When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [0]
Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson Jr.
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With Jackie MacMullan
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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT
BOSTON • NEW YORK • 2009
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For our fans
—LARRY BIRD AND EARVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON JR.
To my parents, Margarethe and Fred MacMullan,
who taught me anything was possible
—JACKIE MACMULLAN
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Copyright © 2009 Magic Johnson Enterprises and Larry Bird
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,
write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.
www.hmhbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bird, Larry, date.
When the game was ours / Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson Jr.
with Jackie MacMullan.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-547-22547-0
1. Bird, Larry, date 2. Johnson, Earvin, date 3. Basketball players—United
States—Biography. 4. Basketball—United States—History. I. Johnson, Earvin,
date II. MacMullan, Jackie. III. Title.
GV884.A1B47 2009
796.3230922—dc22 [B] 2009020839
Book design by Brian Moore
Printed in the United States of America
DOC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Introduction
from LARRY
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, the only thing I cared about was beating my brothers. Mark and Mike were older than me and that meant they were bigger, stronger, and better—in basketball, baseball, everything.
They pushed me. They drove me. I wanted to beat them more than anything, more than anyone.
But I hadn't met Magic yet. Once I did, he was the one I had to beat. What I had with Magic went beyond brothers.
I never let on how much he dominated my thoughts during my playing days. I couldn't. But once we agreed to do this book, I knew it was finally time to let people in on my relationship with the person who motivated me like no other.
Our careers, right from the start, were headed down the same path. We played each other for the college national championship, and then went to the pros in exactly the same year. He was West Coast, I was East Coast, and both of us were playing for the two best NBA franchises of all time. You couldn't have made it up any better.
I didn't like how it went in the beginning. It was always Bird and Magic instead of the Celtics and Lakers, and that didn't seem right to me. We didn't even guard each other.
I did have incredible respect for Magic—more than anyone else I ever competed against. From the first time I saw him, I could see he approached the game the same way I did.
It's all about the competition, and that's what both of us shared. That's what we both thrived on. My teammates used to rip Magic all the time. They made fun of his smile, his "Showtime" routine. But when you got right down to it and asked them what they honestly thought, even they had to admit, "He's the best."
I didn't spend a whole lot of time comparing myself to him. We were two totally different players, with a few similarities. We both loved to pass the ball and keep our teammates involved. Neither one of us cared about scoring 50 points, although we both could have done that just about any time we wanted when we were at our best.
I'd watch highlights of Magic after a game and I'd say, "How did he do that?" He controlled the tempo of the game like nobody else I've ever seen. There were times when we played the Lakers and I'd be the only guy back on one of their 3-on-1 breaks. Even though I'm not that quick, I used to be able to read the point guard in those situations and have an idea of which way he was leaning. Not with Magic. I never had any idea what he was going to do with that ball.
We didn't like each other that much. It was too hard. We were trying to beat each other year after year, and people kept comparing us. I wanted what he had, so I didn't want to get to know him, because I knew I'd probably like him and then I'd lose my edge.
People think it all started with the NCAA championship in 1979. It didn't. We were teammates the summer before that in an international competition, and we made some incredible plays together.