LARRY BIRD’S FRIENDSHIP WITH MAGIC JOHNSON EXPLAINED

LARRY BIRD’S FRIENDSHIP WITH MAGIC JOHNSON EXPLAINED.

Thanks to “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” HBO’s recent and highly anticipated sports drama, Earvin Johnson Jr. is back in the spotlight. Of course, everyone knows him better as Magic Johnson, and even casual fans are aware that he was the quarterback for the Purple and Gold during the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers’ “Showtime” offense, which resulted in five NBA championships (via Basketball-Reference). Not to be overlooked is Johnson’s rivalry, and subsequently friendship, with the “Hick from French Lick,” Larry Bird, the superstar forward for the Boston Celtics during that same era. Bird won three NBA titles and, like Magic, has an impressive resume of individual accomplishments. Undoubtedly, all of these things enabled them to earn.

The collegiate years, when Johnson was a standout player for the Michigan State Spartans and Bird was a star player for the Indiana State Sycamores, should be the starting point for any examination of Johnson and Bird’s friendship. The two were highly recruited basketball players in high school who chose to attend colleges in their home states, according to Bleacher Report. Their rivalry was evident during the 1979 NCAA men’s basketball championship game, which saw the Spartans defeat the Sycamores, 75-64. However, how did their friendship develop from their tense on-court relationship?

While representing a college all-star team, they showed mutual respect for one another.

It is important to keep in mind that the NBA was in terrible shape in the late 1970s, which helps explain why Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were viewed as the league’s saviors when they started playing professionally in 1979. According to Bleacher Report, there was a belief that the NBA was too Black for white fans to appreciate, and the fact that many players were reputedly heavy users of drugs, particularly cocaine, did not help. Eight different teams won titles in the 1970s, with only the New York Knicks (1970, 1973) and Boston Celtics (1974, 1976) making it to the finals. As a result, there were no true, enduring rivalries to speak of.

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, who have been fierce rivals since the late 1950s, never faced each other in the NBA Finals during that decade. However, that quickly changed when Bird was drafted by Boston at No. 6 in 1978 even though he was returning to Indiana State for one more season, and Johnson was selected first overall by the Lakers in 1979 after only two years of college. Their celebrity helped turn around the NBA’s fortunes, and in the process, their long-standing rivalry intensified even more because they were now guiding their respective professional teams to tremendous success and playing for them.