People forget how great Bird was from 80-88. Three straight MVP's. And people often argued in '85 and '86 that Bird was the best ever. You can call that a "heat of the moment overreaction," but I'd say the same thing about people saying LeBron is top 3 all-time right now. I'm hesitant to put LeBron higher than Magic, Bird, Wilt, and Duncan. People who say LeBron deserves to be top 3 all-time now for winning a title in Cleveland and would've kept him out of their top 10 all-time if Cleveland lost game 7 is ridiculous. If Irving misses that 3 and Curry makes his, suddenly LeBron is still a playoff choker and doesn't deaerve to be in the same sentence as Bird and Magic. It's stupid that a couple of plays have that kind impact. I prefer to take a more comprehensive approach.
This is all coming from a huge LeBron fan. I've been following him closely ever since he was a senior in high school. I like his team-oriented style, and he has most definitely lived up to the hype, unlike so many other hyped players like Isiah Rider, Kwame Brown, Harold Miner, etc. But he still has some pretty big holes in his game that holds him back. His ball-handling skills are average, not even close to Bird, Jordan, or Magic. His mid-range shooting game is less than average, even further away from Jordan, Bird, and Magic. His FT shooting is average, his post-up game is not very good, and he is often lazy on defense. He is one of the best passers in NBA history, he is a top 5 most athletic player in NBA history, he is probably the best finisher in NBA history, and he creates more momentum than anyone in NBA history except for maybe Wilt and Russell.