When you think of the great duos of sports and entertainment history, you have Batman and Robin, Abbott and Costello, Arnie and Jack, etc. Then there's Magic and Larry.
Or should that be Larry and Magic since we're in New England?
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson will be linked forever. The pair saved basketball, are arguably the two greatest players of their generation, and are now the subject of a book written by former Boston Globe basketball writer Jackie MacMullan.
"When the Game Was Ours" is a fitting title because of what they did during their basketball careers, what the game meant to them and what they meant to the game. I just started reading the book, and it is fascinating.
Just the fact that 25 years after both stopped playing, we still talk about them tells you all you really need to know.
"I'm still amazed after all these years that people bring up games that I played in years ago," Bird said. "This has always been a dream to me to be able to play the game I love, and people remembering and still enjoy talking about it."
Magic wore purple and gold, Larry green and white. They battled for NBA titles, but they did win a gold medal together at the Olympics and did play together on a team as collegians. But to this day, it's almost like they were teammates and not rivals.
When the talk turned to the current NBA, both Hall of Famers had nothing but praise for LeBron James,
"If you really want to know something, it's really easier for the guys. Do you know how many points Larry Bird would average without people putting their hands on him? Oh my goodness," laughed Johnson. "You kidding me? What he could do, what Michael [Jordan] could do -- what the Pistons used to do to Michael back then, and what Larry had to go through. Shoot, come on, man. Larry Bird was unstoppable with all that. Think what he would be with the rules changes."
Bird and Johnson were about winning, about playing the game the right way. Magic Johnson led the Lakers' "Showtime" offense, but he was as much about the nuts and bolts of basketball as any flair. Bird wasn't a showman, but he was a clinician every night on the floor.
"You hadn't seen two big men be able to handle the ball, make the pass, make the play," Johnson said in a conference call last week.
That's where I believe Bird and Magic separate themselves from players like Kobe Bryant and even Michael Jordan. Jordan and Bryant are in essence the same player -- but Michael was much, much better. Both shoot the ball and dunk, just like Julius Erving did, just like Elgin Baylor. Bird was the first point forward, a big man with guard skills; Magic was the first 6-foot, 8-inch point guard who could also play forward. They fundamentally changed the way the game was played.
When you listen to the two of them in conversation, it's almost like Magic can finish Larry's sentence and vice versa. As I'm sure you recall, it wasn't always that way.
"I disliked the guy; I hated the guy. I hated the guy because I knew he could beat me," Johnson said with a laugh. "I knew that if I made mistakes, if I didn't play my ‘A' game, I knew Larry Bird and the Celtics or Larry Bird and Indiana State would win. I knew how great he was."
Both of them were asked if they see the NBA the same way it was when they played. Both agreed that the skill level is greater now, but there doesn't seem to be as much animosity between players from other teams.
"Like last year after LeBron didn't shake guys' hands after he was defeated in the NBA playoffs, that happened when we played. I remember when I played, I wouldn't shake anybody's hand after a loss," said Bird.
"And when the Celtics played the Lakers, we never shook anyone's hands," Johnson added quickly.
To reach Howard Herman:
hherman@berkshireeagle.com,
(413) 496-6253.
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