The rivalry between Larry Bird and Kevin McHale’s Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Showime Lakers in the 80s made the NBA a fan favorite. Bird and Johnson prided themselves to be the best players in the league. However, the power slowly seemed to shift following Michael Jordan‘s Draft in 1984. Despite edging out MJ and the Bulls 23 times out of 34 in the last eight years of his stint in the NBA, Larry Bird could smell Jordan’s arrogance and soon realized that he’s no longer the best guy in the league. On the other hand, Michael Jordan had immense respect for Bird, which he didn’t always show. In fact, the six-time NBA Champion once proclaimed that LeBron James stands no chance against Larry legend in a 1v1 matchup.

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Michael Jordan triggered comparisons with Lakers legend Magic Johnson after his entry into the league. Larry Bird no longer qualified to be Magic’s biggest competition and felt somewhat like an afterthought at the time. Meanwhile, Jordan’s arrogance and cockiness started to surge with his exploits on the court. Therefore, Bird decided to somewhat humble Jordan and co. by dropping a total 35 points and 28 rebounds, along with Kevin Mc Hale. Both MJ and his team were humbled the Boston side, which provided them ample room for introspection.

Michael Jordan believed LeBron James would perish in a 1v1 contest against Larry Bird

LeBron James has established his place in the GOAT debate opposite of Michael Jordan. But there was a time when he was yet to win a Championship. In 2009, Jordan made an interesting comparison between Bird and James.

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The book When the Game Was Ours, written by Larry Bird, Earvin Johnson, and Jackie MacMullan, details MJ’s perspective on the whole issue. An excerpt from the book explains Jordan’s thought process perfectly:

“People ask me all the time who my all-time five top players are, and when I start saying Larry, they interrupt me. They say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. He can’t play with LeBron James!’ I tell them, ‘You guys don’t get it. Larry is far better than any small forward who played the game, and to be honest, I’m still not sure if he is a small forward or a power forward.’”

That same year LeBron will win the NBA MVP award for the very first time. Despite carrying the Cleveland Cavaliers’ entire roster almost singlehandedly, James received a lot of flak for failing to secure an NBA Championship. He was still nowhere near to be compared to MJ.

Therefore, Jordan naturally picked Bird to beat LeBron in a 1v1 contest. However, most fans would disagree that Bird would end up on the victorious side. Because even though they are both of the same height, LeBron has freakish athleticism on the hardwood. On the other hand, Bird could shoot the lights out from anywhere on the court.

No matter what, the matchup is bound to be an exciting one. In hindsight, most NBA fans would pick LeBron over the ‘Hick from French Lick’.

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