I don't know if Bird was the greatest ever... but he was greater than Jordan. MJ dominated his peers in the 90s. Problem is, he started playing during the 1984-85 season. In the 80s, Jordan's teams were 1-9 in the post season before Pippen came. With Pippen, Jordan's teams were 13-14 in the postseason-----making Jordan's 80s teams 14-23 in the postseason in the 80s. This is simply NOT impressive. It's sub-par. Face it, this is problematic for Jordan's GOAT case. He went to a lousy team, yes. But so did Bird. And Bird's team immediately starting winning 60+ games and advanced to the Conference Finals with the same crew who went 29-53 the year before. In the same span of the 80s that saw Jordan's teams win 14 playoff games----Bird's teams won FIFTY. And it's been already said here by others-----when Bird wasn't playing, the Celtics didn't win. So the crying about who Bird had as teammates doesn't wash. What were the Celtics in 1989 when Bird missed most of the year? 24-28 through 52 games? And even when Bird was physically shot, like in 1991? 29-5 with him to start the year, then 10-12 when Bird missed the next 22 games? The 1994 Bulls won 55 games without Jordan. Whose teammates needed whom least? It's obvious that Bird was more valuable. Jordan was a very entertaining player in the 80s. He was also a losing player without Pippen----and a losing player even WITH Pippen in the 80s postseason. There's no WAY Jordan was a greater player than Bird. I don't CARE what Jordan was a part of in the 90s. It does nothing to change how lacking his results were in the 80s VS greater players/ better winners in that era. I'd say the biggest knock against Bird would be longevity, or lack thereof. 13 total seasons. Only the 1st 9 of which were reasonably healthy. But Bird ran through brick walls to get loose balls in late January. Jordan had somebody else do that for him. I'm not holding it against Bird for being his team's alpha AND it's floor burn guy, too. Basketball Reference shows Bird VS Jordan in head to head games when Bird was healthy and Jordan wasn't a rookie: Bird's team was 9-1 (1986-88) and Bird outscored Jordan, out rebounded him, out assisted him and outshot him from the line, from 2 and from 3. Bird's teams were also 6-0 in the postseason VS Jordan's teams. Jordan outscored Bird in those playoff games, 39 ppg VS 27 ppg-----but Jordan MISSED more shots than Bird ATTEMPTED.
It's been 1 hell of a brainwashing and propaganda campaign carried out to prop Jordan up, frankly. Bottom line: healthy Bird > Jordan. Personal stats-wise it's at least close, but results/ team impact-wise-----no. That's Bird in a landslide. And Jordan bullying a pack of talented players in the 90s who also did nothing in the 80s doesn't fix it.