Chicago Bulls: 3 players that gave Michael Jordan fits

2. Larry Bird, Forward

Potentially the second or third best player in the NBA during the 1980’s was the former Celtics great forward Larry Bird. And likely as either the best or second best player in the history of the Celtics franchise, Bird was obviously going to challenge Jordan and the Bulls (and often beat them) throughout much of the early years of the great shooting guard’s career.

As one of the best shooters in NBA history, Bird was going to be a thorn in the side of Jordan and the Bulls at least for a little bit. But Bird also paid Jordan in the early years of his career a lot of respect in the recent ESPN/ABC/Netflix 10-part documentary series “The Last Dance” with his play in the playoffs in the mid-1980’s.

Both Jordan and Bird would often put on a show when they faced each other in the 1980’s. But the edge went to the latter of those two in terms of career records when taking on each other. Bird owned the edge with a career record of 17-11 over Jordan and the Bulls. Most of that edge for Bird came in the playoffs against Jordan too.

The former Celtics great averaged 26.9 points per game, 8.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.9 blocks. He shot 49.8 percent from the field, 46.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 92.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Jordan averaged 33.5 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks, in 28 tries against Bird. He did that while shooting 50.6 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 87.0 percent from the free-throw line.