When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [1]
In this book, we'll give you the inside story of our days leading up to the NCAA national championship, not what I call the "fish stories" that are out there. Through the years countless people who were on the fringe of our Indiana State team have been quoted about what I was doing or what I was thinking back then. I'm always amused by that, because I barely know them, which is why they never get the story right. People who have the least to do with the success of a team often have the most to say about it.
That's one of the reasons Magic and I decided to do this book together. For once, you can hear from us what we were feeling when we played against each other for the NCAA championship and those NBA championships. It's been an interesting ride, believe me.
It hasn't always been a smooth one either. When you are as competitive as the two of us are, there's going to be bad feelings along the way. I had them, and after doing this project, I've learned Magic had some too.
After years of battling each other, people couldn't think of one of us without the other. We were Frazier and Ali. When I retired, people asked me about him all the time. They'd say, "Is Magic okay? Have you seen him?" Even more than my own teammates. Nine times out of ten it was, "So what's Magic doing?" and one time out of ten it was, "What's McHale up to these days?"
It's hard to explain what it's like to be linked to someone like that. We didn't choose for it to be that way, it just happened. And now we're stuck with each other.
Once, a few years ago, I was driving down the road in my car and I got a call from a television reporter in Indianapolis. He asked me, "Have you heard the news?" I said, "What are you talking about?" He said, "Well, it isn't confirmed yet, but we've got a report that Magic Johnson died."
I almost went off the road. I got this pit in my stomach, and I really felt like I was going to lose it. I hung up and called Jill Leone, my agent, right away. She got on the phone with Lon Rosen, Magic's agent, and he told her it was a bad rumor, that Magic was fine. I called that TV guy back and said, "Don't you ever do that to me again."
People have been writing about Magic and me for years. Some of it they got right. Some of it they didn't. This is our story, from the two people who lived it.
When the Celtics and the Lakers played in the 2008 Finals, it brought back a lot of great memories for me. Those were the greatest times of my life, those battles with Magic and the Lakers. They were all I thought about. Nothing was sweeter than beating LA.
We fought like hell for the same thing for over 12 years, and through it all, the respect was always there. For the rest of our lives, we're connected.
I used to mind.
I don't anymore.
LARRY BIRD
Indianapolis, March 2009
* * *
from MAGIC
MY HIGH SCHOOL COACH George Fox used to tell me to never take my talent for granted.
"You're special, Earvin," Fox used to say. "But you can't stop working hard. Just remember—there's someone out there who is just as talented as you are, and he's working just as hard. Maybe even harder."
When Coach Fox told me those things, I'd nod my head, but in my mind I was thinking, "I'd like to meet this guy, because I haven't seen him." Truthfully? I wasn't sure anybody like that existed.
That changed the day in 1978 when I walked into a gym in Lexington, Kentucky, and met Larry Bird for the first time. Then I knew he was the guy Coach Fox was talking about.
Larry was a different kind of cat. He didn't say much, and he kept to himself. But, oh, could he play. I had never seen a player with his size pass the ball the way he did. Right away, we had chemistry. We played on the second team with a bunch of college All-Stars, and we just embarrassed the starters.
I knew I'd see him again, and I did—everywhere! When