How Would Larry Bird Fare In Today's NBA?

Larry Bird was one of the most fundamentally sound basketball players that the NBA has ever seen. He wasn't the fastest in the gym and he certainly wasn't going to jump the highest. He would, however, outwork you, out-hustle you, and outwit you in a myriad of ways on the basketball court.

Larry always seemed to be at the right place at the right time on the court, knowing how and when to set up his teammates with the ball in an instant. His passing prowess was contagious as his teammates quickly learned that if you gave it up, Bird would get it back to you in position to score.

Bird dominated the game at a time when it was all about getting out on the fastbreak and high-paced offenses. After a hiatus during the 2000s when the NBA’s pace plummeted, the league is now back to being all about high-scoring offenses predicated on spacing the floor.

Three of Bird's skills in particular that made him a three-time league MVP were his deadeye shooting ability, his elite rebounding for a small forward, and his mesmerizing passing ability. Even though some may say Bird would be too slow for the game nowadays, he proved during his time in the NBA that he could thrive playing a fast-paced game. Larry, with his supreme basketball IQ, would’ve found wrinkles in the game to dominate in any era.

Three-Point Shooting

The part of Bird’s game that would be most applicable to today’s game would be his deadeye-shooting ability. A career 37.6 percent shooter from deep, Larry would benefit from getting to launch a handful of threes per game as today’s stars do.

Back in his day, it was abnormal to attempt more than a couple threes in a game, even on a hot shooting night. Bird would’ve likely hovered around 40% like the league’s top shooters today and would benefit from a healthy diet of threes. The quality of his threes would be higher too than the 80s with more shooting threats around him to draw the defense.

The offensive spacing is really what makes 80’s basketball look like a completely different game compared to basketball 40 years later. Bodies used to pack the paint without teams having multiple reliable three-point shooters to space the floor.

Being one of the deadliest shooters in the league would have also allowed Bird to spot up around the three-point arc and provide spacing for his teammates. This would have been seen as revolutionary to Bird during his playing days. At most, one or two teammates might be spaced out for a three-pointer, not all five like we see in the NBA today.

Bird was a devastating post player as well and would be able to pick apart defenses from the key. If he had four teammates spaced out around the arc, Bird would body his defender in the paint. Send an extra defender his way and he’s making a no-look bounce pass to the open man cutting to the basket.

Rebounding

Bird, standing in at 6’9” and 220 pounds, averaged an even 10 rebounds per game across 13 NBA seasons for the Celtics. Keep in mind that Larry shared a frontcourt with two fellow Hall-Of-Famers, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. McHale averaged 7.3 rebounds per game in his career and Parish averaged over 10 per game in 12 seasons played alongside Bird.

Bird was burly enough to handle his own in the paint with other giants of the 80s. Always a technical player, Bird excelled at boxing out opponents and putting him in the best position on the court to grab a rebound.

If his career had panned out in the 2020s instead of the 80s, Bird would likely be slotted at the power forward position given the nature of the league today. Coaches rarely put lineups on the court these days with two traditional big men, which was the norm in Larry’s time. The power-forward of old has transformed into a stretch-four, a position that would be tailor-made for Bird.

Bird’s size at the four position would allow his team to put out some jumbo lineups around him. He wouldn’t be guarding the likes of Charles Barkley or Karl Malone like he would've been in the 80's. If he played today, Bird would be matched up against players like Jayson Tatum, or Lauri Markkanen.

Bird would also likely see more rebounding opportunities because he wouldn’t have two giants alongside him clogging up the paint and fighting for boards like McHale AND PARISH. With everyone more spaced out on the court, Bird would have even more opportunities to seek out rebounds both on the offensive and defensive glass. He averaged 2 offensive rebounds per game over his career, a number that would likely increase if he had played in the 2020s.

Passing

Larry looked to make life easier for his teammates upon entering the league, and it didn’t take long. He transformed the lowly 29-win 1978-79 Celtics squad into a 61-win powerhouse in his first season. His persistence to pass the ball was contagious, as Boston turned into a well-oiled machine on offense. Teammates willingly gave up the ball and made cuts to the basket knowing Bird would have the ball back in their hands in an instant.

He operated by sneaking bounce passes to teammates in a paint crowded with defenders. Bird would get you the ball so fast that it was like he could see the opening in an offense before it was even there. Thanks to his abilities as a constant scoring threat, he was always number one on the scouting report for opposing defenses. Eyes would be on him, and he used that to deceive his opponents by making the extra pass.

Even if he had a makeable elbow jumper available, Larry would always pass up an open shot in favor of getting a teammate a better one. So many times, Bird used his eyes and pump fakes to get a defender off his feet to slip it to Parish or McHale down low for a layup.

Because of the stark difference in floor spacing between the 80s and 2020s, Bird would be able to set up teammates even better today. There would be more open cuts to the basket and greater opportunities to find teammates spotting up for three. Bird would be a walking triple-double threat in the league today, akin to the abilities of Luka Doncic with his rebounding and passing prowess.