The old man claims Larry Bird would have scored 85 points on LeBron James.
Thanksgiving can occasionally be the time for passionate family debates and one recently went viral on social media. In it, an old man claims that LeBron James could not guard Larry Bird and that the latter would have scored 85 points on the former.
“LeBron could not guard Larry Bird,” the old man said. “If LeBron James got 40 points, Larry Bird would have got 85.”
I agree with the old man about the first part. James wouldn’t have been able to guard Bird for the simple reason that no one really could. The Boston Celtics icon was an offensive juggernaut who averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in his 13-year NBA career.
The very best defenders of Bird’s era were powerless to stop him and it would have been the same for James, who has made six All-Defensive teams in his career. At the end of the day, this just comes down to a simple fact: great offense beats great defense.
As for the man’s other point about Bird getting 85, if James gets 40, that was an obvious exaggeration. No player in NBA history, not even Michael Jordan, would have been able to dominate against him to that extent.
James is arguably the greatest ever, with a resume that includes four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title. I firmly believe he is a greater player than Bird and if they ever faced on the court, I’d back him to emerge victorious in that matchup.
Gilbert Arenas Thinks Larry Bird Would Have Beaten LeBron James 1-On-1
Gilbert Arenas has spoken glowingly of James over time but doesn’t believe the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is a great one-on-one player. During an interview with Vlad TV, Arenas explained why Bird would have beaten LeBron one-on-one.
The game is different for different players,” Arenas said. “Jordan, and Kobe, they’re one-on-one juggernauts. You can’t compare him with LeBron. LeBron is not a one-on-one player. He is like Jokic. He is a team guy. He is a five-on-five type of player.”
“Larry Bird would probably beat LeBron one-on-one,” Arenas added. “… Because one-on-one, it takes away from everything LeBron has right. His physical strength, his speed, and all that power he has going well. In one-on-one, you are talking about one, two dribbles. That’s not his game. That’s Larry’s whole game.”
That’s an interesting argument but I would disagree with Arenas. If James and Bird played one-on-one, I’d back the former to win, but it could go either way. Considering the contrast in their styles, it would be a fascinating matchup and I’d pay a lot of money to see it.
Someone who doesn’t think it would be all exciting is Dennis Rodman. When informed about Arenas’ comments, Rodman stated Bird would be playing in Europe if he were playing in this era.
That was a wild remark but it wasn’t all that surprising, considering Rodman stated back in 1987 that Bird gets overrated because he’s white. He has apologized for those comments since then, but it’s clear he has never exactly been Bird’s biggest fan.
