Kevin McHale believes that Larry Bird would be more dominant in today's game than Luka Doncic.
Luka Doncic is widely considered one of the best players in the world right now, but Kevin McHale believes that Larry Bird would be even more dominant in today’s game than the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
McHale glorified his former Boston Celtics running mate in an interview with The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach.
“These are the same dudes that can’t guard [Lakers star] Luka Doncic, and Luka Doncic is lighting them up,” the Hall of Famer said. “And I’m thinking, ‘Larry is bigger, stronger, faster, and meaner than Luka Doncic. And if Luka is lighting these dudes up, it’d be a five-alarm fire what Larry would do.’ ”
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Bird stood as a generational talent with immense all-around ability, shot-making, clutch tendencies and leadership.
He is a three-time NBA champion with the Celtics and is one of the only three players in NBA history to win three consecutive MVP awards (1984-1986), along with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
On the other hand, Doncic himself is great in his own right. At age 27, even though he hasn't won any MVP or NBA titles yet, he is already a six-time All-NBA member who boasts staggering accolades in the Association and Europe.
He led the NBA in scoring for the second time in three years this 2025-26, averaging 33.5 points per game.
Many analysts compare both Doncic and Bird simply because of their inexplosive athleticism. Both players are also highly versatile and cold-blooded to take it over and win the game on their own.
But McHale is convinced enough that Bird would be a superior version of Doncic in today's game.
“I just laugh at these people today,” he said. “Larry would go by you a hell of a lot faster than Luka would go by you. He was a straight-line driver, and he was also just a horse.”
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