OT NBA Draft Lottery

[VectorPrime]

Lebron acts like a wimp on the court a lot of times because he knows that is how the league works and he can get calls by doing it. If it were the 80s he'd understand how the league worked as it did and use his 6'8" frame and otherworldly physical prowess and kick peoples' asses.

 

[rochrist]

Lebron acts like a wimp on the court a lot of times because he knows that is how the league works and he can get calls by doing it. If it were the 80s he'd understand how the league worked as it did and use his 6'8" frame and otherworldly physical prowess and kick peoples' asses.

Until Robert Parish or Bird leveled him one time.

 

[jimnance]

These are great discussions.

It took me a loooooong time to accept that Jordan > Larry. Better scorer. Better on D. More titles. Just a better player. Every now and then I try to re-argue it but I can't. Different positions. Expansion teams. Watered-down league. Doesn't matter. Watching Bird, Magic and Jordan in the same era live was a goddamn privilege. We'll never see that again. Ever.

I've trashed LeBron his entire career but last year's Finals made me reconsider his status on the GOAT list and he is undoubtedly in the top 10. Maybe top 7. He'd do just fine in the 80s just as I think Larry would still be a 28/10/7 guy in 2017.

Greatness adapts.

Yeah that was as good as it got with bird magic mj. Nothin like it before or since. All 3 would dominate the NBA today.
Gotta admit I was a bigger C's fan than Pats in the 80's. Think most of us were. Pats had that great playoff run in '85, it was magical. But not much else. The 70s Pats were mostly better than the 80s. But the C's were dominant the entire decade.

 

[rochrist]

I don't remember the 80's I was to young, I vaguely remember the Bruins in 1988 but most of my Bird memories came in the 90's.

The reason I asked about the defense is because I remember older Basketball guys talking about the 80's (the best era for the NBA) and they mentioned that they did not really play defense in the 80's. Scores would frequently be in the 130's to 140's.

As far as Russell I am not going to pretend to know anything about him but there were 8 teams back then.. looking at the highlights with Cousy Dribbling the ball around makes me laugh. If you took any NBA team from today and played any of those 8 teams it would be a laugher.

I am not taking anything away from Russell but his competition for the most part was laughable, compared to todays standards. He was ahead of his time.

Because there were only 8 teams, it meant going up against Wilt many more times a year. He generally got the better of him. Take a look at some of those Lakers and Sixers teams Russ went up against.

 

[deroc5050]

Before this season even started Lebron already has played 90 more games than Larry. But with that said, Rebounds Bird destroyed Lebron. Every thing else like Minutes, Assists, and Points Lebron has a choke hold on Bird. Even at the age of 32 Lebron has already played in 1 full season more than Bird.

And those stats were taken before the start of this season. So actually at the age of 32 Lebron has already played 2 more seasons.

According to this 1 source of info Lebron has a higher shooting percentage also at 58.1% to Larrys 56.4%. Prime Bird 1984-87 shot 41.5% from 3 .. while Prime Lebron which is now imo but according the article from 2010-2013 shot 38.5%.

They both shot 32% in the playoffs thus far. From 3 point land.

And Lebrons defense is clearly not really up for discussion.

I hate to be the guy defending Lebron, I actually couldn't stand him as a player until last season.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Link for the bolded language? I don't think that is correct. I agree with everything else you said. I believe that LeBron and Bird had the same 3 pt lines during their careers as the moving of the line in the mid 90's was a brief -- and failed -- experiment.

My bad... Monday brain fart.. It was a three or four year experiment and then they moved it back.... so Bird and LLeBron had same distance...

 

[DarrylS]

Yeah that was as good as it got with bird magic mj. Nothin like it before or since. All 3 would dominate the NBA today.
Gotta admit I was a bigger C's fan than Pats in the 80's. Think most of us were. Pats had that great playoff run in '85, it was magical. But not much else. The 70s Pats were mostly better than the 80s. But the C's were dominant the entire decade.

Don't forget about Dr. J, god forbid how will this effect the children???...

 

[RobertWeathers]

Don't forget about Dr. J, god forbid how will this effect the children???...

That pick is iconic. Both of those guys trying to rip out each other's trachea.

At one point in the 80s, Celts Sixers was a death match.

 

[Froob]

You forgot an important category: Durability/Longevity. LeBron has now been a great player for longer than Bird played at all.

Most durable player of all time probably. Although I'm sure some will say Jordan could have been if he wanted to or something absurd lol.

I don't remember the 80's I was to young, I vaguely remember the Bruins in 1988 but most of my Bird memories came in the 90's.

The reason I asked about the defense is because I remember older Basketball guys talking about the 80's (the best era for the NBA) and they mentioned that they did not really play defense in the 80's. Scores would frequently be in the 130's to 140's.

As far as Russell I am not going to pretend to know anything about him but there were 8 teams back then.. looking at the highlights with Cousy Dribbling the ball around makes me laugh. If you took any NBA team from today and played any of those 8 teams it would be a laugher.

I am not taking anything away from Russell but his competition for the most part was laughable, compared to today's standards. He was ahead of his time.

Keep in mind, that means every team had multiple hall of famers. I've read books of those times and there were no Brooklyn Nets or Philidelphia 76ers of today. Every team had legit hall of famers.

 

[jimnance]

That pick is iconic. Both of those guys trying to rip out each other's trachea.

At one point in the 80s, Celts Sixers was a death match.

Just a great pic. Sums up the incredible competitiveness of 2 of the all-time greats.
Those Sixers teams were some of the best NBA teams. They would destroy any team in the NBA right now,as would the peak 80's C's, Lakers and a little later pistons and bulls.
Even tho players and fans of both Boston and Philly wanted to rip each other's throats out, there was great respect among all for each other. Remember Celtics fans originated the very 1st "Beat LA" chants,in the closing minutes of a bitter game 7 loss to Philly. It was a sign of respect and an appreciation of ball being played at the highest level.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Just a great pic. Sums up the incredible competitiveness of 2 of the all-time greats.
Those Sixers teams were some of the best NBA teams. They would destroy any team in the NBA right now,as would the peak 80's C's, Lakers and a little later pistons and bulls.
Even tho players and fans of both Boston and Philly wanted to rip each other's throats out, there was great respect among all for each other. Remember Celtics fans originated the very 1st "Beat LA" chants,in the closing minutes of a bitter game 7 loss to Philly. It was a sign of respect and an appreciation of ball being played at the highest level.

Yep- that was G7 82 ECF. I remember as a young lad I was devastated. That game was really never close.

...and then they go out and get Moses Malone.

IIRC in the 83 pre-season Bird and Ivaroni went at it. Then Billy Cunningham and Bird shouted at each other then Red came down from the stands and began yelling at Cunningham and Moses.

Hysterical.

 

[jimnance]

Yep- that was G7 82 ECF. I remember as a young lad I was devastated. That game was really never close.

...and then they go out and get Moses Malone.

IIRC in the 83 pre-season Bird and Ivaroni went at it. Then Billy Cunningham and Bird shouted at each other then Red came down from the stands and began yelling at Cunningham and Moses.

Hysterical.

I enjoyed the hell out of beating Moses,especially after his dumbass remarks about" celtics ain't nothin. me and 4 guys from the playgrounds in Petersburg(va) would whip em".
Can't remember if he said that with Houston or Philly. But I appreciated Moses's game. Old school. Hard-nosed. Rebounding machine.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I enjoyed the hell out of beating Moses,especially after his dumbass remarks about" celtics ain't nothin. me and 4 guys from the playgrounds in Petersburg(va) would whip em".
Can't remember if he said that with Houston or Philly. But I appreciated Moses's game. Old school. Hard-nosed. Rebounding machine.

Moses was one of the greats.

I think that was during the 81 Finals. LOL.

 

[Froob]

Looking forward to Fultz and Brown in the Finals. Media going to have to delete a lot of old "trade the pick STOP HOARDING PICKS!" articles.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Yep- that was G7 82 ECF. I remember as a young lad I was devastated. That game was really never close.

Hysterical.

To be fair, Nate Archibald, the Celtics point guard blew out his knee in game three of that series when they were tied 1-1, so they were shorthanded ......It was a miracle they went 7 games at all,,,,

 

[RobertWeathers]

To be fair, Nate Archibald, the Celtics point guard blew out his knee in game three of that series when they were tied 1-1, so they were shorthanded ......It was a miracle they went 7 games at all,,,,

Yep. Another Celtic was playing hurt big time as well. I forget who.

 

[rochrist]

I enjoyed the hell out of beating Moses,especially after his dumbass remarks about" celtics ain't nothin. me and 4 guys from the playgrounds in Petersburg(va) would whip em".
Can't remember if he said that with Houston or Philly. But I appreciated Moses's game. Old school. Hard-nosed. Rebounding machine.

Larry: I guess Moses really does eat ****. Said to thousands in front of City Hall.

 

[realtime]

Moses was one of the greats.

I think that was during the 81 Finals. LOL.

What a strange year that was. Houston made the finals despite having a losing regular season record. They beat the then-KC Kings in the Western Conference Finals, who also had a losing regular season record. The best-of-three first round format no doubt helped them advance, but Malone was really a dominant force back then.

 

[mosey threetupu]

Yep- that was G7 82 ECF. I remember as a young lad I was devastated. That game was really never close.

...and then they go out and get Moses Malone.

IIRC in the 83 pre-season Bird and Ivaroni went at it. Then Billy Cunningham and Bird shouted at each other then Red came down from the stands and began yelling at Cunningham and Moses.

Hysterical.

You can listen to the Johnny Most call of that preseason fight along with about a million other awesome sound bites on a youtube of this album that I wore out growing up -

Not To Be Denied! Road to the Boston Celtics 15th NBA World Championship (1984) -



Edit - the Philly fight is at about 9:12


If you're a Celts fan of the 80's it's really a must listen.

 

[jimnance]

Larry: I guess Moses really does eat ****. Said to thousands in front of City Hall.

A dude was holding up a sign that read" Moses eats ****".
Larry spots the sign and says," As I look out here today, I see something that sums it all up....Moses DOES eat ****."
Crowd goes nuts.