Kemp said Bird would play like a prime James Harden in today’s NBA.
Seattle SuperSonics legend Shawn Kemp believes if Larry Bird played today, he would put up prime James Harden numbers. The retired NBA forward made an appearance on the Inside Buzz show in 2021 and was adamant that the Boston Celtics legend would be more productive than the best stat sheet stuffers in the league.
“He’s tougher, bigger, stronger than the kid from Dallas, Luka Doncic. So, 10 points add it on, five rebounds add it on. If Luka is going 27 a game, Larry is scoring 35 a game. Larry Bird would be James Harden in today’s game,” he said.
A sure-fire MVP
Kemp’s praise for Bird didn’t stop there. The six-time All-Star went on to argue that basketball played in the ’80s and ’90s was far superior to the modern NBA. He continued to use Bird as an example, stating that the legendary forward would be the MVP comprehensively. Shawn also pointed out that the younger generation didn’t realize how good he really was.
“He would be the MVP. Such unfortunate people don’t know Larry Bird to the extent, but he was a slasher when he first came into the game. He had a nice jump shot, but he had a lot of athletic ability. Bird decided to pass the ball, spot-up shooting throughout the years, playing with so many great players, but he was an athletic guy like Magic Johnson when he first came into the game. He’d be MVP today,” he added.
While there’s no doubt Bird was a pioneer for the Association with talent far ahead of his time, claiming he would be James Harden in his prime is an incredibly bold statement, even for someone of his caliber.
What many fail to understand is that there was a point in time in which Harden had arguably the greatest individual run of offensive excellence in league history during his time with the Houston Rockets, so claiming another player would easily replicate his production when they played in a considerably less advanced era is wildly optimistic.
Harden, in his prime, had a 90-game stretch of averaging just under 40 points per game, was dropping 60-point triple-doubles, and had five 40-point triple-doubles in a single season.
Doncic comparisons make more sense
The Doncic seems more reasonable, given Luka is often likened to Bird with how they approach the game. Still, it’s hard to imagine Bird replicating the Dallas Mavericks superstar’s production this season with averages of 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per contest.
Of course, factoring in the colossal changes in the rules, pace, possessions, three-point shooting and overall scoring has to be taken into account, as well as room for Bird to adapt to the modern NBA.
While it’s likely that he would be a superstar in today’s NBA, making assumptions that he would surpass some of the game’s greatest-ever statistical anomalies with some of the highest usages we have ever seen is a dangerous game to play.
Ultimately, you can’t discredit Kemp for his opinion, but it may be worth rethinking this one.