As a listener, its usually difficult to tell if people are giving their honest opinion on sports-talk radio shows.
You realize that they have to rile up the callers, boost their ratings, and stand out among a sea of other options for their audience.
That wasn’t the case here with Reggie Miller.
(While on The Dan Patrick Show)Patrick threw a hypothetical at Miller, if he had to choose in a draft, who would he pick – Larry Bird in his prime or LeBron James?
Miller did mull over his answer but after learning that this hypothetical would be taking place with the present day NBA rules, the former Indiana Pacers star quickly said Bird.
“I gotta go with Larry Joe (Bird’s middle name is Joe),” Miller said. “In today’s rules, you can’t touch him!”
After hearing Bird’s stats when the Celtics legend was 30 years old, Miller reiterated his stance, gave a stare to Patrick and said, “Larry Joe for the win.”
Reggie wasn’t playing the contrarian here – it’s not his show. In fact, his actual job is to be an NBA analyst.
You would hope that the people analyzing the game for you would be able to make the easy pick here but – nope. I guess those Indiana roots are too strong for the old sharp-shooter. (Don’t forget, Bird also coached Miller on the Pacers for 3 years.)
The best part is how Reggie points out that “you can’t touch him!”, as if you can touch LeBron.
Miller then moves on to read aloud Bird’s admittedly impressive stats, and the fact is they don’t call him “Larry Legend” for nothing. Bird was fantastic, and you can’t say enough about his ability to hit the big shot; but LBJ is truly a one of a kind talent.
Watch the video below for Reggie Miller’s delivery and for him to try and defend his take. What do you think? How outlandish is this? Or am I not giving Larry enough credit?
H/T CBS