Category profile
- Dominance
- 93
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 84
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 93
Career timeline · Points per game
| Season | Points per game | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 21.3 | |
| 1980 | 21.2 | |
| 1981 | 22.9 | |
| 1982 | 23.6 | |
| 1983 | 24.2 | |
| 1984 | 28.7 | |
| 1985 | 25.8 | |
| 1986 | 28.1 | |
| 1987 | 29.9 | |
| 1988 | 19.3 | |
| 1989 | 24.3 | |
| 1990 | 19.4 | |
| 1991 | 20.2 |
Data sources
- NBA
- Basketball Reference
- Olympedia
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Larry Bird ranks #12 in Basketball
Larry Bird ranks 12th among Basketball athletes on GOAT Rank and 58th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 91.2 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 93, Peak 94, Longevity 84, Honours 92, Statistics 93. Those categories are normalised against the full Basketball reference universe of 399 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1979–1992 with 13 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1987, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes nba titles 3, mvp awards 3, finals mvp 2, all-star selections 12.
Immediately ahead sits Karl Malone on 89.2, a gap of -2.0 points. Directly behind is John Stockton on 88.2. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Larry Bird GOAT Score explained
- Dominance93/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Bird stood above the field while competing. Scored 93/100 against the full Basketball cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1987. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity84/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 13 years of competition and 13 recorded seasons. Scored 84/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics93/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 93/100.
Top Bird comparisons
Larry Bird — frequently asked
- Is Larry Bird the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Larry Bird ranks 12th in Basketball with a GOAT Score of 91.2, behind LeBron James on 95.6.
- What is Larry Bird's GOAT Score?
- 91.2 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 93 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 84 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 93 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Larry Bird rank all time?
- 58th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 12th within Basketball.
- Larry Bird vs Karl Malone: who ranks higher?
- Larry Bird, on 91.2 against Karl Malone's 89.2 — a margin of 2.0 points.