2.0 composite · lower is better
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Player profile · BOS
Larry Bird
Larry Bird advanced stats and career rankings
1.2 average league finish
6,247 total value
Bottom line · Career overview
Larry Bird ranks #8 all time. He finished #1 in 4 seasons and in the top five 7 times, a level of dominance few players have matched. Injuries shortened the back half of his career, which helps explain why his full-career value ranks #20 despite that extraordinary peak. Explore Larry Bird's advanced stats by season, era-adjusted impact, workload, and historical comparisons.
Career standing
How Larry Bird ranks all time
These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.
Best in the league
Elite finishes
Upper-tier finishes
Standard deviations across scoring seasons
Career Composite2.0
Equal average of Best 3, Prime 5, and Best 10 league finishes. The overlapping windows make this explicitly peak-weighted. Lower is better.
- Best 3 weight
- 63.3%
- Score
- 2.0
- Qualified seasons
- 12
- All-time rank
- #8
Strongest seasons
Every season
Larry Bird advanced stats by season
Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.
| Season | Team | Age | GP | MP | Era-centered box impact | Impact Rate | Rate rank | Season Value | Value percentile | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 35 | 45 | 1,662 | +5.81 | 98.3 | #6 | 259.1 | 91st | Strong |
| 1990–91Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 34 | 60 | 2,277 | +4.47 | 94.8 | #16 | 302.5 | 93rd | Strong |
| 1989–90Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 33 | 75 | 2,944 | +5.70 | 96.5 | #11 | 463.5 | 97th | Strong |
| 1988–89Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 32 | 6 | 189 | -0.84 | — | — | 4.5 | — | Limited |
| 1987–88Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 31 | 76 | 2,965 | +8.45 | 99.2 | #3 | 632.1 | 99th | Strong |
| 1986–87Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 30 | 74 | 3,005 | +8.81 | 99.6 | #2 | 667.6 | 100th | Strong |
| 1985–86Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 29 | 82 | 3,113 | +8.54 | 100.0 | #1 | 692.0 | 100th | Strong |
| 1984–85Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 28 | 80 | 3,161 | +8.81 | 100.0 | #1 | 723.5 | 100th | Strong |
| 1983–84Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 27 | 79 | 3,028 | +7.41 | 100.0 | #1 | 591.6 | 100th | Strong |
| 1982–83Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 26 | 79 | 2,982 | +7.65 | 100.0 | #1 | 623.6 | 100th | Strong |
| 1981–82Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 25 | 77 | 2,923 | +6.37 | 99.2 | #3 | 517.2 | 99th | Strong |
| 1980–81Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 24 | 82 | 3,239 | +3.88 | 96.8 | #9 | 400.0 | 98th | Strong |
| 1979–80Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 23 | 82 | 2,955 | +3.86 | 96.1 | #10 | 370.0 | 97th | Strong |
Career movement
Larry Bird's career impact by season
Peak +8.81 in 1986–87 · 13 seasons · 34,443 minutes
The same historical box-score model is used for every season, making the career shape comparable through time. This is separate from the current lineup-context ranking.
Era-centered box impactMinutes
Across-era box estimateWorkload
Career comparison
Compare the shape, not the calendar
Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.
Larry BirdKawhi Leonard
NBA season number · fixed impact axis −5 to +15
Similar career arcs
Players with careers similar to Larry Bird
The score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and trajectory aligned by NBA experience. It describes career shape, not playing style or equal ability.
SF · All-Time Career #36
Kawhi Leonard
89%career match
85% season match · 1986–87 ↔ 2016–17C · All-Time Career #3Wilt Chamberlain
86%career match
84% season match · 1986–87 ↔ 1966–67C · All-Time Career #39Anthony Davis
86%career match
81% season match · 1986–87 ↔ 2019–20PF · All-Time Career #26Charles Barkley
85%career match
89% season match · 1986–87 ↔ 1992–93PG · All-Time Career #11Magic Johnson
84%career match
87% season match · 1986–87 ↔ 1988–89SG · All-Time Career #30Tracy McGrady
84%career match
83% season match · 1986–87 ↔ 2003–04Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played. The career ranking rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →