YouTube Gold: Discovering Larry Bird

Larry Bird must seem like a fever dream to anyone who didn’t get to see him play.

Basketball fans, like anyone, have a certain recency bias. That’s why a lot of younger fans, when asked who they would prefer between LeBron James and Larry Bird take James.

Take the Cartier family.

Who’s the Cartier family?

We’re not totally sure, but they have a YouTube channel and in this video, the Cartiers see Bird play for the first time.

The thing that is impossible to understand about Bird unless you watch closely is how thoroughly he mastered the game.

People make the mistake of assuming that more talent makes you a better player, but there are different aspects of talent. Was there ever anyone tougher than Bird? Possibly, but it’s a short list if so. A better shooter than Bird? Probably. A better passer? Maybe. Better rebounders? Bird was solid, but yeah...definitely so.

Put it all together though and add in his total mastery of the game and who was better? Michael Jordan, you say? Okay, but Jordan never beat Bird in a playoff series and in Bird’s first year, Boston went from 29 wins to 61. The Celtics improved by 32 games in Bird’s rookie year.

Jordan’s Bulls didn't even have a winning season until his fourth year.

The Cartier Family learned here that there was never a player like Bird before he came along and the odds of another showing up are very, very thin.