I know that you're being sarcastic when you call KVH the "next Larry Bird," but I remember being quite offended when they called him that coming out of college. Just because he's a tall white guy who can shoot does not mean he's the next Bird. What set Bird apart from the other tall white guys who could shoot was his basketball IQ. Like Magic Johnson, he was an amazing passer and a very opportunistic rebounder. He wasn't very muscular, and he definitely couldn't jump, but he just happened to know where the ball was going to be and then he would go there.

How many "next Larry Birds" have there been? Tom Gugliotta, Keith Van Horn, Dirk Nowitzki. The list seems to grow every year. Although I have to admit that there is something about Dirk's shot that reminds me of Larry's, there are really no more similarities beyond that.

I know it's a severly overused cliche, but Larry made his teammates better. That's something that he did, and that's something that Magic did. MJ did that near the end of his career, but that was more through sheer will than teamwork. Without Larry, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish would have probably been above-average players. With Larry, they each have 3 rings and are Hall of Famers.

Okay, enough of that. GO LAKERS!