National Basketball Association

Dominique Wilkins: Current NBA players can't compare to Larry Bird

Published Mar. 2, 2015 12:14 p.m. ET

foxsports

When he's not telling stories about Larry Bird's legendary trash-talk, Dominique Wilkins is singing the praises of his rival -- and rejecting the notion that any modern NBA player is in Bird's league.

With the Atlanta Hawks set to unveil a statue in his honor on Thursday, 'Nique is being given plenty of opportunities to talk about Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, trash talk and the differences between the superstars of yesteryear and today's top players.

Per the Boston Herald:

The mere mention of Bird got Wilkins going. He scoffed at the suggestion that certain current players are Bird’s measure. “What people leave out when they talk about Larry Bird is this thing right here,” Wilkins said, thumping a finger to the left side of his chest. “He had that ticker. That’s what he had that most other people didn’t have. He had a basketball IQ that was off the charts. And he had the heart of a lion and a competitive nature that only few ever had. I can’t compare other people to him. That’s crazy. That’s just my opinion, but I played against him for 12 years, and I know what I had to deal with. Larry did so much stuff to beat you."

(Read more at BostonHerald.com)