Yeah if had the advantages of training and shooting focus of today he would be dominant on levels we cannot imagine. Jokic X 5. Bird is criminally under-rated.
But in his era he was one of the best in all of that. Ranked in the top 10 if not top 5 in multiple statistical categories nearly every year. His shooting was insane for his era. Bring him up in today's NBA with modern training techniques and a focus on positionless play and 3-point shooting that was already something he was doing decades ahead of his time and his dominance would be approaching Jordan levels. Skills translate, and can be augmented by training and game-planning. Give him training and game-planning focused on extracting the most from his skills in the modern NBA and he would be a beast the likes of which we would rarely see. Imagine if he had the green light from 3 and was launching a dozen of them a game with focus on getting him open. He was a fantastic off the dribble shooter, and catch and shoot was text-book. His percentages would rise across the board. Crazy how under-rated he is.
Bird imo is right behind Jordan at #2. His skill set is insane and his numbers had he played today would be insanely off the charts. He was a roofed up Jockic and imagine what he would do in todays spaceing
The Hakeem argument is much easier to buy than the case you’re trying to make for Bird. But you do you, of course.
The main reason I think Bird belongs is he would be dominant in any era. I am not sure you can say that about Magic. His floor spacing was just bad. And in a world where the pure point guard is fading out, the combo-everything-forward reigns supreme. Bird is a force in every era. In the modern era I could see a Durant or Steph in that PG role. but still is hard to displace Magic in that regard. Not many players are truly every-position players, like Magic, although Bird was arguably just as versatile. It is amazing those 2 came on the scene at exactly the same time though, right? I could even see Kareem displaced on this list depending on the expectations from the center position. Is Jokic really that far off, considering everything he is capable of? It is crazy to try to put a list together like this with so many deserving players and no real way to differentiate statistically all the time.
