When Bird chooses Kobe Bryant over LeBron James as the modern-day player he would like to have had as a teammate — as the Indiana Pacers team president did on ESPN.com in March — the choice resonates.
“Well, probably Kobe,” Bird told Bill Simmons at the time. “Because of the fact that … well, of course he wouldn’t have been shooting as much as he does now … but his desire to win, his dedication to always get better, and he’s just, he’s just tough. He’s just a tough cat.”
Bird added that “if you want to have fun, like I did with Bill Walton, [you] play with LeBron. It would have probably been more fun to play with LeBron, but if you want to win and win and win, it’s Kobe. Not that LeBron’s not a winner, just that [Kobe's] mindset is to go into every practice, every game, to get better.”
In light of all the shots and slights LeBron has absorbed since relocating to Miami two summers ago, I asked Bird about those comments on Monday.
“I’ve been a Kobe fan since he was a little kid,” Bird told me. ”I coached against Kobe [in the 2000 NBA Finals]. They made a lot out of that. I said if you want to have fun, you play with Bill Walton. Me and Bill Walton won the most games we ever played. We had a blast doing it. We knew we were going to win a championship. That’s just the way it is.
“But Kobe has always been my favorite, ever since he was a little kid coming into this league. I played against his dad. But LeBron is just spectacular.”
And how would things have gone if Bird and LeBron had matched up against each other in some Tupac Hologram Time Traveler’s Association?
“I would have loved to have played against all these guys,” Bird said with a wry smile. “That’s what competitors do. They like to play against the best. I played with some great ones and obviously LeBron is great. I had an opportunity to play against great players. I enjoyed it.”