Since the NBA has gone through so many different eras and styles of play over the years, it’s tough to truly know how a player from one era would perform in a different time period.
Boston Celtics legend Kevin McHale, however, is certain that fellow Celtics icon Larry Bird would be a problem in today’s NBA.
He said that Bird is “bigger, stronger, faster, and meaner” than current Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic.
“These are the same dudes that can’t guard Luka Doncic, and Luka Doncic is lighting them up,” McHale said, per the Boston Globe. “And I’m thinking, ‘Larry is bigger, stronger, faster, and meaner than Luka Doncic. And if Luka is lighting these dudes up, it’d be a five-alarm fire what Larry would do.’”
McHale continued.
“I just laugh at these people today,” McHale said. “Larry would go by you a hell of a lot faster than Luka would go by you. He was a straight-line driver, and he was also just a horse.”
Bird’s NBA career began in the 1979-80 season and ended after the 1991-92 season. He spent all of it with the Celtics.
He left his fingerprints all over the 1980s of the NBA, a decade in which he and Lakers legend Magic Johnson did a ton for the game of basketball. Bird won three straight MVP awards in the ’80s and helped the Celtics win three NBA titles, though Johnson’s Lakers did leave the decade with five rings.
When all was said and done, Bird retired with 12 All-Star nods and career averages of 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
Doncic and Bird certainly have some similarities. Both can be described as “point forwards” given their size and play styles.
The Lakers star, at 6-foot-8, has career averages of 29.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game. Bird was listed at 6-foot-9 during his playing career and was a triple-double threat just like Doncic is.
While many modern NBA fans may argue that McHale’s take is biased, Doncic has some work to do if he wants to catch up to Bird in the resume department. Doncic is a six-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA selectee with two scoring titles under his belt, but he has yet to win an MVP award or NBA championship.
The Lakers are hoping that he can lead them back to the promised land in the near future, but they’re going to have to do their part as an organization. This offseason will be an important one for the franchise as it looks to give Doncic the help he needs in L.A.
