Truthfully I feel like a fucktard going $5 on Lebron when I can get Bird for $4 or shit even Durant at $2.
The debate recently seems to be whether or not LBJ has passed Bird as the greatest SF ever. It's close. You really can't go wrong with either and which one you prefer probably has as much to do with personal preference as anything else.
At this point, LBJ has played 842 games in his career over 11 years. He's averaging 27.5 points per game (shooting splits of .497 FG%, .747 FT%, and .347 3 point %), 7.2 rebounds per game, 6.9 assists per game, 1.7 steals per game, and 0.8 blocks per game. He has a career usage rate of 31.6%. He's a devastating slasher to the rim with a shooting percentage this year of 80% of the shots he takes within 3 feet of the basket and 55% from 3-10 feet (which prior to this year he'd never broken 50%).
For Bird's career, he played in 897 games (which included a 6 game '88-'89 season and his last year playing 45 with a brutal back), so this is actually a good time to compare the two. For his career, he averaged 24.3 points per game (shooting splits of .496, .886, and .376), 10.0 rebounds per game, 6.3 assists per game, 1.7 steals per game, and 0.8 blocks per game. He had a career usage rate of 26.5%. While LBJ is one of the best slashers to ever play the game, Bird is one of the best shooters to ever play the game.
To me, it's not that one is better than the other. They are just different types of players. If you want more of a slasher and someone that has the ability to purely dominate the game with his athletic ability, then you take LBJ. If you want someone who is going to make the big shots when needed but can have a profound impact on the game without taking 20 shots, than you go with Bird. LBJ was probably the better on the ball defender but Bird was a very underrated weakside defender.
In the end, I expect that LBJ will be viewed as the better player than Bird simply because the numbers will eventually dwarf Bird's. But the primary difference in my eyes when you look at these two players offensively is that LBJ has a slightly higher usage rate, takes on average 1 extra shot per game, and gets to the line just a little bit more often. Otherwise, while they are dramatically different players, the results are incredibly comparable.
