Dennis Rodman says Larry Bird wouldn't cut it in modern NBA: 'He'd ...

Celtics Rodman said Nikola Jokic is "way better" than Bird Larry Bird Barry Chin, The Boston Globe

Larry Bird is a three-time NBA champion, 12-time All-Star, and is one of just three players to have multiple seasons shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range, and 90 percent from the free-throw line.

Yet, somehow, Dennis Rodman thinks he wouldn’t be able to hang in today’s NBA.

“If Larry Bird played in this era, I think he’d be [playing overseas] in Europe. I’m just letting you know man,” Rodman said during an interview with VladTV. “He’d be somewhere over there. His game was fit for Boston at that time in the 80s and stuff like that, but in today’s world, ‘oh hell no’ there’s no way. I’m not downplaying him because he was a great player at that time, like I was but I’m saying there’s no way.”

Rodman was a rookie during Bird’s final MVP season in 1986. The Pistons beat the Celtics in three of the four playoff series they squared off in between 1988 and 1991. The Bulls and Celtics never met in the playoffs during Chicago’s three-peat that Rodman was a part of.

While Rodman has five championships to Bird’s three, he was more of a supporting cast member on title teams led by Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan. Bird was the star of the Celtics’ title teams in the 80s. Bird was a nine-time All-NBA first team selection. Rodman never made the All-NBA first team, though he was a seven-time first-team All-Defensive selection.

Rodman pointed to Nikola Jokic as a player who is “way better” than Bird.

Over the years, Bird detractors have argued that he wouldn’t be athletic enough to enjoy the same success in today’s NBA. Jokic, a 7-foot center, who has his own set of questions about his athleticism is a two-time MVP who led Denver to its first NBA title earlier this month.

“He’s slow as hell, but that guy has a game,” Rodman said. “He’s better than Larry Bird … compare him to Larry Bird, I think people would pick him.”