YouTube Gold: Baron Davis And Iman Shumpert Ask A Cross-Era Question

In this clip from Iman Shumpert’s show, Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert discuss whether or not Larry Bird could play in today’s game

Davis is emphatic in his belief that Bird would be dominant in today’s game while Shumpert asks if Bird could guard Kevin Durant.

It’s always an interesting question but as we’ve mentioned from time to time, the first thing is that equipment, nutrition and training have changed radically since Bird’s day.

The second thing, as Davis suggests, is that Bird had a huge mean streak. He didn’t just want to beat you, he wanted to break your spirit.

The third thing is that in Bird’s era, the NBA was vastly more physical and guys felt free to beat each other during the course of a game. Why wait for the fights? Just do it in the flow of the game!

The main point in the yes he could argument is that Bird, as Joe Dumars argues, was a basketball savant. His immense competitive desire and his crazy intelligence for the game put him on a different level.

Here’s something they didn’t consider in this conversation. Most people who know what Bird could do have no doubt that he could play in this era and the fact that you couldn’t just beat on him today like Bill Laimbeer, Karl Malone and others did in the 1980’s is just supporting evidence.

But here’s a different question: how would Durant do in the 1980’s?

He’d have to deal with guys like Bird, Laimbeer, Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Horace Grant and others who would be happy to grind him to a pulp. He’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer obviously, but he plays in an era that has discouraged physical – okay, violent – defense.

He’d get his of course, but Durant would take a major beating in the 1980’s.

Anyway, it’s an interesting discussion.