In his own way, sure. But watching Nowitzki in these playoffs has been so fun. He's is unstoppable offensively. He finally IS Larry Bird. People thought Nellie was crazy, but Nellie was right.
Ugh. Hate Dirk/Bird comparison. People only make it cuz they're both white. Their games are entirely different.
I agree that the comparisons are stupid. There both great shooters thats the end of it. Bird was a bad-ass who wasn't afraid to get in your face and didn't flail around like he was shot every time there is even a little contact. Dirk is a giant guy who plays like he is a guard, and as mentioned above, flails like he was shot every time there is any contact. Amazing player yes, but has evolved his game to take advantage of getting to the line.
He reminds me of Rick Barry. But taller. And much, much whiter. Though their free throw shooting styles are totally dissimilar so maybe I'm going by skin color too much.
I didn't make it because he is white. I made it because Dirk is the closest thing to Larry Bird that I've seen since Bird. Bird was a better passer, but other than that, they are very similar. Rebounding, shooting, shot creation, etc. Even their career stats are comparable outside of assists, but Bird played with a combo PG in Dennis Johnson, while Dirk has played with some pure PGs. Learn the game, then post. Oh, and stop accusing me of racism. If you disagree with my comparison, fine, but stop supplying my reasoning for it.
I said "People." And I don't consider it racism. Just lazy. Bird was a point forward. A play maker. As you said, more assists. That's a big difference. A closer comparison to that part of Bird's game is Pippen. Dirk is taller than Bird. Dirk's offensive moves aren't anything like Bird's at all. They have completely different demeanors on the court. The only real comparison is that they're white and can hit the three. Seriously.
Bird also got more steals. More steals. Three times the assists. That is a huge difference. They played the game in an entirely different way. Ridiculous comparison.
Um, no. They both could create shots for themselves, they both were liabilities on defense, they both were some of the greatest pure shooters in NBA history, and they both were much better rebounders than Pippen. Saying Pippen is closer to Bird than Dirk in terms of style of play is laughable to me, and makes me question how much of Bird you watched as a child. Bird and Dirk also both had/have goofy yet unstoppable fadeaway jumpers. There is another similarity. LOL at the Scottie Pippen comparison. I guess I'll give you that one, although Bird never ran the offense like Pippen did in Chicago. Everything else says "Dirk".
Bird 6' 9" 220 lbs Dirk 7' 0" 237 lbs Those are completely different bodies. Find me video clips of Bird that looks anything like Dirk's turnaround shooting off one leg. Learn the game, then post.
Pippen and Bird were point forwards. Big guys who played like a PG. That's the comparison. Dirk doesn't play like a point guard at ALL.
Bird's top 10 greatest plays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_nfsq4pTpI&feature=youtube_gdata_player Bird diving on floor , then making a quick pass. Bird running the break, throwing the behind the back pass. Bird with no look over the head pass. Most of Bird's highlights are passes I've NEVER seen Dirk make. Ridiculous ridiculous comparison.
Lots of players in the league shoot fadeaways. Jordan and James Worthy had great fadeaways. But the rest of their games were nothing like Bird's. Most of Bird's highlights are amazing passes.
They're similar in that they were forwards who could run a break and usually averaged over 5 assists per game.
