Question for Basketball fans

[Diekan]

I read some where that Larry Bird actually holds more records than MJ, but because MJ was more flashy and more or less more marketable he got the title of being the best of all time.

There any truth in that?

[vonkaar]

This is incorrect. Unless you count the piddly little stats that nobody cares about, and I'm unwilling to look up... shit like 3point accuracy in the first half... wtf cares?

Total points:
Michael Jordon - 32,292 (3rd)
Larry Bird - 21,791 (21st)

Points per game:
Michael Jordon - 30.1 (1st) - tied with Wilt
Larry Bird - 24.3 (13th)

Free-throws made:
Michael Jordon - 7,327 (4th)
Larry Bird - not listed in top 30

Steals per game:
Michael Jordon - 2.35 (4th)
Larry Bird - not listed in top 30

Total steals:
Michael Jordon - 2,514 (2nd)
Larry Bird - 1,556 (24th)

Minutes per game:
Michael Jordon - 38.3 (5th)
Larry Bird - not listed in top 30

Total minutes:
Michael Jordon - 41,011 (15th)
Larry Bird - not listed in top 30

Playoff records:

Playoff total points:
Michael Jordon - 5,987 (1st)
Larry Bird - 3,897 (6th)

Playoff points per game:
Michael Jordon - 33.4 (1st)
Larry Bird - not listed in top 10

Playoff total assists:
Larry Bird - 1,062 (3rd)
Michael Jordon - 1,022 (5th)

Playoff total steals:
Michael Jordon - 376 (2nd)
Larry Bird - 296 (5th)

Playoff field goals made:
Michael Jordon - 2,188 (2nd)
Larry Bird - 1,458 (7th)

Playoff free throws made:
Michael Jordon - 1,463 (1st)
Larry Bird - 901 (8th)

[Kitao]

Both were excellent.

[Lyion]

Bird and Jordan are both demi gods, but for stats you need to see the uber greater god of basketball.

[vonkaar]

Offensive stats, mainly...

Just the same, Russell owns many of the defensive stats. He fucking pulled in 52 rebounds in one game. Good lord.

[Arlos]

Sorry this isn't going to line up right, but copied from the wilt page:

Wilts' career:
Stat Career High Game High Season Average Career Average/Game
Minutes 63 48.5 45.8
Points 100 50.4 30.2
Field Goal % 1.00 (18/18) .727 .540
Rebounds 55 27.2 22.9
Assists 21 8.6 4.4

Everything in BOLD is a NBA league record
All 3 items on the Assists line are records for NBA centers, if not league records

Looks to me like Wilt was pretty good on the defensive end as well. He beat Russel's best rebounding game too, with 55. And ye gods, averaging > 27 rebounds a game over the course of an entire season? That's just nuts. That's right up there with averaging 50 points for an entire season.

-Arlos

[vonkaar]

Shrug...
I'm in no way bashing Wilt... but the things that Russel has over him are pretty obvious, most notably:

Russel:
NBA champion (1957, '59, '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '68, '69);
NBA MVP (1958, '61, '62, '63, '65);

Chamberlain:
NBA champion (1967, '72);
NBA MVP (1960, '66, '67, '68)

[Lyion]

We were talking stats here, Vonk. I'd argue Bird and Magic were better for their team than Jordan, but that has little to do with stats. Check out what happened when Jordan played Bird in the playoffs, and who won.

Same deal with Wilt, IMO.

[vonkaar]

Jordon played Bird in his sophomore season... scored 63 points in one playoff game and then lost the series. After the game, Bird said, "It wasn't him out there, it was God dressed up like Michael Jordon."

My point on the russel/chamberlain comparison was that Russel was the team player who specialized in defense, while Chamberlain was an unstoppable force - mostly on offense. He owns just about every regular season offensive record you can have. However, he was basically Russel's bitch in the post-season.

[Zanchief]

Wilt is the single best player ever.....EVER!