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You Tube Gold: Olden Polynice On Who Was Better, Magic Or Bird

He was there in the trenches getting his butt kicked on the regular so he should know.

By JD King
Larry Bird & Magic Johnson pose for a portrait
LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 1: Larry Bird #33 of the Boston Celtics poses for a portrait with Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers at the Great Western Forum on January 1, 1983 in Los Angeles, California. 
Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Former Virginia big man Olden Polynice had a solid NBA career from 1987 to 2001 and made it back in 2003.

He was asked in this video to say who was better between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and came down on the side of Bird.

Why?

Because, he says, Bird could do anything Magic could do and he could “shoot out to the three point line.”

He knows way more than we do so we’ll defer to him but the two things that made both of those guys great was they were so focused on winning and on involving their teammates.

That’s pretty different from the way Michael Jordan did it. We’re not knocking Jordan. He won more titles than either Bird or Jordan, and it was compelling to watch, but when Bird or Magic were in charge, you never knew for sure where the ball was going. Jordan got better about that as his career went on but for Bird and Magic, it was always their first instinct.

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