Dennis Rodman: 'If Larry Bird played in this era, I think he'd be in Europe' / News - Basketnews.com

Dennis Rodman disagrees with Gilbert Arenas, claims Larry Bird would struggle in today's basketball era: "I think the kid from Denver [Nikola Jokic] is way better than him."

Credit: AP, AFP - Scanpix Credit AP, AFP - Scanpix

Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas recently declared that in a hypothetical one-on-one matchup, Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird would outmatch current Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.

Larry Bird

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According to Arenas, Bird's style of play, with minimal dribbles, would neutralize James' physical strength and speed.

"One-on-one, it takes away everything LeBron [James] has. His physical strength, his speed, all that power he has going. In one-on-one, you're talking about one or two dribbles. That's not his game, that's Larry's [Bird] whole game," Arenas said.

Disagreeing strongly with Arenas' viewpoint, NBA legend Dennis Rodman shared his thoughts during an interview with VladTV. Rodman suggested that if Bird played in the modern era, he would struggle and might even find himself playing in Old Continent.

"Should I leave? What?" Rodman reacted to Arenas' opinion. "Okay, I'll put it this way. If Larry Bird played in this era, I think he'd be in Europe. 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, 'cause he was a great player at that time, just like I was, but I'm saying no, there is no way."

Rodman went on to praise Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

"I think the kid from Denver [Nikola Jokic] is way better than him. Oh, my God, he is slow as hell. Okay, so, but that guy got a game. I think he is better than Larry Bird. In this day and age, yeah."

During the 1980s, Larry Bird dominated the basketball scene, leading the Celtics to three NBA championships in 1981, 1984, and 1986 and becoming the most recent player to win three straight MVP awards (1984–1986).

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