Other people are pointing out that Doncic is a better player skills-wise. They argue that the game these days is much better and complicated. The Los Angeles Lakers star still does not have a championship but when it comes to personal numbers, he got the Celtics legend beaten.
Bird’s teammate and equally legendary Celtics player Kevin McHale is not a fan of such argument. He explained that Bird has better qualities.
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“These are the same dudes that can’t guard Luka Doncic, and Luka Doncic is lighting them up,” McHale said a phone call interview with the “Boston Globe”.
He also said that his Larry, his teammate for 12 seasons is bigger, stronger, faster, and meaner” than the Lakers star and “if Luka is lighting these dudes up, it’d be a five-alarm fire what Larry would do.’”
McHale said he found those people pushing for Doncic over Bird laughable.
“I just laugh at these people today,” he added. “Larry would go by you a hell of a lot faster than Luka would go by you. He was a straight-line driver, and he was also just a horse.”
Unknown date; Boston, MA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird (33) and Philadelphia 76ers forward Julius Erving (back) battle for position at the Boston Garden. Mandatory Credit: Dick Raphael-USA TODAY Sports
That is just another similarity between him and Bird who is regarded by many of his contemporaries as the greatest trashtalker they faced.
For now, Doncic has more to prove. In a league and media circle where rings matter, he’s still got a long way to go and he can’t trash talk his way to them.