Original subtitles

they talk about every day somewhere if I

go to a foreign country magic magic

magic it's same everywhere

[Music]

we don't have to see each other we don't

have to say hello I don't have to call

each other

[Music]

that's my main competition it's always

been like that

you know you got this tight bond with

this cat and

you don't have to see them for a year to

[Music]

but you always gonna be linked on

[Music]

we got this connection that's never

gonna be broken right to our graves

they'll be talking about this on our

years from now

[Music]

you

it all began here in Salt Lake City Utah

on the night of March 26 1979 it was the

NCAA Championship Indiana State vs

Michigan State a game that still ranks

as the highest-rated college final ever

on television a game that's now

remembered as a prologue to a rivalry

that transformed a sport and intertwine

two legacies

but on that night March 26 1979 the

first time Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

ever went head-to-head on a basketball

court they were simply two young men

trying to win a very big ballgame this

is part of the biggest game I ever play

in my life and I just feel like you know

I'm representing not only myself my team

but we're representing our school or in

our town Terre Haute was a dream come

true really for me on I want to state

title back in my home state and then my

national confidence was going to the

NCAA and planning a game like tonight in

the final they were two stars thrown

together by the cosmos to compete but

only one of them had been groomed for

the spotlight in his case it seemed

since birth I think his upbringing in

East Lansing really put that smile on

his face in the beginning and it never

came off born August 14 1959 Earvin

Johnson grew up in Lansing a gritty

industrial capital city of Michigan

raised under this little roof he was one

of Christine and Earvin Johnson seniors

10 kids Christine was a school custodian

Irvin senior work two jobs nearly around

the clock my father he got up early

every morning 6 o'clock or so and he

went to work on his trash hauling truck

every single day around noon he would

come home catch a nap and then he worked

for journal motors for 30 years and he

won a war for never being late and never

missed a day

as a youngster Irvin displayed his own

strong work ethic on the blacktop I was

out there all day before we went to

school bus leave at 7:00 7:30 hours I

said 6:00 6:30 working on my game my

mother sometimes had to bring me food or

she would have one of my brothers and

sister go get that boy so he could eat

something from a very young age Irvin

knew what he wanted to do he had all

planned out my dream for the planet MBA

and become a businessman the fur

neighborhood basketball powerhouse

Sexton high

I knew the players I knew the tradition

I wanted to be a part of that and it was

on the west side of town which was at

that time predominantly black

but when lansing like many cities in the

mid 70s began busing to desegregated

school system Ervin's journey took an

unexpected detour to a predominantly

white school across town my first day at

Everett high school was my first time I

really had to understand there was a

race problem

nobody white would speak to anybody

black and nobody black would speak to

any by the way a lot of racial tension a

lot of fights rioting they didn't want

minorities there he kind of shrugged it

off and basically his attitude was okay

well I'll overcome this whenever there

was any racial problems the principal

would get herbin and go talk to these

kids I can just see with his big hands

calm down just calm down he'd break up

fights talk with his friends tell him

you know let it go we know we can't

fight about everything let's just chill

let's play basketball and there was no

dispute over urban Johnson's ability to

play ball his talent was so great that

soon after his varsity debut a local

reporter dazzled by his exploits gave

the budding star a nickname in the

beginning I thought it was foolish and

dumb you know I didn't know not about a

nickname did what happened was you start

saying wait a minute it fits my game

hanging out with my boys on the street

corners we used to sing temptations on

they start saying hey man Massey that's

cool and then people in the streets are

saying hey magic and I said hmm

he bought into it and I think he felt he

had to kind of live up to that name and

I must say that he did he loved more

attention he got you know he just he

wanted attention from anybody he could

get it from dad I really love the game

and I just want to win

[Music]

Irvin loved to dress nice and the belt

pants and overcoats with the fur around

the collar always had to have his afro

blown out he had to look the part played

a part

urban was the first guy I have a posse

he not only had a posse of a lot of

black kids a lot of white kids and

hanging around II my white friends are

like hey man

we're having a kegger tonight won't you

come on by and I'm said what's a kegger

so he said well what it is we get this

big keg of beer and you just go for it

okay well what time does the kegger

start cuz regular party time my neighbor

who is 10 11 o'clock the kegger starts

at 7 I said the party starts at 7

o'clock that's okay man I'm gonna come

to the kegger we had a good time

the music was kind of bad but we had a

good time you know his senior year

Johnson did it Evert what he had planned

to do at Sexton win the state

championship and when it came to

choosing a college he decided to stay

where the love would be assured home in

Lansing next year I will be uh attended

Michigan State University

[Applause]

at MSU magic star quickly went national

but atop the college game he soon

discovered a certain presence beside him

the first time I saw it Larry Barry was

actually in a magazine saw his stats

blown away by his stats but let's see if

he can really do it against us and

that's always a mindset black players if

he's a great white player in 1978 after

his freshman year magic would quickly

find out when both he and Byrd were

chosen to play for Team USA in the world

Invitational Tournament they will put

Larry Bird and I on the same team

together to scrimmage right it was

blowing my mind because he's dominating

deck Kevin's Player of the Year in

college basketball Larry Bird has eaten

him alive

I couldn't wait to call home to tell my

boys man this dude named Larry Bird is

for real this is the baddest white dude

I've ever seen in my life

I thought he was very good there's no

question about it I actually I thought

he's probably the best guard on the team

Earvin Johnson look at that I'm reading

it to play a lot but you could tell I

think our first game was in Kentucky we

got about a 10 12 point lead and they

put us in went to 2530 just that fast

fast break again three on two

[Applause]

Larry Bird take us out the lead go back

down put us back in Oxford and Johnson

the show starting again when you play

with magic there's just something about

it you want to make that extra pass you

want to get that rebound and start to

break we came down a couple times I go

behind my back no-look to him he know

looked back to me and I'm laying it up

I'm still oh hey there's that last play

Magic Johnson going it drops off the

bird bird what sit back off inside the

Johnson Superbad ethic

this guy got game they had some

wonderful moments on the court but they

probably spoke to each other four maybe

five times during that entire time

period and and it was more like hello

how are you this morning Larry

I'm good magic what'd you have for

breakfast don't remember have a nice day

but such curtness was hardly strange

coming from Larry Bird who is not only

one of college basketball's best players

but also its biggest enigma I think he

was a mystery to the extent that that

that he wanted to be a mystery he didn't

enjoy doing interviews he didn't go out

of his way to do them he wasn't

particularly good at he was kind of like

hey this is who I am you uh know who I

am

watch the game that's who I am I start

to read materials that you're very quiet

and you don't enjoy talking to newspaper

people well you know there's different

kind of newspaper paper people others uh

people that try to push here you know

that people try to get things out of you

things

pertaining to basketball and then the

type of people I like to stay away from

he didn't want people talking about his

family he didn't want his mother to have

to deal with that or his siblings to

have to deal with that you got to

remember where Larry came from you know

Larry was raised in a two or three room

house on a railroad track their family

probably lived on $50 a week he was

raised tough larry Joburg grew up in

southern indiana the twin towns of

French Lick and West Baden the valley as

locals call it was a tough working-class

area tiny and remote was one of the

poorest places in the state I didn't

know that people made millions of

dollars I didn't know that everybody had

a family car I was in a monk hakuna I

was in small town with the people I knew

and I thought I would live there for

risk my life

arriving Pearl Harbor Day 1956 Larry was

the fourth of six kids born to Georgia

and Joburg early on he and his older

brothers earned a reputation around the

valley

we were always considered troublemakers

were either fighting amongst ourselves

or there was always one of us fighting

somebody Larry was always one that kind

of instigated things you know if I get

my brother in a fight with somebody his

age I was happy as hell cause I like to

see him get beat up and that's just the

way it was if I got in a

let's scrape with some kid and my

brothers didn't come to my side they

knew that when he got home my dad was

gonna whip them Larry and my dad were

best of friends they done everything

together when my dad would go out to my

grandma's house Larry I'd always go with

him they'd go fish and do a lot of

things together but Joe bird also had a

darker side stemming from a traumatic

tour of duty in Korea

Larry remembers waking up until the

night here and his father sled curdling

screams from the nightmares he had had

from the war what happened to his father

in the war affected his entire life he

was never able to quite get rid of

whatever those demons were a talented

craftsman Joe Bird struggled to hold

steady jobs and even when he was working

his demons would on occasion drive him

to the bottle there were times when Joe

went out with the guys and had few beers

and the wages didn't come home that

night and that didn't happen every day

it happened once in a while but when

money is as tight as it was for the

birds once in a while was a major

problem for their family my mom

sometimes work late

and sometimes she had two jobs but

that's the way it was I worked at school

during my lunch hours work at the local

grocery store put up hay in the summer I

mean if you wanted money had you on your

own

to young Larry actions spoke louder than

words he was very quiet kind of hung to

himself a little bit I saw Larry take an

F in an English class because he had to

get up in front of his peers and give a

speech if I won't do it but he just

could not get in front of his friends

and talk he was that shy of course next

thing you know when he knew it was time

for all of us together at the gymnasium

there he'd be the minute he'd get a

basketball in his hand

things were totally different basketball

was just like came to me seemed like

easy I didn't have the quickness I

didn't have jumping ability I just

thought to game out by his senior year

at Springs Valley High Larry Bird had

sprouted into a star but Bird was from

the valley hardly a hotbed of talent in

the big time world of Indiana hoops the

first thing they say well they don't

play nobody down there he's from French

Lick

they don't play nobody I think that put

a chip on his shoulder

always having to prove who he was and

how good he was he was good enough for

Indiana University's Bobby Knight to

come calling late his senior year and

folks in the valley couldn't have been

prouder

their local hero was heading sixty miles

north to play bowl for one of the best

college teams in the land once it got I

you didn't take long to realize that was

out of my cocoon and over 30-some

thousand students that didn't have the

funds first week and a half I thought

man this ain't gonna work he left after

twenty four days let my mother down

she and talked to me for two months but

they didn't matter what other people

says to this day I don't care back in

French Lick Bird took to working for the

city

falling trash and painting park benches

meanwhile by that winter his father's

demons had taken him to an even darker

place by this point Joe and Georgia were

divorced and he was behind in his

payments to the family the police came

by and of course they all knew him so

Joe said hey I need a few hours to get

my affairs together before you take me

away so he called George and he said you

guys will be better off without me and

I'm gonna take my life and he put the

phone down and he killed himself he shot

himself

when Dad passed you know it hurt Larry I

mean that was his best friend it's gone

now and but Larry didn't show it a lot

he's just didn't say much and all he's

just kind of held it within I never I

never heard him speak out about it at

all

I was mad when I heard about it

and

as matter after the funeral because I

thought he sort of cut out on us during

it a tough time but you know he way he

went through a lot in his life

he did what he had to do if bill Hodges

hadn't been as persistent as he had been

Larry Bird might never have existed in

any of our minds I believe that with all

my heart I really do it was Bill Hodges

a young coach from Indiana State

University who convinced Byrd to give

college hoops another shot so with a

promise to his mom to graduate bird

headed to Terre Haute in ISU a school

that never so much had been to the NCAA

tournament

once I started playing it's the same old

thing you know he's a small school and

he plan against anybody which is fine

still dominated wherever is gather they

no longer top of whether India has a new

state now his claim to fame is just way

plays the game Vienna has an in-state

bird it's not the Cardinal now hilarity

Kapow

[Music]

by the time he had led tiny ISU was a

senior to a 33 a no record and a spot in

the 79 title game Larry Bird had become

alongside Magic Johnson the talk of

college basketball just a year after

sharing the court on Team USA they were

back together and the day before the big

game magic couldn't wait to greet his

old playmate Indian state was on

practicing and we were waiting in a

tunnel we got there early I wanted to

definitely say hello to Larry you know

when they came through it's like nobody

was saying that I wanted to go toward

him like his guys like made sure that he

didn't say none and then they kind of

start snickering like missing state are

you in trouble we're gonna kill you guys

tomorrow I probably did snubbing I'll

remember it but I'm sure I did I didn't

want any you know like I call it love

fest hugging and slapping high fives

with opponent you're there for a reason

you're there to win a game that just

said it's on now

[Applause]

it is Indiana State against Michigan

State I'm Bryant Gumbel and the fans

here are gone banana I mean let's face

it if Larry Bird were black and came

through Chicago it wouldn't have been as

big a deal they were they were polar

opposites one black one white one

outgoing one shy that was the charm of

the attraction the bird against magic

all of the superlatives have been used

and believe me all of the Mithun Ward's

heading into the tournament magic was

the bigger star but by tip-off it was

bird having hardly missed a shot in the

semi-final would become the focus a fans

and more importantly of Michigan State

we actually had two men on Larry

everywhere he went

mister prize didn't play a box on one

you know for guys on Larry and one on

the other for because that's they didn't

have a lot of talent you know if you

stopped Larry you pretty much stopped

them I didn't play well at all biggest

game of my life didn't play well

[Applause]

I think our length and our size our

jumping ability was able to bother him

I didn't you well missed think three

free-throws Larry Bird has had a cold

shooting night I battled him but I

didn't have it

[Music]

[Applause]

national chat

magic not only where your leader on

offense I'd let's get a great job on

Larry Bird in the zone tonight in the

bowl he has a coach gave him a group

game plan

the gorgets Larry Bird all we had to do

is go out and do it that's what we've

done

congratulations super ballgame it was

over you know that was my four years I

was done that still hurts and when you

win thirty three in a row and you walk

into the game you know you never know

what to expect but I expect to win we

didn't win

toughest loss ever took I knew it what's

going on time forever cuz we were gonna

see each other a lot

the National Basketball Association in

its 33rd season is troubled by

diminishing crowds and declining

television ratings signs that fan

interest may be waning if college

basketball was flourishing at the end of

the 1970s the pro game was crumbling

after the golden era of Bill Russell and

Jerry West in the 1960s a merger with

the ABA in 1976 had led not only to new

teams but a new temperament it was a new

league with new times with renegades

with individuals there was an argument

made plausibly I think that it was too

black a league for the United States of

America in late 1970s you think about

the Knickerbockers at the time the

running joke was it was the

Knickerbockers you know what was do it

that's what it was it was the in word

it's turned it off a lot of white white

customers had to come to the game you

know why I think that still is a

conflict between the white and the black

and I don't enjoy going to the

basketball and seeing all black players

I mean I think it's it when they said to

black they meant not just in terms of

color but in terms of style let me get

mine and the hell with yours

basketball frost was about the best

moves he wanted to be that big player

that everybody talked about you want to

be the one you didn't think about

winning championships or a team play

and those were just the issues on the

court the NBA had this image of an

all-black league with a bunch of guys

who did drugs

the teams were losing money and they had

no sponsors and that's pretty much a

death knell right there it's a known

fact that you need your white super

stars you just need more white ball

players on the team for the white fans

to identify with and in the newest

member of the Boston Celtics that's

exactly what the league appeared to be

getting there's hope he can help solve

professional basketballs difficulties

but some say are compounded by a

question of black and white a great

white hope what does that mean well you

know it's very hard to say because

there's a lot of great white players

around it and I just hope that I can

just fit in as well some of the has fit

in he ran away from that designation he

made it very clear almost from day one

that he was not the great white on you

know the great players are the black

players near the best such deference

meant little to black Celtics like

Curtis Rowe Sidney wicks and Cedric

Maxwell who looked at Byrd and saw not

the great white hope but another case of

great white height he didn't impress me

no more than a white guy I've ever seen

play before I think that you would say

that most black players at the time were

racist in in the sense that we did not

think that you could find a white guy

who could play better than any black guy

well walk in the first air camp them

guys were on the floor stretching and

here comes the white Savior here comes

this here comes that I sort enjoyed it

because I knew I was gonna battle them

all day the Curtis and city didn't last

long they didn't make it through the

first practice they were cut so that was

just Cedric I'm thinking oh he's slow he

can't get off a shot he's not that

strong it's gonna be a layup

bail knocks down the jump shot

maybe that was luck guess the ball again

BAM knocks down another jump shot now

I'm thinking like okay hey you know what

up an adidas guy up I'm the shomers life

20 feet away

pay up 25 feet away BAM my mind just

gone something damn this way guy could

play it was a good thing to the storied

Celtics might have been the winningest

team in NBA history but they were fresh

off their worst season in 30 years

and in bird they had a player who was

not only supremely talented but tough

enough to take on any challenge I always

played like here behind the world's

against me

hello everybody gets me you should think

up things to get me rattled before game

he knew how to fight I know that from

off the floor one night somebody was

giving one of his buddies a hard time

and Larry went over and you know said

hey you know this my friend this guy was

pretty good-sized guy by golly they go

out back and the guy turns and says

something Alerian I mean Larry hit this

guy and I caught him hit him so hard I

go whoa he was from the old school and

that's how we play Larry Bird baby play

the game hard played rough there was no

frills about him he came in he threw

elbows

there was nothing smooth about Larry

[Music]

New Englanders like that they're

hard-working people they like that's how

people view them and that's what Larry

was they also like winners

when Byrd led the Celtics to the NBA

championship in just his second season

he was finally one of those two Boston

loved Larry Bird it just wasn't so clear

at first how much Bird loved the city

back there's only one place I'd rather

be French Lick Thank You Man Larry was

almost agoraphobic in his treatment of

anything outside his hometown he wanted

to be the Wizard of Oz he wanted to

intimidate people and keep them at bay

the further we are away from each other

the more I like I had a nice little

house I had my little yard I want to go

from there to practice back if we had a

game coming up I want to go there the

game and back home it was all basketball

whole life was basketball if he was just

sitting there which just means you were

looking around mumbling trying to find

things that we had in common that we

could talk about now we start talking my

basketball so tell my players was you

know that was great uh US history

no you know we forced passes we made

airs down the stretch daily events no I

made the shot and from then always up by

two and they had to get back in the game

which they did politics no try to not do

anything I can't do or do no more than

what I can do I just got to try to do my

basic game he proudly dubbed himself the

hick from French Lick and he looked

every bit the part but those who played

him for simple did so at their own peril

one of the great ways I think of winding

up with no money in your pocket is to

think Larry Bird is dumb

syntax is not intelligence unlettered is

not stupid

he's got a great sense of humor he just

didn't show that to people that didn't

mean he didn't have it he did however

allow the public one small indulgence

you could come out on Saturday and watch

him mow his lawn huge crowds would stop

Larry Bird's couldn't grass or front us

oh he's mowing his lawn in the

springtime

Larry is about doing things himself and

I think it's one of the things that made

him so beloved in Boston but his bird

navigated through his new world he still

had one eye fixed on a familiar foe in a

faraway land what tripped me out was I'm

riding right I'm riding in a limo I'm

seeing orange trees and lemon trees in

people's front yards to stop I gotta go

pick up orange are you crazy I said no I

gotta do this and so I ran up like a

like a scared little kid grabbed all her

head back to the liver I've never seen

an orange tree I had never seen a lemon

tree I was fascinated when 20 year-old

Earvin Johnson arrived in Los Angeles in

the fall of 1979 he was a world away

from Lansing the only home he'd ever

known he was the number one pick of the

LA Lakers a once dominant franchise

stuck in mediocrity in the stoical

Kareem abdul-jabbar the Lakers had tap

was energy Irvin Magic Johnson was only

too happy to provide it

[Music]

lit the place up change the franchise

change the temperament I ain't changed

it from the very first game here it was

the first game of a long season against

the lowly clippers and magic was

embracing Kareem as if they'd just won

their 10th straight championship it was

like man this is a different kind of

dude from the day he arrived he became

the Prince of the city he reminded me of

a guy who wakes up without an alarm

clock that's what I used to always say I

want to be happy enough to wake up

without an alarm clock because I want to

go into my world

[Music]

he had it what it is as far as I was

concerned the it was not his ability or

his size the it was his attitude was his

leadership was his mind I mean I don't

have to talk about game 6 at

Philadelphia

Magic Johnson well shop in his rookie

season magic had helped lead the Lakers

to the NBA Finals against the

Philadelphia 76ers

in game 6 with an injured abdul-jabbar

back home in LA magic played all five

positions scored 42 points grabbed 15

rebounds and dished out 7 assists

leading the Lakers to the championship

in just four years he'd won titles in

high school college and the pros magic

what do you have that makes you perform

like this in these championship games

well no no it says I love to win cross

the mast-head

of the Los Angeles Times the next day it

said it's magic he was a star when he

first arrived here coming off the nc2 a

game and quickly during that first

season he became one of these stars in

town but that game put him on another

that made him be star in town it's funny

how I wanted to meet the celebrities but

they wanted to meet me I was like

shocked how do you know who I am he was

young famous and after Lakers owner

Jerry Buss signed him to a 25 year

twenty five million dollar contract very

rich the kid from Lansing was ready to

sample a different kind of fruit his

playboy boss

knew all the ripe is trees I say oh I'm

hanging with him when they were coming

into the box and he had ten 20 of them

and looked everything which one you want

oh okay it's like that and then he said

I'm gonna take you to the Playboy

Mansion what the mansion no you kidding

yeah so I went there and my first time

I'm backing up like I can't believe I'm

in but I'm backing up away you know it's

like I'm scared to death probably ten

guys to a hundred women you know

everybody think is sex driven but it's

really not you you you have dinner then

you watch the latest movie and then of

course I don't want to ever say that sex

wasn't involved because if you meet

somebody and that's what you know you

wanted to do you did that but it's

really a great experience to go up there

so yeah I had fun there well he came to

LA like the Pied Piper you know people

were giving him this and giving him that

but you know he stayed pretty grounded

to the game everybody was getting high

there but you can't even smoke a joint

around magic he had real old-school down

in the trenches work ethic and that was

honed in him by his dad

Earvin Johnson senior magic was always

this guy you know he never did none of

that so I did everything for him Magic

Johnson was living on a natural high he

was starring in the role of a lifetime

point guard of a Hollywood team with an

offense called Showtime

he even had the alter ego perfect for

the production

I mean magic was his stage name even he

would laugh about it

[Music]

well he always says there's two people

as Earvin Johnson from East Lansing and

there's Magic Johnson from Hollywood

Herman Johnson is another guy you know

he is Magic over here and his urban over

here Berman this fun-loving guy magic

was so serious and dedicated to his game

and he was a crazy crazy competitor and

a crazy man Irvin I think is the smiling

kid from Lansing I think curvin died

about 25 minutes after the n-c-double-a

championship game

Irvin doesn't have the ego that magic is

magic got a crazy ego and winning is

everything and Irvin wanted to along

with magic conquer LA after having led

the Lakers to two NBA titles in their

first four years in town magic and Irvin

were well on their way I imagine want to

be friends with Larry Bird he wanted to

be friends with them on the world

Invitational Tournament and Larry just

wasn't very receptive I think he wanted

to be friends with him during the final

four Larry wouldn't even go over and

shake his hand

so now magic saying well what's with

this guy everybody loves me how come you

don't love me and then they get to the

rookie year the first time they play

each other well they have a very hard

foul and I have to be separate a little

bit and majus alright well I have with

this guy you don't like me fine alright

good I don't like you either

you know he's a very competitive play

and I'm a very competitive player we go

head-to-head we go for blood almost the

vibe was it was nasty was ugly was so we

didn't like each other I'm the one who

did all that tell you truth it was

I just want to be hanging around him I

mean as my main competition and he

couldn't escape the memory of losing to

him

in 1979 oh it hated him bad that he

didn't win that national title against

magic there was something just burning

it was one thing for them to be in the

79 championship magic had the better

team everybody agreed with that magic

had the better game fine now you get to

the pros Larry has this incredible year

but there he is watching in a club while

magic Johnson wins a championship and

he's thinking all right I'm behind tuna

nothing now yeah I watched that game and

I couldn't believe it I always want to

play at that level but what Bird

couldn't possibly have known was that he

had inspired magics performance when he

was named Rookie of the Year earlier

that same day the PR person from the

Lakers says hey Irvin the Rookie of the

Year voting has come out a magic says

okay well who won he said well Larry

Bird won and magic says what was it

close and he said oh no he went out that

day yes to try to win the NBA

championship but also to prove it 2-1

Larry Bird you know what I should have

been rookie in here even though I won

the championship I still wonder when

Rick a year too he won that championship

I was pissed I wanted one but even after

he had won one the next year his

obsession only grew deeper I'd get up in

the mornings and see what he did because

her games came on late

look at the box score I had to have him

there for some reason like a crutch

somebody compared myself to I hate it

what was being said that Larry was

better than me and I'm just a guy who

can control the game my first four or

five years I bothered me a lot I didn't

tell nobody it bothered me but it did

their competitive dislike emerged from a

greater truth but on the court they were

doppelgangers team-oriented stars who

cared about winning above all else

basketball savants who fused the

substance of the 60s with a style of the

70s to create a new and exciting yet

selfless way to play the game in the

1980s yeah I'm gonna pass but I'm gonna

pass in a way to make you look like a

jackass

there were so similar in the way they

compete

I mean if there were two halves of the

same brain

same craziness to exhale I've seen that

first couple days I was with him

basketball i.q off to charm

Cena game will different most players

plan a game the right way was everything

a lot of guys can just score a lot of

guys can just rebound long guys can just

make plays we can do it all Larry and

magical control the game with 12 shots

it was amazing maybe 7 for 12 they'd

have 20 points 15 rebounds and 12

assists and you go Mandy I shot the ball

12 times was the best player on the

court by far I think it was tough at

first I don't think either one of them

wanted to recognize if they had any

equal anywhere in what they do but they

sure as hell didn't want to recognize if

they're equal happen to be that other

guy that's why we hated each other to Co

we knew we were mirrors of each other I

did for a while the two of them had it

had to come to grips with that they had

begun changing the game but with

continued low television ratings and

tape-delayed finals the league was

struggling to get the word out when the

NBA and CBS signed a new TV deal before

the 8283 season the rescue plan was

simple sell more burden magic and sell

them not just as ball players

but his arch rival characters in their

own dramatic saga you got this slick

Showtime african-american guy out west

and you got the lunch bucket

floppy-haired white guy with the bruises

all over his body it's central casting

it's perfect I mean this was like made

in heaven

in 1979 this idea of magic and bird was

created and so that was sort of a

no-brainer we'd have a doubleheader it

would be the Celtics plane first in the

Lakers playing second and that's the way

we did it

and when the Celtics and Lakers both

reached the finals just a year into the

new TV deal in 1984 it appeared the

superstar investment was about to pay

off it was huge it was probably the

biggest moment the NBA had up to that

point he had Boston in LA East against

West it had all the elements of a

classic showdown including what was

becoming the most inescapable element of

all did we know that blacks and whites

were lining up the whites with the south

as the blacks were of course we knew

that even in the Celtics own backyard

they land at Logan Airport at the 84

Finals he's getting accosted by various

people who were telling him Larry's

gonna take him down but this one older

african-american gentleman cuz after he

goes magic I want to wish you well good

luck I want you to crush the cells cuz

he said oh where are you from he said

well I'm from Boston

they said you're from Boston and you're

rooting for the Lakers I thought

everybody here was crazy about the

Celtics and he looked right at me said

now why would I root for those white

boys

Boston after all was a town still

scarred by the ugly busing crisis of the

mid 70s a violent period of urban unrest

during which white had been pitted

against black the resulting taint on the

city nationally coupled with a Boston

roster littered with white players a

firm too many black Americans that the

Celtics were not the team for them even

the day people's that play with the

southern scene

you know I hated you at that time you

know I wanted magic to win I didn't want

that damn Larry Bird to win we had all

these black players but they looked at

because we had Larry Bird leading us as

a team that was white they were perfect

archetypes for what was becoming the

biggest story in sports but for the

real-life players the narrative was much

simpler it's finally gonna happen we get

to go head to head again it's just a

matter of rolling that ball out there

and let's get it on welcome into the

Boston Garden and the start of the NBA

World Championship Series I'm Brent

Musburger in each of the last four NBA

World Championship Series either magic

or bird has competed but this is the

first time that the two have gone

head-to-head for the time

[Applause]

and we jumped out on that first game and

we won in Boston and with less than a

minute to go in Game two the Lakers were

closing in on a commanding series lead

[Applause]

from that point on things began to

crumble manic trying to work on Maxwell

magic until got it down to the second

one second he's got

cheesy Johnson drilling the time out

what do it

the Lakers regained their stride in Game

three only to be rudely knocked off it

again in Game four

[Applause]

Kurt Rambis got taken out we started

fighting instead of playing George R and

it made us realize we were not mentally

tougher than the Celtics Magic's just

not himself be sure they won't let the

time run out as they did

[Applause]

we're number of places where you even

didn't do what people expected him to do

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

missus

Johnson this is a mode something's want

a timeout respondent Magic Johnson goes

to the bench

[Applause]

[Music]

Game five went to the Celtics game six

to the Lakers was like 1979 all over

again

down to one game for Bird and Magic if

everybody had to look at it probably

would have said it's gonna be seven game

series

I thought we sweep them in four but it's

one little bit longer now we kept doing

seven that's the only time I ever felt

that they know why they're walking out

here with a win

[Applause]

the lake

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

the Boston Celtics on the

[Music]

[Applause]

I pride myself in being the guy who's

going to win it for us and and deliver

under pressure and it didn't happen I

hope he was hurt over killed him he made

some bad plays down the stretch nobody

in there was happier than me you know

not only when the game makes you feel

good but just knowing the other guy

suffering and you know he was I remember

after the game that both the E and I

were in the showers crying and stayed in

there for about 3540 minutes it was hard

because not only had we lost to the

Boston Celtics he had lost to his

nemesis Larry Bird

[Music]

I think he just made me just like him

you know because he was that good and

and I think you you be jealous jealous a

little bit Larry there's this yet you

even with magic or what happened between

Michigan State Indiana State all those

professionals now but I want this one

for Terre Haute well it was a big deal

I'm ever asking Quinn Buckner about it

afterwards they had a celebration in

downtown Boston after they won the

championship and you know it was unusual

for Larry to have these little outbursts

as Quinn would call them but you know

about 11:30 at night finally he turned

to quit he goes I got him I finally got

him and he was talking about magic

the lead was rejoicing to Game seven of

the 84 series was one of CBS's

highest-rated telecasts of the year the

highest-rated game the NBA had ever

produced

all of a sudden whether it was at CBS or

Madison Avenue the sports writers around

the country became phenomena what is

happening here the absolute foundation

in this resurgence was the Celtics in

the Lakers Larry Bird and Magic Johnson

but magic was in no mood to bask in the

accomplishment I took up a media beating

tragic magic this is why we say Larry

Bird is better it's probably the first

time ever in my life I was depressed and

I didn't want people to see me it was

something I never dealt with in my life

that particular series that championship

series redefined his whole career

because he never stopped working after

that magic was on a mission to prove to

himself in the world that with the ball

in his hands he was still the one in

control

and after his Lakers ran through the 85

season he quickly got what he wanted

another shot at burden the Celtics they

one of these we won the West so it's

like uh everybody just get ready sit

back and let's enjoy it but that smile

bolide the intensity of the clash that

awaited if I had a glass of water and

any of those guys had been on fire

I was drank the water and watch them

they called us you know chokers and

sissies we didn't like that and they

thought less of us I knew they did 85 we

played him four times in exhibition

season for some reason I don't know why

they scheduled that by the fourth game

there was an all-out brawl

they call this one of the greatest

rivalries in all of sport the Celtics

the Lakers and if that is true it is the

most one-sided rivalry in all of sports

eight times these two have met for the

NBA championship and eight times the

Celtics have won at card in his sixth

year for Michigan State at number 32

but in the 85 Finals magic changed the

script over six grueling games he

masterfully controlled the pace with

all-around brilliance he has a

triple-double again behind their point

guard the Lakers finally knocked out the

Celtics winning the clinching game in

the Boston Garden redemption but one

Magic Johnson is a long year last year

to wait for this moment right now magic

had even the score with bird on the NBA

floor but the significance of their

rivalry and their relationship was still

just taking hold you crazy

I said you crazy I'm not shooting a

commercial with Larry so I said okay

what we're gonna shoot it in LA I would

never want to LA to film it or we gonna

shoot

[Music]

you want to shoot commercial come to my

house

[Music]

Oh Oh No

[Music]

one stoplight and I thought Lansing

small I think the plan was i'ma go here

i'ma do what I'm posed to do and I'm

trying to get up out of here my plan was

that even after converse had convinced

magic and bird to film a sneaker at

together in the summer of 85 a question

remained how would the two hated rivals

on the court get along off of it I don't

know how he's going to react I don't

know how I'm gonna react

we even shake hands so how are we gonna

do a commercial together the ad was to

be filmed at the home bird had built for

his mom it featured a full-length

basketball court the day's first

location so they say okay you playing

one-on-one and I'm looking at Larry and

he's looking at me like is this real are

we playing planned cuz you know this

this is this is magic and Burt I could

just hear Larry you know starting in on

well you bring it to the basket I'm

gonna send it 30 rows up so the guy was

like no no not like that a fun game

we're both okay like like you can see

this relief coming over both of our face

that brief day taunt led to the next

stage dialogue we sat down next to each

other how is your something oh it's

going good how is yours

oh great said man it's a nice spread you

got these aspects is where you play I

said yeah I play here if it's not windy

if it's raining or windy I go to the gym

but this is where I do all my work I see

that tractor you work on it unattractive

female I work on this tractor every day

laborer work on the tractor it's yeah

it's just them two walking and talking

and everyone's why they'd stop and what

I would say something and then they'd

start laughing then they said okay break

it's lunch break time I was going to my

trailer he said no my mother has

prepared lunch for us up at the house we

went up to the house and we sit down and

we talked and my mom my brothers thought

the world of him his mother was so nice

making sure I had enough to eat

I just saw my mother it was crazy

he charmed her me except but that's

magic he makes everybody feel welcome

and warm and

he's a con man and while magic charm

Georgia bird it was someone else who

intrigued her son he met Ervin at lunch

Ervin was a good dude I liked her a lot

better magic I was just so happy to

finally be perving with him because

magic was like I don't know if I want to

get to know this guy but Ervin got a

chance to talk about family I grew up we

just we just keep became to relax guys

it's just talking that day was great

it was a great day beautiful day still

for bird ever the competitor that's all

it was just one day

magic thinks the next year okay well now

we're great friends so you know after

the game we're gonna go out we're gonna

have a beer and Larry's like no you're

right I know you better

you're a good guy but I still don't

anything to do with you he's a

happy-go-lucky guy if men have got to be

really good friends go out on according

still play a same game I couldn't that's

just the way it is

but when the ad hit the airwaves for

others the perception changed

I saw those limousines going through the

cornfields and I said no they didn't

sell themselves out copper's me to pay a

virtue but last years MVP yep but they

made a pair of magic shoes but this is

MVP okay magic show me what you got oh

this is really a business thing

I'm very chill the magic show maybe

that's where the business thing started

to get bigger and began to Trump who

they both really were it polarized the

whole idea of lunch bucket versus

Hollywood white versus black just

cemented all the differences between

them kids weren't wearing black Jews cuz

they didn't want to be associated with

the Larry Bird camp you wore your white

converse the basketball rivals had

morphed into cultural warriors and race

more than ever and become an unavoidable

part of the conversation but nothing

about Bird and Magic had ever been as

simple as black and white one of the big

reasons this rivalry became some low

Matic of so many things is because it

was an easy dichotomy for people to

understand but it's crazy to simplify to

saying white people like Burge and black

people like magic because 13% of the

country is black it wasn't like 87% of

basketball fans prefer the Celtic we

should favorite basketball play Magic

Johnson was your favorite movie star

Eddie Murphy piano oh you talked about

his negatives and again and all your

favorite people so-called niggas Stefan

magic any Prince a nutmeg is I mean

you're not black I mean let me explain

myself

has the n-word ever been used by a white

person describe Irvin I doubt it but his

magic enjoyed his image as a crossover

star it was bird the one time great

white hope who would further emerge as

the polarizing racial figure

to impart to that IRA's increasingly

conservative political climate the

rolling back institutionally of look

achievements the civil rights movement

we're going on a pace from about 1975 on

but the triumph of the movement that

rolled back took place in the 1980s and

I think there was people were very aware

in the black community what was going on

and I think there was a lot of

sublimated frustration and I think one

of the ways it got supplemented was into

basketball and I think Larry through no

fault of his own was the receptacle

within which the lingering resentments

somehow floated and after Byrd led the

Celtics to the championship in 1986 his

third in the pros winning his third

straight MVP award in the process the

resentment grew I always felt that the

press was biased in favor of Larry Bird

it always felt to me like they were

gonna make Larry the hero you know you'd

see somebody score and Larry would be in

a cast and a suit on the bench they'd

say Larry Bird made that possible a

couple weeks ago when he told that guy

he could do it and he just did it

hey they go get his motherfucker the

assistant he not in the game not to be

racist but we have a white guy who's the

best in the world it's predominantly a

black sport now and he got a guy like

Larry Bird who can't run who can't jump

but can do everything out there and I

don't mean nothing to me it don't mean

anything to me it never has I don't know

why I mean a mice doing something wrong

here bird may have sought to avoid the

conversation entirely but the more he

won the less he could escape

in 1987 after Boston beat the Detroit

Pistons to advance to the finals for the

fourth straight year Pistons rookie

Dennis Rodman called Byrd overrated

because he was white his teammate Isaiah

Thomas then chimed in with some thoughts

of his own

[Music]

he was hippie there's another good guy I

can remember in the locker room I think

it was Jack McMullen come up to me and

said Isaiah just said boom boom boom

boom I go so he didn't care he didn't

care everybody else around him cared

very deeply in the days and weeks as it

turned out ahead I mean media made it I

like was something but it didn't matter

to me what Isaiah or Dennis Rodman said

and it still don't

that's no bearing what I do in my life

he doesn't see race he really doesn't uh

and he could have this guy grew up poor

white in southern Indiana southern in

the end of the home by the way of the

modern Ku Klux Klan how he managed not

to be affected by the cultural milieu

that he grew up in is I think a miracle

it's a night to me it's inexplicable why

isn't about six or seven three I

couldn't wait to school be over because

I knew or on the courts the waiters in

the hotel would be over there they were

black older and they let me play

you know I always looked at that I got

an opportunity playing against black man

and they treated me good I couldn't wait

to play against the best and at that

time they were the best and in 1987 as

bird vied with magic to be the best the

flap over Isaiah Thomas is racially

fueled remarks forced Bird to address

his least favorite topic at the worst

possible time I had to go to a press

conference I was in LA trying to get

ready to play the Lakers and tell people

I didn't care this don't bother me the

main thing is if the statements or

whatever was said doesn't bother me I

don't think it should bother any of us

from playing all year trying to get back

to the finals and play against magic

this was a distraction

bird was facing off against magic for

the third time in four years and if

their relationship had softened the

determination to beat each other had not

as game for food the level of

competition between them was higher than

ever

bird played awesome down the stretch of

that game trailing 2-1 in the series the

Celtics were down by one point in the

final minute of the game but Larry Bird

wouldn't be easily vanquished

[Applause]

with seven seconds left though the

Lakers still had life three years

earlier in the 84 finals magic had

flubbed a similar situation but this was

a different magic one with a whole new

bag of tricks

my man switched to cream and Kevin

McHale jumped out to me as soon as I saw

Kevin I said oh I'm taken you know magic

puts it on the floor a couple head and

shoulder fakes he raised up in the air

and there was nobody there was gonna get

that shot

[Music]

I remember after they called timeout

thinking there's still a shot

Celtics may still win this game well

they set up a great play

bird walk worthy all the way up forced

the denial all the way up we've done it

before

clear everybody out go to the ball break

the corner you caught it here and as he

caught it all he had to do was turn and

just turn and he just let this thing go

got a wide open lovin couldn't believe

it

and I'm standing right there Agis

straight as an arrow get on we're lucky

because it's right on line he looked at

me like how did you ever leave me that

wide open Kidman change the whole series

the Lakers won the series and six in the

aftermath of a year in which magic had

won his first MVP the rivalry suddenly

took on a new tone maddie was just a

great basketball player he's the best

I've ever seen you know

I unbelievable I don't know what's

saying I was shocked that he said it

because I thought to myself maybe this

is the beginning of a new era that's not

going to include him it was the passing

of the torch a little bit after

vanquishing burden 87 magic wasn't done

winning the following year he squared

off in the finals against his good

friend Isiah Thomas and the Pistons

[Applause]

beating them to become the NBA's first

repeat champions in two decades by the

dawn of the 90s he'd won five titles

played in eight finals and equaled

Bird's MVP tally of three

but the more magic one the less urban

seemed to be around to reap the spoils

once I tasted the champagne and the

championship I wanted more of that and

more that so magic kept growing because

we were successful and the persona and

all that came with that the Prince of LA

was now the king and in Hollywood being

royalty had its perks

what was her man Johnson's vice now you

know my publicist wants me to say Winnie

but women loved her back then before

voicemail is to have these mail slots in

the hotels we leave your key and when we

get into a town Ervin's mail slot would

be so packed and it would be just Susan

and a phone number Linda and a phone

number Joyce in a phone

I mean that was every city everything

every time I was on top of my game as

magic so I needed all that around me at

that time women this to that Hollywood

[Music]

magic was living in a context of

sybaritic access from the minute he

walked in the door and he developed a

sweet tooth sex with several women at

the same time yeah like I said women

have different fantasies some want to be

with two or three at a time you know one

time I had six at one time that's just I

really do believe he looks upon Magic

Johnson as a movie character he played I

think Irvin got overwhelmed in LA by

what it meant to be a star that's

probably true that the magic ego

swallowed Irvin a little bit but that's

okay because I couldn't win five

championships without that through all

this haze of women and money and fame

and fortune he still kept basketball in

at number one he'd never seem to lose

that focus Leary had two jobs his last

seven years of playing it was playing

basketball and then it was him being

committed to taking care of his back he

had first heard it in 1985 building the

driveway at his mom's house back in

French Lick Larry decides to do it

himself this is Larry Bird the superstar

out there breaking his back literally

shoveling gravel and that was the

beginning of a process I would see him

on TV laying down and then they told me

that he had to lay down on planes

different things like that I was like

wow as magic sword through the prime of

his career

bird with breaking down his

deteriorating back in punishing style of

play proving an excruciating mix from 88

to 92 it was painful to watch it was

painful to cover

Larry is quite ordinary when he's not

feeling well which means he was honoring

for those next four years he could

manage the pain in a way that very few

people can do Derby days he could come

in the office and he couldn't stand up

straight but even after two ruptured

Achilles tendons and surgery on his back

in 1991 bird kept going to work product

of a lesson learned many years before

seeing the swollen ankle of a man long

since gone well we don't know if it

broken up it looked broke to me I had to

go to work and had to get his boot on

and it took everything I had to help him

get that boot on his foot and he stood

up limping he says I'll see you this

weekend because he was working

instruction at the time and I was pretty

amazed how he could fight through that

all week and come home on a weekend it

was black and swollen and he'd sit

around on the weekend and put that boot

on go again if you get paid to go to

work you got to go to work

it was a situation that he was seeing

almost daily he had lost the structural

stability in his spine so it would slip

into abnormal positions to try and lock

itself to get an artificial stability

that's like getting your finger stuck in

the door and somebody's still pushing on

the door so we had to do is unlock his

spine realign it do techniques that

would hold that for four hours or six

hours that type of thing and then he'd

go play basketball

[Applause]

every time I would play I was wondering

if I was gonna be in a wheelchair or was

I ever gonna be able to you know walk on

the beach or holding my kids

his pain and his quest for basketball

became all-encompassing very few people

really knew what Larry was living with

because this was Larry's issue and there

was no sharing of his pain

you know iPod should retardant 88-89

but

it's that competition maybe one more

chance pen magic get together in the

finals but it never happened

I'm sleeping really laying down just

waiting on the game and no phone rings

and the voice says hey you got to come

back to LA Joe so okay why I can't tell

you until you get to LA so I said okay

two hours later he was in the office of

Lakers team physician Michael Milman

dr. mehlman starts to tell me that you

know through the physical that I took

that they discovered that I had HIV

first time ever in my life I'm such a

control freak right do things the right

way I'm out of control oh it was every

time how is it possible what happened

how did it happen to me my mind is

racing you know and and then you just it

just devastated further complicating

things magic had gotten married just two

months earlier and he feared the worst

for his new bride cookie who was

pregnant with their first child I don't

know what's gonna happen with my wife

and my baby I don't know what's gonna

happen to me I don't have control of the

situation and I was lost just for that

next two or three weeks and after magic

learned neither his wife nor his unborn

child were infected

he began revealing the news to his inner

circle the phone rang and it was magics

agent LAN rose and he said Ervin's

looking for you call him and I said I'll

call him when I get to parama and he

says call him now I said line how caught

call him when I get to Paramount I'll be

there in 20 minutes

and he said you got to call him now

Ervin's hiv-positive um I remember I was

sitting on the bed I remember standing

up at that point

and I said how is that possible I'm

thinking Urban's gonna get skinny and

die I mean literally that's what I

thought Ervin's gonna get skinny and die

the first person I thought of was Larry

I wonder what Larry thinks the day that

I heard about magic and just sort of

changed my love for basketball it shook

me up you know you're gonna get that

feeling by the same type of feeling I

had when my father died he wants to

understand why you know how can I talk

to him I need to speak to him it was

just really important for Larry to talk

to him you know I know sort of I don't

know I want to hear from him probably

didn't believe it

calm me down

we're talking you know he's just how you

doing I heard about it and you can

almost hear both of us with some tears

and eyes and I'm choked up because he

did call me you know once something

happens

to you

and then you find out who really your

friends are and people who really care

about you you figure are those battles

all those things we had to go through as

warriors as competitors then ask men

that down here this man says hey you

know what man you okay

and so uh that was the greatest moment

for me to you know to have him check on

me and to make sure I was okay

first of all let me say good at get

after late afternoon um because of the

HIV virus that I have attained uh I will

have to retire from the Lakers today

it's the only press conference I've ever

been in where I've seen reporters cry I

mean we thought this guy was in total

denial I plan on going on living for a

long time

bugging you guys like I've always have

we thought this the smile is gonna be

wiped off his face forever and he was

gonna die but we're gonna watch him die

in public I just remember in the room he

was joking and I'm sitting there looking

at him crying and he's like poop man

imma be okay I'm gonna be okay it's

gonna be alright I'm gonna go on I'm

gonna beat it and I'm gonna have fun

sure come on you're gonna beat this but

to him it was a contest Larry Bird and

Magic Johnson aids and Magic Johnson

it's same thing it's just a different

game different rules but I'm still gonna

win he wasn't planning on going nowhere

urban was planning that date to find the

right medicine to eat right get rest and

live forever that's what he was playing

it thank you again and I'll see you soon

but his magic put up a positive public

face his nemesis still out of sorts shed

the mask he had hidden behind for years

he was visibly like wow how could that

happen you know they're just that it was

just it really set him back father two

toughest days I've had since my father

passed away I've been very depressed and

then sort of been out of it I listen to

him talking this press conference about

how devastated he was and I remember

thinking to myself yeah goddamn Larry

found urban you know just out of blue

something like that happening it's just

I've never had other than one other

instance and I was hoping I'd never see

that again because I remember how I felt

weeks after that and yesterday was just

a sad day and at his game that night

bird was forced to confront pain he

couldn't so easily play through they

won't be there that night first time

ever and really last I remember we

played in Atlanta and no feel for game

you know this button wasn't good time be

out there never had a before him that

night he threw a pass I'll never forget

he threw a half-court pass behind his

back for a layup and if you blurred your

eyes you squint your eyes it looked like

magic and that was Larry saying goodbye

you know I mean this competition thing

is is amazing what it does to you what

you put your body through and what you

do and what you say and how you feel

knowing that he's not there

wouldn't feel right I think it's all

them years that you know what's he doing

well if he's practicing his hard I bet

he shot 500 shots today and I didn't get

500 and it's always that mind games

bird played through the 91-92 season his

last in the NBA but a part of him was

already gone

I didn't check the papers anymore you

know didn't matter I still want to

compete you know but one the same

really what with the exception of that

year when he was called tragic Johnson

because on the basketball court things

didn't shake down properly this is the

first time I'm hearing ignorant hatred

vicious nasty things there was some of

my former teammates who had their own

little things that they were talking

about why this happened to me you know

anybody else does heterosexually got it

come on man you're in denial

I've been called gay faggot Urban's

lover

I've been called all that shit lawn

rosin got a call from Isaiah Thomas

asking you know I keep hearing magics

gay and Ilan said well for crying out

loud you know better than anybody he

isn't you're one of his best friends and

he said well we don't know what's going

on in Hollywood and the fact that Isaiah

was questioning why he got this I think

it was really really hurtful to him he's

too sad you know I don't want people to

stop shaking my hand give me my hugs

he loves to be loved and that's what

bothered him the most that people would

change in relationship to him he would

show up at the Lakers facility to work

out and to shoot some baskets and he

tried to engage his teammates and say

hey you wanna play a little one-on-one

before practice and oh geez no I can't I

gotta go get taped or oh geez I get work

to do I gotta do something else

the worst thing of all this that I

couldn't play basketball I don't even

think dealing with HIV it was I couldn't

play the game the surroundings was his

whole world that's his personality when

you take that away you know you're hurt

I knew he was hurt in a big way the only

sex is safe sex and that's no sex as

basketball went on without him magic

performed Abele in his new role as HIV

educator and spokesman

and we'll helping every way that I can

but he's still pine for the arena which

had made him a star so when he was

invited to play in the 1992 NBA all-star

game he jumped at the chance promptly

stealing the show and winning MVP honors

but that was just a warm-up the Encore

magic had up his sleeve he's not done

yet because we're gonna go to Barcelona

and bring back the gold for everyone

here in United States for the first time

ever NBA players would be competing in

the Olympics and magic armed with a

message was not about to miss the show

it woulda proved to people that you was

not gonna get the disease playing

against me and then also for me too

personally you know it was therapy it

was a way to say man you get to do this

one more time there was also one other

perk I think mine was Larry was very

important that's something they talked

about and he was gonna be on the dream

team is gonna be with Michael he's gonna

be as Barclays but he was gonna play

with Larry magic have seen him I just

want to get you out on that court one

more time let's just have one more

sequence like we had all the way back in

1978 but it was interesting that with

magic being the one that was

hiv-positive he felt great he was in the

best shape of his life he had worked so

hard to make sure he didn't go there as

a token player and here was Larry who

couldn't even practice who could barely

move

but you know what then matter we were

still together you know did matter me

closing only fans the magic spell you

cares

this is La Vie en Rose and when he goes

are patooties he switched a few

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who's taking the last shot with a game

on the line do your I got my opportunity

I still was massive 14 years after

they'd first crossed paths the smiling

kid from Lansing and the shy boy from

French Lick were happily back together

in Barcelona but it took just one glance

outside their hotels front door each

morning for them to see that as far as

they had come they were as far apart as

ever

the way you walk up that door if you

wanted attention but I ask ask I I know

how can you get around us and gotta be

away

hello behold there was a side door you

go wherever you want

that's gonna tell him about it but

seeing that smile on his face close you

got that front door come on anyone no

side door you know Arvind

[Music]

you go right in the middle of them turn

alone I'm going out the front

cuz that's who I am I don't go out the

back I don't go out the side That's not

me if you want to go somewhere in a

hurry there's a

there's a door to lead you there I found

it I respected him for that and so hello

I would try to find us a side door for

him and we never tried to change each

other that's what made this relationship

great one of my pet peeves always is

when people say oh Michael Jordan saved

the NBA bullshit bullshit magic and

Larry saved the NBA that's who saved the

NBA magic and Larry Magic and Larry Bird

and Magic to the millions who once

watched them now more than ever they are

inseparable

a pair of athletes thrown together by

the cosmos to compete a pair of men who

discovered a bomb in the midst of that

competition

decades removed from the height of their

rivalry their bond and yours too

impossibly different men with a

connection only they can fully grasp

it's almost like a private little Club

and only the two of them are in it and

every once in a while they need to show

up to have a reunion and pay their dues

to each other but they don't need the

day-to-day contact that most friends

need it's just not that kind of

relationship I always always get this

good feeling when I know I won't see him

because he makes you feel good you know

he really does intervene he's

unbelievable he's very private but if

he's your friend

man you got a friend for life and Larry

Bird is a straight-shooting did I tell

you when he don't like you that's one

thing I wish I could have from that that

he has that I don't have I wish I had

that I mean he walked in here this whole

room of change and maybe that's what I

always wanted to be buddies could

[Music]

[Music]

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