NBA rivalries are hard to beat, and Dennis Rodman maintained the rivalry between the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers. boston celtics I live at the end of June, when he said that three-time MVP Larry Bird would not make it to the NBA in the current era of basketball.
“Yeah larry bird played in this era, I think it would be in Europe,” Rodman said on VladTV. “I’m just letting you know, man. He would be somewhere over there.”
Former NBA player Dennis Rodman trains during the 2023 NFL Pro Bowl Weekend Celebrity All-Star Game to benefit the D Up On Cancer charity at Cox Pavilion on February 4, 2023 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
“His game was right for Boston at the time in the ’80s and stuff like that. Today’s world, oh hell, no. No way. I’m not downplaying him because he’s a great player at the time, just like me. But I’m saying no. There’s no way.”
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Isiah Thomas, who won two championships with Rodman in Detroit, he was asked about Rodman’s comments, and “Zeke” went in a completely different direction with his opinion.
“My personal opinion on Larry Bird, if Larry Bird was playing today, he would still be the MVP of the league and his team would still win championships,” Thomas said in an appearance on “Sway’s Universe.”
“Now why do I say that? Because we just saw ‘The Joker’ [Nikola Jokic]who is very much like Larry Bird, takes his denver nuggets team and win the championship. So if I look at these two players and say they’re similar, then Bird would win two or three championships in this era.”
NBA TV analyst Isiah Thomas watches Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals on June 12, 2023 at Ball Arena in Denver. (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
Thomas endorsed Rodman in 1987, when Rodman said Bird was overrated because he was white after losing to the Celtics in the playoffs.
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In his appearance on VladTV, Rodman went on to praise jokicsaying that the MVP of the NBA Finals is a better player than Bird.
“I think the guy from Denver is a lot better than him,” Rodman said.
“He’s slow as hell, but that guy’s got a game,” Rodman continued. “I think he’s better than Larry Bird. Nowadays.
“Compare him to Larry Bird, I think people would pick him up.”
From left, Kiki Vandeweghe, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas pose for a photo during the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on September 6, 2019 at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Thomas called Bird “The Dude”, describing what it was like to play against the three time NBA champion.
“Of all the players we played against, when Larry Bird caught the basketball, we were the most afraid of him,” Thomas said.
“33 in green. It was ‘The Dude,'” he added.
Bird is one of only three players to win three consecutive regular season MVP awards.