Magic Johnson recalls playing on a college team alongside Larry Bird: “Dude, I love playing with this guy! And the crowd loved it too, believe me.”

Magic Johnson recalls playing on a college team alongside Larry Bird: “Dude, I love playing with this guy! And the crowd loved it too, believe me.”

In 1978, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird shared the field with Team USA. Although Magic enjoyed playing with Bird, he was reluctant to give Bird the upper hand.

Without Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the NBA might not even exist today. Yes, the league did exist in such circumstances in the 1970s. Fans started to become disinterested in basketball as other sports gained popularity across the nation.

Actually, before to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird joining the league, only four clubs were profitable, according to former NBA player Byron Scott. Naturally, this implies that the remaining NBA teams owe the two superstars for increasing the popularity of the league.

One of the greatest rivalries in NBA history is still thought to exist between Magic and Bird. Bird wore a Boston Celtics jersey while Magic was a player with the Los Angeles Lakers. Fans truly liked their rivalry, which was therefore inevitable.

But even before they joined the league, the two players had a rivalry. In their 1979 NCAA Championship matchup, Magic guided Michigan State to a 75-64 victory over Bird’s squad.

Once, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were teammates on a college team.

Most people think about Magic and Bird’s time on the 1992 Dream Team when they discuss their collaborative playing days. However, the two did share the court for Team USA in an invitational tournament in 1978, more than 14 years ago.

According to Magic, even though they weren’t very famous at the time, fans enjoyed watching them play together for Team USA.

According to Sportskeeda:

“I refuse to let this guy take center stage. Three amazing seconds of basketball were played. Boom, boom, boom went on! Man, I really enjoy playing with this man! And the audience really enjoyed it, I promise.”

Magic’s remarks about not letting Bird upstage him showed that both players were still competitive even though they were on the same team.

Bird was envious of Johnson when he went on to win the NBA Championship in his rookie season. Thus, Magic made sure the legendary Boston Celtics player didn’t overshadow him.