“He’s the greatest player ever to put on a uniform” – Red Auerbach explains why Larry Bird’s greatness required seeing beyond statistics.

“He’s the greatest player ever to put on a uniform” – Red Auerbach explains why Larry Bird’s greatness required seeing beyond statistics.

Larry Legend was regarded by a former general manager of the Celtics as the “greatest ever to put on a uniform.”

Red Auerbach had a unique viewpoint, even if Larry Bird may not be the front-runner in the GOAT debate—which is frequently dominated by legendary athletes like Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, or LeBron James owing to their individual accomplishments.

The former general manager of the Boston Celtics considered Bird to be the “greatest player ever to put on a uniform” and offered perceptive explanations for why spectators would fail to recognize the brilliance that “Larry Legend” signified.

On the effect of Bird, Red Auerbach
Despite becoming one of the best passing forwards of the 1980s and one of the most deadly scorers of all time, Bird never led the league in assists, rebounds, or scoring. But when the Celtics needed a 40-point show, Bird was always there to step up, either by motivating teammates or by becoming a formidable presence on the boards.

It can be difficult to include the three-time MVP in the discussion of the greatest players of all time for people who are obsessively focused on statistics, as Auerbach highlighted. He made it clear that evaluating Bird’s brilliance went beyond just his stat line.

When discussing Bird, statistics is the one thing you absolutely must not bring up,” Auerbach stated. “It’s his presence, the total way he commands attention on the court, that counts.”

Bird received the highest praise from Auerbach.
After watching the man from Indiana change the course of the Celtics team from the time he signed on as a rookie, repeatedly leading them to the Finals and into championship contention, and winning three titles in six years, Auerbach gave Bird the greatest compliment imaginable.

I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Auerbach remarked. “I’ve decided, quite frankly, that he’s the greatest player ever to put on a uniform.”

The two-time Finals MVP followed a different route in a time when an NBA championship and MVP award total are frequently used to determine which player is the greatest. Without a doubt, during the 1980s, Bird gave it everything he had to turn the Boston Celtics into an intimidating force.