Former NBA star has scalding-hot take about Luka Doncic’s place in history

Luka Doncic has been on a tear this postseason. He's averaging 28.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 9.0 assists. He's led the Dallas Mavericks past the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder and is only one game away from sweeping the Minnesota Timberwolves.  In fact, Luka has been so dominant that he has been compared to Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

Last week on Undisputed, Skip Bayless asked Paul Pierce how close Luka Doncic is to Larry Bird. Paul Pierce, a legendary former Boston Celtic, stuck with his fellow Boston Celtic.

"This is hurting my ears, Skip. Can we stop with this?" Pierce replied. "Scoring — Luka, handles — Luka, shooting — Bird, passing — Bird, rebounding — Bird, speed — Bird, IQ — Bird ... let's stop with the comparisons here." In other words, Paul Pierce isn't buying it. He believes Bird is a top-five, top-10 player of all time, and Luka is still on his way there. Needless to say, comparing Luka to one of the all-time greats, doesn't sit right with Paul Pierce.

Realistically, Paul Pierce couldn't call himself a Boston Celtic if he disparaged the 'Great White Hope's' namesake on live television. Plus, with a Dallas-Boston NBA Finals matchup looming, it's bad optics to say anything besides "Go Celics!" if you're Paul Pierce. So, that's one for Team Bird.

On FanDuelTV's Run It Back a second NBA alumni, Chandler Parsons (former Dallas Maverick, funny enough) stepped forward and stood by Doncic. In fact, Parsons argued that Luka is already better than Larry Bird was. 

Per @RunItBackFDTV on Twitter/X:

Parsons elaborated, explaining, "He doesn't have the resume. He doesn't have the championships. But, as a basketball player, Luka Doncic can do everything Larry Bird did, and more."

Is this a hot take from Parsons? Completely ignoring Paul Pierce's request to stop these comparisons, we put Larry Bird's sixth season side-by-side with Luka's. Here's what we discovered.

Bird and Doncic both averaged 11.5 made field goals per game in the regular season. They're similar on the glass too. Bird averaged 8.5 defensive rebounds, while Luka grabbed 8.4. However, 3-point shooting is where the real difference lies. Although Bird's 42.7 3-point percentage is higher than Doncic's 38.2, Bird only attempted 1.6 3-pointers per game, while Luka took 10.6. That's a lot less, which makes Bird's 42.7 percent from beyond the arc kind of a mirage.

In a funny way, these former NBA players are both vying for their former franchises, with Chandler Parsons cheering for Doncic and Dallas while Paul Pierce sides with Bird and Boston. In general, basketball has changed over the years, so it's hard to compare the two. Safe to say, Luka is clearly headed in the right direction if these comparisons are anything to go by.