Larry Bird received the prestigious NBA Award as the greatest player of all time.

Larry Bird received the prestigious NBA Award as the greatest player of all time.

At the 2019 NBA Awards on Monday night, the NBA went Hollywood style, combining basketball luminaries with a star-studded lineup of presenters that included Tiffany Haddish, Samuel L. Jackson, and Justin Hartley from “This Is Us.” The third annual award show, presented by Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and broadcast live on TNT, began with an unexpected rap performance before recognizing the best players in the league. However, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird—two renowned longstanding rivals on the court—were the center of attention when they accepted their honor together. “A lifetime achievement award means you’ve been around for a long time,” Bird joked to the audience as he took the stage.

Johnson turned to Bird and said, “I think we pushed each other to greatness,” during his address. “I’ve always wished to be in your exact position. I appreciate your encouragement, and I hope I returned the favor.

Johnson and Bird were the faces of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers for almost ten years, as well as two of the NBA’s best players and fierce rivals. The two legends’ parallel career paths, which included playing against one another in college and serving as co-captains of the 1992 Olympics Dream Team (which was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010), made it appropriate for them to accept the lifetime achievement award together on Monday night.

The former star of the Detroit Pistons and another adversary, Isiah Thomas, told Variety on the red carpet that “their careers since college have been so interwoven with each other that, you know, like peanut butter and jelly, they go together.”

I got to see yet another memorable occasion for those two. I was just observing their rivalry as well as their passion for the NBA and the game, and it’s been an amazing trip for me.