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Originally Posted by CadBane
Good article, though at the end the writer seems to be sarcastic in comparing Bird and Dirk.
"I was there for Dirk, and I was there for Bird. It's no contest. (These three YouTube clips explain everything: "Why You Don't Mess With Larry Bird," "Larry Bird 47 Points vs. Portland (the Left-handed Game)" and "Larry Bird Greatest Passer of All-Time.") But Nowitzki's PER, win shares and true shooting percentages are better, and as long as you throw out MVPs, titles and overall impact, and you skew longevity, you can make a great case that Dirk Nowitzki was better than Larry Bird. I will now light my game-worn Bird jersey on fire with me in it. "
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Such comparisons are hard to make in general, because you can´t compare today´s athletes with those, who were active 20 years ago. All sports used to be slower back then and there was way less tactics involved.
The most ridiculous comparison imo is Diego Maradona vs Pelè, who both played pretty much different styles at a very different pace. How fast the sportive world has developed becomes visible when you think of names like Lendl, Sampras or Indurain vs. Bernard Hinault etc. or Valentino Rossi and the guys riding in the 80s like Spencer, Rainey, Schwantz or Wayne Gardner...