Larry Bird Hails Michael Jordan as “Best Ever,” While Bill Walton Recounts Bird at His Peak.

Larry Bird Hails Michael Jordan as “Best Ever,” While Bill Walton Recounts Bird at His Peak.

 

In a fresh resurgence of appreciation amid the still-raging GOAT debates, Celtics legend Larry Bird has once again offered effusive praise for Michael Jordan, reaffirming what many basketball fans have long believed: that Jordan is the greatest to ever play. Meanwhile, the late Hall of Famer Bill Walton (who passed in 2024) left behind poignant reflections on Bird’s “peak” — testimony to the fierce brilliance of Bird in his prime.

Bird Reiterates Jordan’s Supremacy

Although Bird has rarely waded deeply into modern debates, his comments during the NBA 75 campaign resurfaced recently, and they pack a defter punch than many realize. In that tribute video to Jordan, Bird remarked:

“Michael can beat you in a lot of ways … I know in my time he was better than all of us.”

His phrasing, delivered with quiet conviction, carries the weight of lived rivalry. While Bird has long been quoted for more dramatic lines — perhaps most famously after Jordan’s 63‑point outburst in Boston — the more measured “he was better than all of us” stands out as a near‑definitive endorsement of Jordan’s place atop the pantheon.

That 63‑point game remains a pivot point in Bird’s public admiration. After Jordan exploded for 63 in the 1986 playoff game in Boston Garden, Bird famously stated:

“That wasn’t Michael Jordan out there. That was God disguised as Michael Jordan.”

In later interviews, Bird also said Jordan’s arsenal was comprehensive — mental, physical, defensive, scoring — able to dismantle opponents in every way. Such remarks, resurfacing in media retellings, help amplify the narrative that if Bird were naming a GOAT, Jordan would be his pick.

Walton’s Nostalgia: Bird in His Prime

While Bird’s words speak forward, Bill Walton’s reflections cast a backward glow — a remembrance of what Bird looked like at his absolute best.

Walton, who played with Bird on the Celtics, often waxed poetic about Bird’s versatility, consistency, and competitive fire. Recalling their shared time in Boston, he once said:

> “Larry was the best player I ever played with … he was Mozart, he was Michelangelo, he was Steve Jobs.”

“Larry loved nothing more than to throw 50 in your face every single day, and he never got tired of it.”

But beyond metaphor, Walton also recalled a defining moment before one of Bird’s greatest games. Prior to Game 6 of the 1986 Finals, Walton shared that Bird rallied the team:

> “Guys … if we don’t deliver today … they’re going to want our blood. Now let’s get going. Who’s coming with me?”

After those words, Bird went out and produced what Walton called “the greatest game that he ever played” — a triple‑double that clinched the championship.

In other remarks, Walton placed Bird among the game’s greatest amalgamations:

> “He was so quick … a combination of the brilliance that went before him … you have to be careful when you use the word ‘great’ because where do you go up from there?”

Walton insisted Bird belonged in “the smallest handful of the best.”

What It All Means Now

Bird’s renewed emphasis on Jordan being “better than all of us” isn’t entirely new — but coming now, it underscores how even among legends, deference is often paid upward. Walton’s enduring commentary, meanwhile, reminds the basketball world that Bird was more than a shooter: he was a leader, a thinker, a competitor in constant ascendancy.

In a sport built on rivalry and legend, Bird praising Jordan reinforces the peak-to-peak respect between eras. And decades later, Walton’s voice holds steady: you don’t choose greatness lightly — he saw it in Bird every night.