The great Larry Bird celebrated his 66th birthday on Wednesday and one of the NBA superstars that sent him a special greeting was none other than Los Angeles Lakers talisman LeBron James. Bird is without a doubt one of the biggest icons of the sport, and LeBron gave him a greeting that is only fitting of his GOAT status in NBA history.

LeBron took to Twitter to greet the Boston Celtics legend with a special birthday shoutout:

I'm probably putting too much stock into this, but I can't help but not talk about LeBron's GOAT-level praise for Mr. Bird. This becomes particularly interesting considering how Bird was one of the biggest rivals of the great Michael Jordan during their heyday. As we all know, many folks consider MJ to be the true GOAT, while more than a few LeBron supporters claim that James has now surpassed Jordan as the new GOAT.

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Then again, LeBron did use the term “GOATED” as opposed to simply “GOAT,” so I guess there's some sort of difference there?

What you can say for sure is that the GOAT debate will continue to rage on for many years to come. Another unarguable fact is how Larry Bird also contributed so much to the sport during his playing days that he is now considered one of the greatest to ever pick up a basketball. Celtics fans absolutely adore this man, and I'm pretty sure they all wish him nothing but the best now that he's turned 66.