The reason why he is my GOAT is that he started a change in a team from worst to contender with only one player difference -- HIM. Further, he stayed with a team his whole career, he didn't chase a championship. Additionally, he played hurt, how many players do that today??? Remember MJ with all his incredible talent went 0 for 6 in the championships race. He didn't even win at home against an aging and hurt Larry. You will see pictures of Larry with blood on his jersey, playing with broken bones - and he plays without excuse. His candle really did burn bright. A somebody to remember.

Man, I love all of your Larry bird reactions. But in this video, you talked over a lot of the most important details that were being presented.

Bird is the best 3 point shooter ever, and the first time he played with a 3 point line was his first NBA game.

My nf friend! Well I became a fan of the game because of Magic, but my goat is Jordan. The most complete 2 way player I’ve ever seen, to be feared on both sides of the ball the way he was is unheard of today. However Larry excelled over mike in one lane, he was most definitely just as if not more dangerous without the ball. I was felt mike had to have the ball in his hand to make an impact offensively. And there won’t be another Larry Bird but you better damn well take notice that the closet thing I’ve seen to him in 30 years is Jokic!! His movement and IQ is so similar!

The reason Bird was so hard to play against. He did not have to shoot to effect the game. He was either getting rebounds. Making a great pass. Diving for balls etc Bird played with so much heart and IQ.

Bird would feast on today's NBA. He didn't need a super team to win rings.

Your goat who just said the other day that the last two minutes of the game don't matter

The only stats he forgot were, he was rookie of the year and second in MVP four times and third once. He also took a 20 game winner to over sixty games, and world champion in two years. That’s greatness. Complete disclosure, I’m a big Laker fan from the 80s onwards and I have no love for LarryBird because of it. However, he WAS better than everyone in his playing days, and I’m sure he would torch Lebron James to the point of tears, and talk smack the whole way. He made people like MJ, doctor J, Michael Cooper, quake in their high-tops. During his prime years, the Celtics were 99-4 at home, how else could you account for that success.

Having seen Larry play, I have him at #3 all time.

MVP 3 times in a row, world champion x3, Olympic gold medalist, all star, executive of the year, coach of the year, almost beat Jordan with miller as a coach, greatest trash talker. I started watching bball back in 1984 as a 7 y/o and what was amazing is bird does not look like a superstar like they all say he can’t run can’t jump, but he is the greatest fundamentalist player of all time and him killing black players, Jordan magic, Kareem Olajuwon, Dr J, Patrick Ewing,Dominque, Wilkins, both Malone being Carl and Moses Charles Barkley and this was the time when you and your keep on the paint you getting fight this was the greatest era of NBA the 80s and 90s

Bird and Magic saved the NBA and paved the way for future players. Watching B Ball during this time was more than awesome. I agree. Bird was just a great player so was Magic, Kareem, Dominic etc.

And I guess you had to be there.....watch "the greatest game I ever played, I should have quit right there ".. he hustled harder than anybody. And he gets points for being so much fun to watch!

Every era of basketball fans believe that their greats are the GOAT, and that's cool. Us fans who got to watch Bird play feel the same way, it's just we happen to be right. lol

Both the Lakers and the Celtics had super teams over all the super teams of the '80's. The Lakers, however had 2 players that are in the GOAT conversation. Watch "Making the case: 1986 Celtics" to see Larry's best team. Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Bill Walton, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson...they were really good and in sync with each other. It's amazing to watch. It was Larry's team that he created with what Red gave him to work with and the only person he had any control over was Bill Walton. And their bench was equally awesome. But I agree...Kareem and Magic and Big Game James are a hard combo to overlook. And they had Micheal Cooper, and a few others too. I feel the Celtics bench was better, but Lakers overall had more talent. And the Celtics got screwed later on with Bias and Lewis...a demonstration of what drugs can do to your players. THe main reason Larry couldn't retire in 1988...The Celtics had no one to replace him.

I would encourage you to watch all the videos in the Making the Case series: Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, LeBron, Magic, Kareem.

I am a Bird fan, from back in the 1980s, because I lived 50 miles south of Boston and he was the talk of the town right away. One of the things I admired the most was the fact he never even thought of being traded. He stayed true to the team that drafted him. He was not greedy and shared the ball with everyone. He was someone you'd want your kids to look up to. Good reaction. Thanks for sharing.

He is the GOAT!

I forget who said this, but when I started watching videos about Larry, some former coach or player said “he’s slow, can’t jump, isn’t that strong, he just plays basketball better than everyone else.” His understanding of the sport was supernatural. He was peak basketball. We’re seeing more guys like him, like Luka and Jokic, but those guys still aren’t Larry.

I have to give so much respect to Magic.. when he found out he was HIV positive.. he called Larry to let him know.. Larry stood with him... that's respect... Cause we didn't know as much about the virus as we do now... Larry supported Magic.. brings tears to my eyes. v

The reason Indiana St. lost to Michigan St. is because Bird had a bad game because he was double teamed the entire time. However, there is no other collegiate player in the history of college basketball to take an unranked team (Indiana St.) and have an undefeated season (33 - 0) and take that team to the championship playoff. That bit of history is still true to this day.

LeBron James would be carrying Birds luggage on road trips if he played 80’s NBA ! Word of advice … don’t mention LeBums name in a Larry Bird video .

Every person that plays in or loves to watch the NBA owes it to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Together they saved the NBA and the game of basketball!!!

My pick for starting five on greatest team ever: PG- Magic Johnson, SG- Michael Jordan, SF- Larry Bird, PF-James Worthy, C-Kareem Abdul Jabar.

Fly like a bird

# 1 BIRD # 2 JORDAN # 3 MAGIC # 4 WILT # 5 RUSSELL # 6 KAREEM # 7 HAKEEM # 8 DR J # 9 KOBE # 10 DUNCAN # 14 JAMES

To his stats 3 all-defensive second team and Rookie of the year.

Imagine if Bird didnt have a debilitating back injury for more than half his career, that was so crippling that he was gonna retire after Boston drafted Bias in '86. He was as an all time great and he couldnt even play at his highest possible level for most of his career.... We didnt even get to see the best version of Bird, how crazy is THAT?!?

You said that it was just Larry Bird on the Celtics. You need to check out Making The Case 1986 Boston Celtics Greatest Team of All time and then tell me if you compare them with the Lakers. Your a young guy who I’m willing to bet does not know about that team. Give it a watch. Thx

Make sure you try to compare Larry's stats to the first 12 or 13 years of their careers.

Thanks!

Solid review! Kudos

All the Celtics big three are in the hall of fame. Only Jabbar and Worthy are in the hof. Magic was a point guard, not big three. The difference is theLakers had two players who can be placed in the goat debate, the Celtics have one. Also, Ive seen videos of Bird taking 17 last second shots to win or tie games. He hit 14 of them, 6 three pointers.

Bro I know u a youngin but if u a true hoops fan u gotta know who Kevin Mchale is!!! Besides Hakeem his post moves and footwork are second to none💯

😄👍🔥🏀

I'm not a Lebron hater - hes an amazing athlete. But I see him having 2 MAJOR flaws that Jordan and Bird didnt have. 1. If you look at his field goal shooting outside of dunk/layup range hes in the 30's. In this era of "cant touch the guy with the basketball" Lebron flourished. Like shaq, he used brute force to dominate but took domination to a new level. But I dont think you can be a basketball GOAT if you cant shoot at least one season thats close to 50/40/90. Bird was the founder and had 3 of them. 2. Lebron has taken a lot of last second shots and won a bunch of games. But he has a propensity to dish the ball off to another player in the last seconds. Bird literally told his coach "gimme the ball and tell everyone to get out of the way." Theres just a different killer instinct there. Bird would never have let Dirk Nowitzki beat him.

Goat choices always depend on age and opinion, For instance, I'm 57, here's my goats, Larry and Magic, Bobby Orr, Walter Peyton, Jackie Robinson

on god prime D Rose is my favorite PG of all time

When it comes to professional sports, statistics and accolades are irrelevant. To play a sport as a full-time job, fans are the only thing that matters. There is no paycheck unless fans are showing up, watching and buying merch. Look how many sports are played in college then compare those college sports to the same professional sports. Some don't even exist professionally because not enough people will pay to keep it going. And, G.O.A.T. doesn't have anything to do with stats once you cross over into the professional level. The G.O.A.T. is determined by butts in seats and Jersey's worn by fans. The NBA may have been gone in just a few more years if there was no Bird. But, it probably wouldn't have been around without Magic. That college game that college championship they play in made people want to continue to watch their rivalry. The G.O.A.T. is a collaboration of those two. They are the G.O.A.T.. No butts in seats their rookie year and there would be no M.J., no Kobe, No LeBron. Professional sports is all about the money, not the stats. No fans, no money, no league, no GOATS. No one was interested in the greats before them and are only interested in the greats of today because of them. The two GOATS were GOATS together. Without Bird, no Magic. Without Magic, No Bird.

Lebum?self-proclaimed GOAT, who goes to an already champion team and build a team of superstars to win championships?yeah,the goat of flopping, acting, excuse making and blaming his teammates, that's what lebum is

I enjoy watching you get into some of the older teams, especially Magic and Bird. But just a little constructive criticism. Consider pausing the video when you talk, because you really miss a lot.

Sure Lebron is a bad boy. But always keep it in your mind that if it wasn't for Larry Bird and Magic Johnson we wouldn't have a Lebron or a Kobe or a Shak. In the late 70's nobody was buying game tickets and everyone had about stopped watching it on TV. If not for Larry and Magic hitting the scene in 1979 the NBA would have been bankrupt by 1980.

I’m sure it’s been brought up, but you should watch the making the case for the Celtics team Clayton did. Kevin McHale is a dog or go watch the legends talk about him. Charles Barkley called Kevin his all time nemesis

Larry is Lebron's GOAT. That should say something.

Magic and Larry are. Credited with saving basketball to me you can not have a list of top players with including both of them if not for.magic and Larry latter stars might not.have even played

There is a video on here of MJ saying Bird is a mucgh better Small Forward that LeBron James, in fact, not just Smaall Forwar, bur any forward, Bird vould play every positionon the court.

Everything you need in the game lebron has except for a jump shot the whole purpose of the game 7:36

Larry is a better shooter defender passer rebounder. What do you think Lebron is better at longevity?

Take anyone you have on your goat list and give them Birds athleticism and give Bird theirs and how do you think those stats would come out? Not good for anyone except bird is all I will say and that is because he is the best all around basketball player to ever play not the fastest or guy with high flying wow factor dunks but the guy who did everything combined together at at higher rate than anyone before he hurt his back and still played 5-6 seasons and had multiple leg and foot issues and surgeries and still had a career average of 26 points when it would have probably been 30+ with no back issues alone

6:00 100% Bird and Magic... They probably did more for race relations than anyone ever realized. Not only on the court but in everything. They changed EVERYTHING. No one else, in any sport, can say that. To me, Jordan, Bird and Magic are the three greatest ballers to ever lace em up. No one else even comes close. Ans just for reference, my favorite players of all time is Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman. So this is no dick riding bs. Thats just reality.

I'm white and I find it offensive that this guy is calling Larry THE white basketball player.. why not just say Larry was a great player.. overall great.. why is it about color.. It's 2024.. not 1979 .. just give him props for being Larry Bird

I'm sorry but the only reason the 2 big 3s are compared is because both sets of big 3 were great yea the Lakers had the more skill but the Celtics had the smartest players in the league and that is why they won so much and did so well skill will always outlast athletics but out of all those players to choose from I will take bird over anyone in the league just based off I can play him like his own chess board

Lebron could be top 10 all time along side JJ Reddick.

LeBron is arguably the best in the league now, but who are his opponents? Larry Bird consistently shut down the greatest teams with the greatest players in the HISTORY of the NBA... and he did it with a broken body to boot. In the most physical era of the sport. In general, people acknowledge that LeBron couldn't beat Jordan. Maybe if LeBron came up playing at the same time in the same league, it would be a different conversation, but it was just a different game back then. Bird didn't just succeed - he beat the most legendary teams and players the NBA has EVER seen.

MJ couldn't beat Bird. The Celtics in 1986 when 50-1 including playoffs. There would be no NBA without Bird and Magic. MJ won 11 games Bird 23. MJ couldn't beat Bird in the playoffs he got swept twice in back to back seasons. Celtics in 1978 had 29 wins. In 1979 the Celtics won 60+ games and made the playoffs.

3 time mvp in a row against all the greats..n he didn't hv but one player that could play with his intelligence..Dennis johnson

Larry is the goat. Period Take a look at the video Jordan vs Bird then you'll understand. Jordan never beat bird in the playoffs even with Pippin. Its took LeBron twenty years to match birds 13

They should've used lebron for fake goats can't shoot

If they only knew that during this Era of NBA it was the wild wild west lol. NBA too soft now

idk if there is a definitive goat but if there is, i’d say MJ. also could you react to “Im So Fly” by Lloyd Banks (of G-Unit). He was the best rapper in G-Unit.

You miss a lot of the video, and we miss what you are saying sometimes. I think you and your audience would enjoy them better if you paused the video when you talk. Hope you have a great holiday season!

Man all you young you tubers are all the same and are really hard to watch or subscribe to!! Because you all want to talk and try to show whatever know you think you have by talking over the people that are trying to make multiple point throughout the whole video!! Talking over and over the person’s narrating the videos you miss certain things, certain points, and valuable knowledge!!!!! Wish you all would just hit pause on the video say your 2 cents reactions then hit the back 10second button so you can hear from start to finish the entirety of all the different points of the video!!

It's no good to talk over all the narration. You don't learn anything by talking while you look at video.

All the greats had to say he was the best fractured cheekbone comes out n beat Chuck persons .look at that game..lefthanded against portland..free-throw king n 3 pt king contest ..what is anyone thinking..he beat rockets team .that beat lakers...so 2 to 1 doesn't mean anything against lakers..Lakers were beat to not make it against bird ...so..the history between Lakers is misleading