Larry Bird, 22. 23.50
Thanks to his rivalry with Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, NBA legend and legendary member of the Boston Celtics Larry Bird helped elevate the sport to unprecedented heights. Despite having comparatively brief careers, both players achieved incredible feats. In particular, Bird scored 21,791 points in 13 seasons despite missing almost the whole 1988–89 campaign.
Throughout his career, he averaged 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals. In addition to being a fantastic scorer, he was also a reliable rebounder, passer, and underappreciated defender. With shooting percentages of 49.6 from the field, 37.6% from three, and 88.6% from the line, he was also among the finest of his generation.
He made fewer than two three-pointers per game throughout his career, but it would likely take at least three times as many to score at the same level in the NBA today, despite some doubting his ability to do so. In addition, he would likely be just as deadly at power forward, as he did at the beginning of his career..
Sadly, Bird’s career was cut short before it even began when he suffered a back injury while shovelling gravel during the 1985 offseason. He played for a few more years, but he was a different player, and he retired while still a star, if not an MVP. In the end, Bird’s PER score is 22, which is probably not much worse than most would have it.
