"They might show some [highlights] at the end of the game I hit to win games or tie it up,'' he said. "But I was never really a three-point shooter, and I never wanted to be known as a three-point shooter.''
Great reading indeed. And this is so true: "It's funny how a few enduring highlights have skewed the reputation of one of the league's great players.".
Maybe it's the highlights OR MAYBE it's the 3 straight 3-point shootouts he won, and the trash he talked during them like when he looked around the locker room and said ""I want all of you to know I am winning this thing. I'm just looking around to see who's gonna finish up second."
Or maybe Larry just has selective memory
Here is where Larry finished in total 3 pointers attempted each season
79-80 Bird finished 6th
80-81 Bird finished 11th
81-82 Bird finished 26th
82-83 Bird finished 7th
83-84 Bird finished 10th
84-85 Bird finished 8th
85-86 Bird finished 1st
86-87 Bird finished 5th
87-88 Bird finished 4th
88-89 Bird did not place, played only played 6 games
89-90 Bird finished 20th
90-91 Bird finished 17th
91-91 Bird finished 40th, in only 45 games!
So 7 top 10 finishes in 3-point attempts 12 years. Ya so maybe it's the highlights or maybe Bird is remembering wrong here.
The problem is his stats compared to players nowadays. Back then players didn't shoot the three nearly as often. Lokk at it this wy. The most three Bird ever attempted in one season is 237. Ray allen already has 373 this season. Eddie house has 251. It was a different mind set back then when it cam to threes. So while he was one of the tops in the league, he doesn't come close to guys today. From 80-81 through 84-85 Bird didn't break 80 attempts. Ray Allen averages 435 a season for his career.
No doubt it's a different game today, but when you lead the league in three point attempts, guess what, you're shooting alot of threes compared to the players you're playing with. Why do we remeber Bird as a 3 point shooter? Because he was shooting more 3's during his time than anybody else! And if Bird was playing in today's NBA he'd probably be among the leaders now with like 400-500.
If Bird said I wouldn't be known as a 3 point shooter in today's NBA that would be one thing, but to say "I was never really a three-point shooter, and I never wanted to be known as a three-point shooter" is ridiculous. Lead the league in 3 point attempts, talk trash about your 3 point skills, and win 3 straight 3-point shout outs. Right Larry, sure.
He never said he wasn't good at it. He said he didn't shoot them alot. Barely taking one a game isn't alot, no matter how many other people are taking. And there were players who took a lot more of them in those years (except the one where he led the league obviously). Hell, the year he took his most Danny Ainge took over 100 more then he did.
cordobes makes a great point, it's about percentages. He hardly took any threes (10% according to cordobes). He's not complaing thst people think he was a good three point shooter, he complaining that he's known as a three point shooter. Like Eddie house is. I.e. he just bombed away from three land ala Antione Walker.
He shot them alot
for his time! One a game is alot when nobody else or only a few players are taking more than that.
I understand cordobes point, but I think he's twisting it comparing Birds 10% to players playing today. I think we'll all agree it's a different game today. cordobes, do you have a spot you pulled the stats about Bird's shot attempts being only 10% from 3 point range compared to Jordan, LeBron, Pierce, etc. or did you just do the math manually?
Manually doing some math (and I'm only going to do a little until I know if there is a spot for this or not). Looking at 85-86 (clearly I'm taking a year that is helping my opinion, but I also think of '86 as Bird's best year). Here's how the League Leaders in points broke down and percentage of their shots that were 3's:
Rank Player Team PPG Year FGA 3pa % of shots that were 3's
1 Dominique Wilkins ATL 30.3 1985-86 1897 70 3.69%
2 Adrian Dantley UTA 29.8 1985-86 1453 0 0.00%
3 Alex English DEN 29.8 1985-86 1888 5 0.26%
4 Larry Bird BOS 25.8 1985-86 1606 194 12.08%
5 Purvis Short GSW 25.5 1985-86 1313 49 3.73%
6 Kiki Vandeweghe POR 24.8 1985-86 1332 8 0.60%
7 Moses Malone PHI 23.8 1985-86 1246 1 0.08%
8 Hakeem Olajuwon HOU 23.5 1985-86 1188 0 0.00%
9 Mike Mitchell SAS 23.4 1985-86 1697 12 0.71%
10 Kareem Abdul-jabbar LAL 23.4 1985-86 1338 2 0.15%
11 World Free CLE 23.4 1985-86 1433 169 11.79%
12 Mark Aguirre DAL 22.6 1985-86 1327 56 4.22%
13 Jeff Malone WA1 22.4 1985-86 1522 17 1.12%
14 Walter Davis PHO 21.8 1985-86 1287 76 5.91%
15 Rolando Blackman DAL 21.5 1985-86 1318 29 2.20%
(sorry for the crudeness of this presentation, still at the office)
Of the top 15 scores, Bird took more 3's as a % of his overall shots than any of them. So again, Bird took more 3's than anyboby in 86. And he also took more 3's as a percentage of his overall field goal attempts than any other top scorer.
So my conclusion, Bird was rightfully known as a 3 point shooter for his day. Compared to today's NBA, no, but for the NBA he was playing in he took a lot of 3's. That is why he was considered a 3 point shooter, because he was for his day.
