Is Larry Bird overrated?

[westsideboy]

Originally Posted by Yippeekayay

Kobe takes a lot of shots and Shaq has to save the team when they're down as that's when he would be given touches until they get the lead again.



Yup he sucks FTs and they did that hack-a-shaq but they'll run out of players if they do much of that.

I have a hard time putting Shaq on a Top-10 list because of what he left on the table with poor conditioning and fitness. Image that guy if he could have kept the body he had when he was with the Magic, into his prime years.

To be a Top-10 player in my book, you have to maximize the potential you had and give your all on the court and off.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by nico7

I hate to be anti-Shaq, because I like the guy and no doubt he was dominant. (BUT)... Shaq's highest PPG was 29.7 over a season and highest assists 3.8. Bird peaked at 29.9. Jordan had a season each at 35 and 37 PPG, with 8 seasons over 30. Kareem had 4 seasons over 30. There are more than a few guys who have had 30+ now... Shaq ain't one of them! Dominant yes... maybe he would have a better chance if there were no such categories as free throws and assists . So if you figure the "other guys" on a team being equal, just the PPG and assists tells you that Shaq would probably lose the majority of games.

Shaq's peak coincided with the slowest paced era in NBA history so I don't think a straight up PPG comparison tells us that much. During the 98-99 season, teams averaged only 91 PPG compared to 114 PPG last season.

Back in the late 90s/early 00s, it wasn't uncommon to see a final score of 85 to 78. Lots of teams today can put up 70 points in a half. Of the 10 highest scoring halves in NBA history, 5 of them occurred within the past 6 years.