Michael Shapiro: You know, frankly, I spent a couple hours debating this in my head throughout the team is imagining Bird kind of traded the mantle of best player alive throughout the 1980s. I White N.B.A. players are often compared to Larry Bird, but Luka Doncic does share some of Bird’s do-it-all talent. Doncic remains as brilliant as ever, averaging 28.9 points, 8.6 rebounds Larry's tireless work ethic, hustle, and willingness to fight 100% even with an injury that would sideline most guys a week, was contagious.His teammates always had to be on top of their game Bird, for all his fame and fortune, insisted on building a driveway for his mother and inadvertently set a chain reaction in motion. When all was said and done, his $24 million NBA career had come to a premature end. Larry Bird proved to be one of basketball’s biggest talents during his prime Don Nelson: “He’s the best player ever to play the game.” ever, ever be another Larry Bird.” - Earvin Johnson at the 1993 retirement ceremony for Bird in Boston Garden. Bird and Johnson were showing off the brilliant passing skills that would later set them apart from their NBA peers, and the play ended with Johnson scoring a quick layup on an assist from Bird. "It was an incredible three seconds of basketball," Johnson related in the book "When the Game Was Ours," as quoted by NPR. "It was boom, boom, boom! Michael Jordan is one of the best offensive players in NBA history. It's no surprise that many legendary defenders call him the toughest player they ever guarded. For a former Defensive Player of To this day, Larry Bird still doesn’t have any respect for Bill Laimbeer, even off the court. In an interview with Bill Simmons, formerly of ESPN, Simmons asked Bird if he ever liked Laimbeer in any social situation. Bird was extremely quick to answer no. “It’s because he was a dirty player,” Bird continued. “He had to do what he had O3k40yw.