When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [135]
"He came running after it with a big smile on his face," Bird said. "I threw it over his head. I don't know why I did that. He looked kind of ticked off. I guess I embarrassed him."
As Jordan prepared to play against Bird for the first time in his NBA rookie season, he sat in the Bulls locker room listening to veteran teammates Orlando Woolridge and Sid Green rev themselves up for the game. Woolridge's assignment was to check Bird, while Green would be guarding McHale.
"Larry Bird's not that good," Woolridge said. "He's slow. I can take him."
"Yeah, McHale's overrated too," Green added.
As Bird warmed up before the game, he approached Bulls coach Doug Collins.
"What's the record for an opposing player in this building?" Bird asked.
"Why, are you going for it?" Collins said.
"They messed up my tickets, so someone's got to pay," he said.
Forty-five minutes later, Bird and McHale had combined for 35 points and 28 rebounds in a routine Celtics victory.
"Larry absolutely destroyed us, but he never said a word," Jordan said. "He didn't have to."
One year later, Jordan hit a jump shot over Bird's outstretched hand and then, as he backpedaled on defense, told Larry, "Take that, All-Star."
"Come on, you little bitch, bring it back here," Bird said, then went down and drained a perimeter shot of his own.
"You know, you are the biggest prima donna I've ever seen," Jordan said.
"What the hell is a prima donna?" Bird asked.
In later years, Bird and Jordan collaborated on a number of McDonald's commercials and appeared together in the movie Space Jam alongside Bill Murray and Bugs Bunny. The groundwork for their friendship was laid in Barcelona, around a pool table, a conversation, and a couple of beers.
While Jordan and Magic ventured out to watch track and field, swimming, and women's basketball during their free time, Bird limited his activities because it was too difficult for him to sit in the stands. He also dreaded walking through the front entrance of the hotel, where hundreds of fans kept a vigil around the clock, patiently awaiting a Dream Team sighting.
One morning as Bird stood in the lobby, warily taking stock of the crowd, he asked the security guard, "Is there any other way out?"
The guard directed him to a side door that led to a vacant street. Bird jammed a baseball cap over his head, slipped out the exit, hopped on the subway, and went to the U.S. baseball game. He walked in with a small group of Americans who had ridden the subway with him and took turns buying beers at the concession stand. Bird happily talked balls and strikes, Major League Baseball, and even a little Dream Team gossip with his new friends. When the game ended, one hopeful fan said, "See you tomorrow, Larry?"
"You bet," he answered, and showed up the next day with his wife Dinah.
Bird appeared back in the hotel lobby the same time as Magic, who, flanked by four security guards with machine guns, was preparing to go to the boxing venue. For a moment, Bird considered telling Magic about his little side door, but then thought better of it.
"He was having fun doing it his way," Bird said.
Magic awoke each morning to a full docket of plans, whether it was a media interview, pushing baby E.J. in his carriage, an Oscar de la Hoya boxing match, or yet another act of charity.
One year earlier, Johnson and the Lakers had played in the McDonald's Open in Paris during the exhibition season, and the Make-a-Wish Foundation had asked Magic if he would meet with a seriously ill young European boy. Magic agreed, but the boy was so sick that the meeting had to be canceled. The boy was feeling stronger when the Dream Team arrived in Barcelona, but the Make-a-Wish Foundation hesitated to ask Magic to spare some time in the middle of the Olympic competition.
"I can always find time for kids," Magic answered. He took the boy to lunch, played video games with him for hours, and invited him to visit the locker room that housed the best players in the world. The boy died three months later, his own Olympic dream fulfilled.
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