No. 2? Bill Russell too high at four? Should Kareem, Magic and Shaq move up? Is Kobe too low?

In the next segment, Ron and Dev break down episodes 7 & 8 of 'The Last Dance' and answer questions about if Michael Jordan could have legitimately cracked a Major League roster and did Scottie Pippen's decision to sit out the final seconds of the 1994 playoff game against the Knicks tarnish his legacy forever?

In the final segment, the guys discuss the NBA's tentative plan to restart the season in either Las Vegas or Orlando and how that could trickle down to college and high school hoops. Will the NBA be able to finish the 2019-2020 season? What steps will they take to ensure player, coach and official's safety?

The NCAA canceled its College Basketball Academies and extended the recruiting dead period for grassroots hoops until the end of June and will revisit its vote on whether to extend through July in the near future. If the summer basketball circuits, camps and leagues are a wash, what does that mean for prospects in the 2021 and 2022 classes who are most affected by the loss of valuable exposure?

Click the link above to tune in to the latest In The Paint Show with Ron and Dev!

In The Paint Show Episode 67 Rundown
:55: Discussing ESPN's recent list of the Top 10 NBA players of all time
2:15: Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone the biggest omissions?
5:20: Ron and Dev revise the Top 10 with their picks
12:16: Are Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal ranked too low at No. 9 and No. 10?
27:40: Discussing episodes 7 & 8 of The Last Dance
28:25: Impressed with Jordan's brief baseball career? If he stuck with it longer, could he have made the show?
34:18: On Jordan's treatment of his teammates
38:22: Scottie Pippen's legacy marred by decision to sit out the final seconds of that 1994 playoff game?
45:25: Did Gary Payton actually make MJ's life difficult in games 4 and 5 in the 1996 NBA Finals?
1:05:50: NBA easing into restarting its season. What protocols will be in place? How can they be executed safely?
1:13:06: The outlook for grassroots and high school sports for the summer, fall and winter

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How do you want it: spin move, turn around jumper, jump hook, dunk, left hand or right-hand layup?

Larry Bird's offensive game was as beautiful as he was ugly. You know he's a great shooter but his name is rarely mentioned anymore as one of the best shooters of all-time because the 3 x NBA Three-Point Contest winner wasn't in love with taking threes in games. But, if it came down to taking a game-winning three, I would gladly take him over Jesus (Shuttlesworth) or any Golden State Warrior to make that heartbreaker. And despite having less athleticism in his prime than a past-his-prime Wizard named Michael Jordan, I would gladly bet my kid's college education on Bird, over his Airness, on creating and making a final shot. I'm not saying Bird is better or more "clutch" than Jordan, I just loved seeing how much more defeated a defender looked after having a slow "hick from French Lick" with a bad back hit a game-winner over them, especially if the defender was told by the legendary trash-talker exactly how it was going to happen.

You are probably thinking I'm overrating him right now. And the next thing I'm going to say is he's a better small forward than LeBron. Don't worry, I'm not going to say it (out loud).

Besides being everything mentioned above, Bird was also a great rebounder and an underrated playmaker, who could handle the ball and play D better than YouTube videos will show you. Another aspect of his game lost among countless YouTube videos of him hitting jumpers to non-hip-hop music is his post-up game was better than 99% of the current league. Thankfully, BasketballJones48021 complied a 13-minute montage (above) of Bird showing he was just as deadly with his back to the basket as he was facing it.

And here's some post up tips from Bird and the great Kevin McHale, who Charles Barkley said was the toughest player he ever had to guard.

THE LEFTY GAME

As if I needed another video or story to try to convince you Bird was God in green short shorts, he once told the media he was going to play a game against the Blazers just shooting with his left because he was "saving his right hand for the Lakers" in two days. He did use his right hand but still scored 20 of his 47 points with his off-hand! He also had 14 boards, 11 assists, the shot to force OT and the game-winner in OT.

As for that game with the Lakers, he had 22 points and 18 rebounds in another win against his nemesis.

THE ULTIMATE LARRY BIRD MIXTAPE

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On June 19th of 1984, the Houston Rockets made the great decision to pass on Michael Jordan and draft Akeem (No H yet) Olajuwon with the #1 pick in the NBA draft. As crazy as it sounds to say passing on The GOAT was a great decision, drafting the hometown favorite who turned out to be arguably the most talented center of all-time and helped bring two NBA championships to the city was in fact a great decision.

Other teams who can proudly say they made the best decision with their #1 pick include the Bucks (Kareem), Blazers (Bill Walton), 76ers (Allen Iverson), Magic (Shaq, Dwight Howard), Cavs (LeBron, Kyrie Irving) Spurs (David Robinson, Tim Duncan), Hornets (Larry Johnson, Anthony Davis) and Lakers (Elgin Baylor, James Worthy, Magic Johnson).

A fun question to debate is who was the best #1 pick among #1 picks and likewise for the rest of the first round? Rukkus via HoopsAddict created this pretty cool infographic featuring their picks at each spot to help you decide. Although I would agree on most of these players being the best pick at their number, I can't call them the best pick for that team because some of these players were traded by the team that picked them - like Dirk (Bucks) and Kobe (Hornets).

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One of the most amusing questions to the group was who they thought was the "best white American in the NBA" in the league right now. Kevin Love, who declined to participate, ?got 2 of the 4 votes while Smith showed Love no love by not even putting the NBA champion in his top 2.

Smith: Ryan Anderson. I played with him in New Orleans. I would have to go with him or Gordon Hayward. There are not very many of us, but there are some good ones out there.

Anderson: Kevin Love is supertalented. I grew up playing against Kevin Love quite a bit in college and everything. But, there is no harder-working white American basketball player than J.J. Redick.

Redick: Is it Kevin Love? Who am I missing? It’s probably Kevin Love. Who’s a starter?

Parsons: Me, of course.

A partially joking (I hope) Parsons picked himself and shared his thoughts on the unfair stereotypes that comes with being pale and looking like a Justin Timberlake impostor.

It’s almost like a joking thing among guys in the league about the stereotypes, whether it’s music or food or the way we dress. It’s just stereotypes that are kind of like an ongoing thing that goes on in the NBA …

There’s stuff where people call me, ‘white boy,’ or things like that. Same thing with stereotypes. Obviously, I’m a shooter because I’m white or I’m slow and less athletic because I’m white. But not hate. When I dunk on somebody, it’ll be like, ‘Oh, Chandler Parsons is deceptively athletic.’ Why wouldn’t I just be athletic?”

Click here to read the full article. ?Scroll past the team photo of the 87 Celtics to enjoy highlights of 10 of the best white American players ever.

LARRY BIRD - ?INDIANA

JERRY WEST - WEST VIRGINIA

JOHN STOCKTON - WASHINGTON

KEVIN MCHALE - MINNESOTA

MARK PRICE - OKLAHOMA

CHRIS MULLIN - NEW YORK

TOM CHAMBERS - UTAH

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While talking with Colin Cowherd on his radio show last year (week), Larry Bird commented on former Warrior's coach Mark Jackson's comments about how Steph Curry has "hurt" the game of basketball.

“I think he loves Steph Curry,” Bird said. “But if you walk in any gym, if there are kids in there, they’re all shooting 3-pointers. That’s the way it was when I walked in gyms years ago. I don’t see anything wrong with it.

“I just think Steph Curry is probably right now our best player and what a champion. He (Jackson) said ‘what a champion.’ That team out there is a real champion. Because if you win a championship and then come out and go 28-1, that’s pretty special.”

Graphic Source: Bleacher Report
Source: Clutch Points

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If you are fan of Bill Simmon's book "The Book of Basketball" then you are going to love Colin Stanton's new YouTube channel which serves an interactive guide to the book.  Even if you don't care for the book or Simmons, you will probably still appreciate the latest video on the channel, which serves a as beautiful tribute to Larry Bird during the peak of his career.

The game featured in the video is from 1986, when Bird put up a triple double of 29 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in game 6 of the NBA Finals against a Rockets team with the Twin Towers.

For me, the best part about the video is at the end, when Larry Bird - celebrating with the championship trophy - is asked when he plans on picking up a basketball again. If this was just about any other NBA player the answer would have been "I don't know" and the truth would have been "months" but Bird says "at least 2 or 3 weeks."

BONUS VIDEO: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

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During ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless discussed Reggie Miller saying on the Dan Patrick show that he would take a 30 year old Larry Bird over a 30 year old LeBron. No surprise to anyone, Skip agreed with Reggie but Stephen A. also picked  Larry Legend because of Bird's "intangibles about winning" and clutchness.

I'm not going to say much on this but I will say, as would most who had the pleasure of watching Bird in the 80s on a few occasions, I have to agree with First take hosts.

This debate has come up a few times in the past on the ESPN show and here's a clip from 2014 of the two debating whether LeBron is better than Bird.

And here's 2 other outspoken hosts (Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose) on the debate also back in 2014.

BONUS VIDEO: REGGIE ON DAN PATRICK

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When Danny Green broke the Spurs season record for threes this season, he broke a 19-year-old record set by "The Rifleman" Chuck Person.

You wont hear Person's name mentioned much anymore, even when people talk about the 80s, but the former Rookie of the Year and infamous trash talker was legit and good for 20+ a night during his time with the Pacers. He would also occasionally drop a gem like these:

• 45 points, 13 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists vs the Sonics
• 47 points, 5 rebounds vs the Knicks
• 42 points on 18-23 fg vs the Suns

Back in March of this year, he did get a name-drop by former teammate Reggie Miller, when Reggie told a hilarious story to Jimmy Kimmel about why you should never talk trash to "Black Jesus."

“I started talking as soon as I got into the league, but I had a bad experience. My rookie year, we were playing the Chicago Bulls, this is Michael Jordan’s third or fourth year in, we were playing in an exhibition game in some obscure place, and most veterans do not like to play in exhibition games they want to get to the real thing.

“I’m a wide-eyed energetic rookie, and we’re playing this exhibition game and Michael’s going through the motion. Chuck Person, who’s on my team, who’s a trash talker as well, is like, ‘can you believe Michael Jordan, the guy everyone’s talking about, the guy who’s supposed to be able to walk on water, and you’re out here killing him Reg’, and this was in the first half, ‘he’s like you should be talking to him’.

“I was like, you know what, you’re right; ‘Michael, who do you think you are? The great Michael Jordan? That’s right, there’s a new kid in town’

“He kind of looks at me and starts shaking his head. So at the half, I have 10 and he has 4 points right. I’m doing all this talking, he’s like ok. End of the game, in the second half, he ended up with 44 and I ended up with 12. So he outscored me 40-2!

“And as he’s walking off he’s like ‘Be sure and be careful you never talk to Black Jesus again”.

VS LARRY BIRD

The best trash talking story involving Person has to go to Larry Bird. Bird and Person had a mini-rivalry and a memorable 1991 playoff series against each other, but it was a Christmas game between the Celtics and Pacers where Bird dropped a classic trash-talking line.

Before the game, Bird told Person he had a Christmas present for him. During the game, Bird shot a 3-pointer, turned around and looked at Person, who was sitting on the bench, and said, "Merry Fucking Christmas." He then ran back down the court as the shot went in.

Bird did have a lot of respect for Person, as evident by this quote taken during the 1991 Playoffs.

“The thing about Chuck, no matter if it was the regular season or the playoffs, he came to play. I think he played harder against me than anybody else, but it was good. In this league, a lot of times the players don’t give you any resistance. But when you played against Chuck, you knew you had to play and you had to play hard – and if you didn’t play well, they’d probably beat you.”

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You know you are witnessing greatness when the bench of a losing team "celebrates" like Kent Bazemore while an opposing player is torching their teammates. That opposing player was Larry Bird and the Bazemores I'm referring to are Scott Hastings, Tree Rollins, Eddie Johnson and Cliff Levingston of the 1985 Atlanta Hawks. They were all?also reportedly fined by Hawks coach Mike Fratello for their "unacceptable" bench behavior.

I know you aren't supposed to celebrate the way they did but unless you were a Lakers fan, it was hard not to be a Bird fan in the final minutes of games, especially when he started trash talking and calling his shots to defenders and the opposing bench players.

During?the week before this game, Kevin McHale was the team's dominant scorer, torching the Knicks for 42 after scoring a franchise-record 56 against the Pistons. Combine that along with a match-up against the up-and-coming star and "future rival" Dominique Wilkins, you just knew Bird was going to have a statement game on this night. And that statement came in the form of 60 points (including the final 16 for the Celtics) on?22-of-36 from the field and 15-of-16 from the line.

The most shocking stat from this game is he only made one 3-pointer. A very memorable three-pointer! Just ask the?Scott Hastings, Tree Rollins, Eddie Johnson, and Cliff Levingston.

FULL GAME

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Comedy Central Kroll Show had a funny take on Larry Bird upbringing in Indiana. Family needs money so Larry signs up for a 2-Pt Shooting Contest, & meets his rival Magic Johnson for the first time.

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The most tired comparisons in basketball are LeBron vs Jordan. ?Jordan vs Kobe. Kobe vs Jordan. ?Kobe vs LeBron. ?Only great shooters and white people are compared to Larry Bird but the greatest Celtic ever and Top 5 player ever (IMO), might be a better comparison to LeBron than Jordan.

Let's take a look at some stats and accolades of the two great players after 10 years in the league (thanks to Kadillac87 for the data). ? I'm not setting this up as an argument to say who is better or will end up better between the two multi-dimensional forwards, I'm just pointing out that after a decade it's surprising how similar their careers look on paper.

Worth noting, Bird only played a 132 more games in his career than LeBron after 10 seasons. ?Although Bird was able to average 20/10/7 in those remaining seasons he was suffering a major injury.

LARRY BIRD
3X NBA Champion
2X Finals MVP
3X MVP
9X NBA All-Star
9X All-NBA First Team

LEBRON JAMES
2X NBA Champion
2X Finals MVP
4X MVP
9X NBA All-Star
7X All-NBA First Team

(anybody have $2k I can borrow so I can buy this card?)

For the people that rather talk about MJ and LeBron.

The post Larry Bird vs LeBron James after 10 years in the league - Better comparison than MJ? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Stuff like this is what makes me realize how much I love this game and the culture around it.

And It's only right to attach this song to end this post:

The post RARE: NBA Inside Stuff From '90's; Michael Jordan, Bird, Barkley, Malone & MORE! [VIDEO] appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

"Magic, Larry, and Mike. These three names will forever be intertwined in the storied history of the game of basketball, synonymous with terms like "Greatness" "Passion for the Game" "Hustle" "Heart" "Grit" but most of all, they will be remembered as the men who saved basketball and became three of the biggest Legends to ever step out on the court." Props to Meir21 for his great work.

The post SICK Mixtape: "The Legends - Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson" appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Larry Bird's last game at the Boston Garden in the 1992 playoffs. Cavz led the series 3-2 going into this game and nobody, not even Larry himself knew he would be retiring a few months later.

The post Larry Bird's Last Game at Boston Garden: Celtics vs Cavz 1992 Playoffs Game 6 appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.