larry-bird-and-magic-johnson

So I just finished watching the HBO Sports special on Larry and Magic, and you gotta say HBO did a great job digging up all the amazing footage (Magic and Bird playing together on the pre-NBA US Team, Bird’s emotional pregame reaction to learning about Magic contracting HIV) and focusing on the relationship between the two in what was an enjoyable and emotional 90 minutes. There were, however, a few items that were left out, left in or over looked that are worth noting:

1. Magic was more popular and well known nationally than Larry going into the 1979 NCAA Championship Game. Huh? First off, Bird was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated (the Number 1 national sports news source at the time) a year before Magic (in 1977 to Johnson’s cover in ’78) and his second SI cover came two weeks before the title game with Magic. Bird was the one-man wolf-pack of the biggest Cinderella maybe ever, while Johnson was part of Michigan State’s one two punch. Oh, did they forget to mention Senior Forward “Special K” Greg Kelser who lead the Spartans in points and rebounds that season? Or the fact that ISU was on a 30+game winning streak and #1 seed in their bracket (MSU #2 behind Notre Dame)?

2. The Celtics are the white man’s team. Can’t really argue with this because the Celtics of the 80s (especially from 86 and on) were so white they were almost clear. The problem I have is that they picked a story about a black fan from Boston rooting for Magic at Logan airport to try and show that the Celtics were not, nor could they ever, represent black fans. HBO fails to even throw a little credit toward Red and Walter Brown for the following barriers being broken for African American’s in Basketball and Sports in general: The first black NBA player, the first all black starting 5, the first black head coach and the most championships by black head coaches (5). Oh yeah, and the Lakers are one of two teams in NBA history to have never had a black head coach (Magic’s brief stint was on an interim basis).

3. Magic was transformed after the 1984 finals. HBO makes the argument that after “Tragic” Johnson’s mental errors (not as much Larry’s rallying the troops) gave the 1984 Finals to the Celtics, and that Magic asserted himself as the greatest player up to that point with 3 MVP trophies and three more NBA titles. Bull shit. With the 1984 Finals being such a huge success for the NBA and CBS (the league seeing LA-Boston Finals for God willing the next 10 years), they decide to change the 2-2-1-1-1 format to 2-3-2. As Larry once said, “the most important game in a 7-game series is game 5.” After a tying up the ’85 series at 2-games each the Celtics then have to play game 5 in LA instead of a return to 500-degree heat of the Boston Garden where they would have surely swapped wins over the next two games, thus putting Game 7 back in Boston. Magic then follows up that season by taking it in the ass (not like that Isiah) courtesy of the Houston Rockets (the 2nd time that happened in 6 years), then “crushes” the 98% injured Celtics in 1987. Bird’s back makes him a non-factor for the remainder of his career, while the Lakers continue to face little competition in the West (unlike the Celtic battles against Philly in the early 80s and Detroit in the late 80s). In my view, less of a transformation than the cards falling right for Magic and LA.

4. Bird takes the blame for conservative anti-black regression in the 1980s while Magic was a dealt a bad hand by getting HIV. The Special was going so well then they had to get all political. Okay, so make the ridiculous leap that Bird was the poster child for some Republican led pro-white movement in the 80s, but don’t over shadow what Magic’s contracting the HIV virus in the 90s did as a poster child for racists and homophobes for the early part of that decade. Instead of pointing the finger at Johnson’s inability to control his “Johnson,” HBO plays it off as Magic the hard-luck victim. Glossing over the countless women his, somewhat understandably selfish, behavior may have affected or the way he initially reacted to interviews as a podium to brag about the amount of pussy he had plugged (they did show the clip where Magic holds back a smile while taking about fucking 6-girls at once). That being said, they also missed the boat on how his contracting HIV gradually destroyed the fear and social impact that the disease had in the US and the world. When Magic didn’t die, and eventually returned to basketball and even hosted that awful talk show, the monster that was HIV and AIDS did a 180 from a disease that means instant death to something that, with the right treatment and support, can be dealt with and defeated.

5. Bird is thought of as the better player because of the white press. In the prime of their careers (1984-87) Bird was 3-peat MVP (84-86) and made the Finals 4-years in a row (losing in ’85 after being fucked by David Stern and in ’87 by being forced to play with the rest of the squad in wheelchairs). Magic, lands one MVP in ’87 and misses the chance to get swept in 4 games by the greatest NBA team of all time the 1986 Celtics. Sorry, I was there and history don’t lie. Bird was the better player.

NOTE: I will say that HBO Sports should get some credit for quietly declaring Boston to be the greatest Sports city on the planet. They’ve already done documentary-style specials on Ted Williams, Bill Russell, the 1980 US Hockey team and now Larry Bird.  It makes you wonder just how much longer til they do something on Belichick (and if anyone gave a shit about the NHL, Bobby Orr).