Reggie Miller would draft prime Larry Bird over LeBron James
Is the offseason over yet?
With plenty of time and airspace to fill in the dog days of August, it's prime time for rankings, hypotheticals, and silly debates. And if a host is looking for a good sound bite, there are few better people to ask than Reggie Miller.
The hyperbolic Miller has never been shy with his opinions, and his openness has carried from his playing career into the broadcasting booth, where he's developed into a garrulous color commentator. So when Dan Patrick invited him onto his radio show, Miller was an ideal target for a meaningless and harmless hypothetical.
Given the choice between today's 30-year-old version of LeBron James or peak, 31-year-old, 1987-88 Larry Bird, who would Miller start a team with? No teammate corollaries, no changes to the modern rules, just Larry Legend or King James.
Miller sided with his former head coach, saying Bird would be untouchable in the league's current environment.
It's an impossible comparison to make, with the league having changed a great deal in the almost-30 years since Bird peaked. If you care to, here's how the two stacked up statistically in the seasons in question:
| Comparing Superstars | LeBron James | Larry Bird |
|---|---|---|
| Season | 2014-15 | 1987-88 |
| Age | 30 | 31 |
| PPG | 25.3 | 29.9 |
| RPG | `6.0 | 9.3 |
| APG | 7.4 | 6.1 |
| SPG | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| BPG | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| FG% | 48.8% | 52.7% |
| 3FG% | 35.4% | 41.4% |
| TS% | 57.7% | 60.8% |
| PER | 25.9 | 27.8 |
| Win Shares | 10.4 | 15.0 |
Bird's shooting would have even greater value now with the prevalence of the 3-point shot, but it's difficult to imagine any player, from any era, matching up with the versatile offensive game, his defense (when engaged), and the sheer physicality of James' game.
It also may be unfair to use James' 2014-15 season as the comparison point, considering it was his worst season in several years, he struggled with injuries, and he's being compared in this case to Bird's best season.
But it's all in good fun, and fans are welcome to debate James, Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and so on, at any age in any hypothetical. It is, after all, the middle of a long offseason.