1). Whatever Maxwell contributed his 1st 2 years in Boston (without Bird) resulted in a 61-101 record.
2). Bird was the only different starter on the Celtics in 1979-80. Yes, ML Carr posted very solid numbers for a 30-52 Pistons team the year before he joined Boston's bench. Gerald Henderson came of the bench for 14 minutes per night. Pete Maravich, an extremely skilled player who never won anything before joined Boston for 17 games off the bench. It's a familiar theme: you're a loser? Play with Bird and you'll be a winner.
3). I don't like Bird's chances in 1 on 1. I also don't like Joe Montana's chances 1 on 1 in football against Mike Vick. But the NFL isn't 1 on 1. Too bad for Vick. And too bad for Jordan. There are few players with the demonstrated indispensability of Bird, and Jordan is NOT one of them. There isn't a chance in Hades that you replace Bird with Pete Meyers in the starting lineup and win just 2 fewer games. Not even with Toni Kukoc off the bench or Luc Longley new to the pivot. The degree to which Boston won and lost games depending on whether Bird was playing or not is what made Bird great.
If you added Bird to the 1993-94 Bulls, instead of Pete Meyers (and Kukoc off the bench and Longley for a partial season), they win MORE games than the Bulls did with Jordan the previous year. GOAT claims are tougher to make when Pete Meyers replaces your spot and the team loses 2 fewer games. Jordan always got his. He made sure of that. But when you're not there and most of what you produced is covered by the rest of the team, you're just not as indispensable and ultimately not as valuable as the guy who's team falls apart when he's not there. JMO.