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"Who's gonna get 2nd place?" - Top 10 All-Time Celtics - Part 2 - small forward

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If you don't recognize the quote in the title of this piece, you may not be a dyed-in-the-wool Larry Bird fan. In Part 2 of my series, we are evaluating the best small forward Boston has ever had on the roster, and the only question is, who comes in second. If you read Part 1, you already know Larry comes in first, followed by The Truth, Captain Paul Pierce. Here's a partial list of Bird's accomplishments, via Wikipedia:

3-Time NBA Champion
2-Time Finals MVP
3-Time NBA MVP
12-Time All-Star
9-Time All-NBA First Team
3-Time All-Defensive Second Team
3-Time 3-point Champ
2-Time 50-40-90 Club

Shooting, passing, defense, leadership, anticipation, basketball IQ, confidence, arrogance - he had them all. Here's the deal on Bird's "Who's gonna get 2nd place" challenge prior to winning the 3-point shootout.


Did I mention confidence and arrogance? Larry chose to play a large part of one game left-handed (he was a righty).


The Bird Man was also one of the top assist guys ever to play the forward position. His passing skills were mesmerizing:


Let me end this piece by emphasizing that we have never seen a player like Larry, and we may never again. He was truly unique. And tough as nails.


So who comes in second for All-Time Celtic at the small forward position? The Captain - The Truth - Paul Pierce. I have always loved this guy, but he had no chance for first place at SF with Bird in his way. And I would have loved to place Paul first at shooting guard, but Jarrin' John Havlicek, the Bouncing Buckeye from Ohio State, won that one. We will look at him in Part 3.

Follow Tom at @CelticsSentinel and @_Celtics_Center

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