I know a lot of people have compared Nowitkzi to Bird already, but this is the first time I hear Bird himself saying it...in ESPN chat: Tony from Jefferson City, MO: "Mr. Bird, Of all of the current players playing today (except of Jordan), who is your favorite or better, who reminds you most of yourself when you played?" Larry Bird: "(...)Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas reminds me of myself. He can run the floor, shoot and rebound." I know Nowitzki is no Bird, I just thought it was remarkable that Bird himself says there are similarities...
i always thought Nowitzki is a great player, only he has no defense. But on the offensive end he is great.
Nowitzki is not nearly the passer Bird was and I don't think he's played in enough close games to be considered a clutch shooter. I still think Nowitzki has a long way to go until he is what Bird was.
haven't i seen other posters say the same thing about Bird? is that not another reason he seems like Larry?? but i agree he as a way to go yet, but he could get there i think...
Actually, Nowitzki is a lot like Bird. Tall, white, shoot, dribble, pass, and no defense = Larry Bird. EDIT: Oh, shoot, someone already posted about the lack of defense. For example, in his first couple'a years, teammates called Nowitzki "Irk." (Drumroll please.) Because he had no D. (High hat.)
ROXTXIA, Nitwitz can't pass like Bird...not even close. Bird was a floor general. Nitwitz is more of a dedicated scorer....so far. That makes for a huge gap, imo. Remember, the Celtics traded their leading scorer (McAdoo at 25ppg) for future picks and ML Carr and handed the team to Bird, who turned a <b>29-53 team into a 61-21 team in his first year</b>. How do you go from 29 to 61 wins, much less getting rid of your leading scorer in the process, without saying Bird was a legend? Bird and Magic are incomparable. It is rare to see Bird so modest in that interview. I still say the closest comparison to Nowitzki is Bob McAdoo. But there truly is no comparison considering how tall Dirk is. Dirk is breaking new ground for a 7er.
Who knows Larry Bird better then.. Larry Bird? If he can make a comparison judgment on Dirk to himself, then by all means, I would tend to agree with him. This is not some reporter writing an article about how they are similar. This is the man himself saying that they are.
Nutcracker, Bird is rarely this modest to allow any comparison to himself. I'm surprised. Notice he did not say anything about passing. The proper question (regarding having Bird describe Nowitzki) would be to ask Bird who Nowitzki most reminds him of.
I never thought Bird was THAT bad on defense. He played very good team defense, IMO. Nitwiddle has a looong way to go to reach Bird status. But if this gets back to him, he will be insufferable to be around for awhile!
i said, dirk was good, But i agree Bird was better. He did pas beter. But Dirk is a great player, But not a top 5 of all time (like Bird),But dirk is still young.
Exactly. Bird was never a great one on one defender because he wasn't that great of an athelete but he was smart and played angles very well. He also was one of the toughest players in the league.
