Mitchell & Ness ranked the best basketball players by jersey numbers recently, and Larry Bird fans are not happy that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got the nod over our Celtic hero.
So Larry Bird isn't the best "33" in NBA history? You're telling me that one-trick pony and his skyhook is better than the most complete player in NBA history? Larry Bird is as synonymous with number 33 as Michael Jordan and his 23, and 33 has many more challengers. If you search google images, guess who's jersey comes up before Kareem's? Larry freaking Bird's.
I'm not convinced Larry couldn't have improved on Kareem's skyhook if he needed to, but he didn't because he had more options, and was willing to take and make every shot in the book.