Magic Johnson and Larry Bird starred in one of the most intense rivalries in the NBA, with many fans and former players considering them the saviors of the association due to their incredible duels in the 80s.
These two dominated the competition during that decade, exchanging championships over the years, even playing against each other in the NBA Finals with big performances by each of them. It all came down to these two until the ‘Bad Boys’ Detroit Pistons dethroned them, and then Michael Jordan became the new kid in the block.
Still, there is no rivalry like Bird and Magic, but despite the animosity between their teams, they always remained good friends, going at it every season and becoming the best players in the world while their respective squads collected championships.
Larry Bird Brutally Honest On His Legendary Rivalry With Magic Johnson
There was no better way to know about their relationship and rivalry than hearing from them, and during Larry’s retirement ceremony, the Boston Celtics legend opened up on how his ‘feud’ with Magic fueled him to become the best player he could be (56:02 mark).
“There’s no question that Magic is the toughest competitor and probably the toughest player I’ve ever seen. There’s no question about that, we already know that… We’ve seen what he’s done for the last 13, 14 years, starting in college. I’ll never forget that college game where I knew from the beginning we was outmatched because of the talent and Magic was leading them up and down the court. We got into the first year in the NBA, he wins the championship right off the bat. A lot of pressure, a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure on me to start winning championships, and I don’t think I could ever achieve that if I didn’t have a player I always looked at– I knew he was watching me because I was watching him, I was making sure I knew what he was doing every night. He took my game to a level…
Bird gave a lot of flowers to his former rival and even joked with him, asking if he could stop terrifying him in his dreams.
“He is by far the best player I’ve ever played against and really ever seen. I can’t include all the other great players because I never really watched professional basketball. But Magic, there’s one thing… We’re retiring now, right? We’ll probably never come back again… But, I wanna ask you, now will you get the hell out of my dreams?”
These two are responsible for saving the NBA and giving the keys to the car to the new stars that took the league to a new level and made it the global brand it is right now. Even though Magic admitted that his relationship with Larry wasn’t the best because of this rivalry, they always had the utmost respect for each other, and nothing could change that.
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