Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson were rivals during their playing careers, with the two widely being considered the best point guards of their era. Though they were once friends, the relationship between the two is fractured as of right now.
Recently, Isiah Thomas explained when his friendship with Magic Johnson was destroyed. The duo was competing in the NBA Finals against one another, where Magic Johnson was clearly willing to do anything to win, even if that meant ending his friendship with Isiah Thomas. (55:00)
At home with your family you would hug and embrace. Magic and I as friends… Imma hug you and kiss you like I do with my brother… That’s how we get down. That was so controversial back then… Fast forward, in any sport today… you see Black men, they’re hugging, giving each other love… We broke that barrier.
Fast forward, Magic and I ain’t speaking for a long time. We get to the NBA Finals. Magic was my mentor. I was so lucky to come into the NBA, Magic had just came off winning the NBA Finals MVP… I was so lucky because I got to hang out with Magic that summer, George Gervin, Dr. J. before my season started.
Then Magic and I, and Mark Aguirre we became real tight. Now I’m trying to figure out how to win. What better teacher to have. He was so gracious and giving… when the Lakers won the championship I was in their locker room watching them celebrate… I was at every NBA Finals game taking notes… I had to learn.
Magic giving me like straight game. I’m watching him on this hard break, I’m watching him dribble out the shot clock in Boston. They called him Tragic Johnson… then in the next year he come back and he drop the baby hook and they winning. I’m getting to see all of this… I got to see the Lakers cry. I got to see Magic lay on the floor, we in his hotel room, he was spread out on the floor crying hard tears. Me and Mark just sitting there… We had never seen Magic Johnson fail… that dude laid on the floor and cried all night.
Now, I get to the NBA Finals… Magic’s like… I used to stay at the house… we used to have dinner. First game:
“Nah, you can’t come to the house”.
“What do you mean I can’t come to the house?”
“See you at the game.”
We beat them Game 1… Game 2, after the game we normally go out.
“Nah you know, I’m just going home.”
Game 2, we got them beat again… We up 2, and we get a shot clock violation… the shot clock run out, the referee says “we made a mistake”. They put 14 seconds back on the shot clock, gave the ball to Magic out of bounds, Magic drive to the basket and get a 3 point play, that’s how they win game 2.
Now we don’t speak. We leave. They come back to Detroit, Game 3. We got games 3,4,5 in Detroit. They come back to Detroit Game 3. My son Joshua is born. Magic don’t come to the crib, don’t send no acknowledgement nothing. I’m like “what’s this all about”.
Anyway, now Game 3 we walk out on the court… I got the hug and the kiss, but then I saw that look they had gave the Celtics. I didn’t realize it until I saw it… It just flashed back… I think they beat us 99-87… That’s the game I’m coming down the lane and Magic knocks me out of the air. I jump up and I push him…. When you hear Magic describe that, Magic say he got up and swung on me… Big difference between swinging on somebody and pushing them.
Fast forward he was like, OK Pat Riley told him we can’t be friends. Okay cool. We don’t talk for years. For year. Our relationship was different. Now we get to sit in the chair, and no we gotta be real with each other… I was all right until he said “I want to apologize to you”. And I broke. Because I knew what had taken place, but the fact that he was man enough to say I’m sorry, I had to accept that.
This is an interesting story from Isiah Thomas, and it is easy to see why the friendship between the superstars ended. Isiah Thomas’ reconciliation with Magic Johnson in the “two chairs” was during a 1-on-1 interview, which is below. The timestamp is the moment that features Magic Johnson’s apology. (36:00)
Magic Johnson: You are my brother. Let me apologize to you if I hurt you, that we haven’t been together. And God is good for bringing us back together.
It is good to see that the superstars did reconcile after many years of not talking to one another. Sometimes, friendship can get lost in the fire of competition, but it’s better to rekindle those connections rather than let them die completely.
An NBA Insider Had A Different Explanation For Why Magic Johnson’s Friendship With Isiah Thomas Ended
Though this is Isiah Thomas’ view on how his relationship with Magic Johnson was destroyed, an NBA insider had a different explanation. The insider claimed that their friendship wasn’t the same after Thomas trash-talked Larry Bird.
“The relationship took a major hit when Thomas talked trash about Larry Bird, making a case that he was overrated because he was white. Magic and Bird weren’t close, but there was a bond—Michigan State–Indiana State, entering the league together, Boston-Lakers clashes—between Johnson and Bird. When Thomas made those comments, Magic called Bird and made clear he didn’t agree. The Magic-Thomas relationship was never the same.”
Isiah Thomas is definitely known as a trash-talker, and it is easy to see how his comments about Larry Bird could have affected his friendship with Magic Johnson. Isiah Thomas has made some other wild claims before, such as suggesting that the league changed its rules to let Michael Jordan win a championship.
It is clear that there may have been a multitude of things that led to the fractured relationship between Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. However, what matters is that they are on good terms now, and it is always good to see a happy ending.
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