When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [45]
Johnson played through all of it, recording a triple-double (20 points, 16 assists, and 10 rebounds) and leading the Lakers in a 136–116 blowout win. By the end of the game, the boos had subsided, but it would be a long time before Johnson forgot them—or the lack of support he received from his own bench.
"The worst part about it was my teammates," Magic said. "They hung me out to dry. None of them backed me up. Coop was the only guy. He wasn't in a position to do it publicly, but he did it privately. The rest of them couldn't be bothered, and I took it personally.
"It made me realize who I was dealing with. I thought, 'Okay, I guess this is what they mean when they say it is a business.'"
For the next month, Magic's life on the road was miserable. He was the resident NBA bad guy, the spoiled, petulant coach killer, and nothing he could do or say would alter that image. At first, the adversarial reception was upsetting, but after a while it was merely another source of motivation.
Bird was puzzled by the national furor. Magic was averaging double figures in assists. How could anyone call him selfish or spoiled? "I felt kinda bad for him," Bird said.
After Riley took over, the Lakers won 17 of their next 20 games. He rejuvenated the Lakers' transition game and spread the wealth among his major offensive weapons. Six players averaged double figures in 1981–82, including Magic. Riley took a conciliatory tack, asking his players for input and admitting freely he was learning on the job. Johnson became his confidant, and his friend.
Eventually Magic's world was realigned. He was back in the fans' good graces, the team was playing up-tempo again, and his new coach was about to embark on a meteoric career path. The team breezed to the Finals and awaited an Eastern opponent.
"I was hoping for the Celtics," Magic said.
The 1982 Sixers avenged the previous year's playoff loss to the Celtics by clinching the Eastern Conference Championship on the hallowed Boston Garden parquet. As Philadelphia closed out the win, Boston's fans urged Dr. J and his club, "Beat LA! Beat LA!"
Magic, watching on television from Los Angeles, merely smiled. So did Riley, his new coach.
"I just felt, after all we'd been through that season, our guys were ready for anything," Riley said.
The Lakers beat the Sixers to win the 1982 NBA Championship, and Johnson was named the Finals MVP with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists in the clincher. Asked which of his two NBA titles was sweeter, Magic slung his arm around Cooper and said, "Any championship is special."
Long after the crowd thinned, Magic recapped the tumultuous events of the 1981–82 season with his father. It had been a grueling year, one that made him realize that winning was fleeting and team chemistry was fragile. He believed the Lakers had the talent to be good for the long haul, but he worried that egos and contracts would get in the way.
There was also the matter of Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.
"One of these times," Magic said to his father, "you just know we're going to see them."
4. JANUARY 31, 1982
East Rutherford, New Jersey
THE 1982 NBA ALL-STAR GAME seemed to have all the trappings of an entertainment bonanza. The East squad featured three members of the 1981 World Champion Boston Celtics, with forward Larry Bird as the headliner, and the West squad boasted three members of the Los Angeles Lakers, including Magic Johnson, who had spurred his team on to the title in 1980 and would win another for them later that spring.
It should have been an easy sell: Celtics and Lakers! Magic and Larry! East versus West! Come watch the battle of the stars!
Except that, in 1982, nobody was buying it. Although the Lakers-Celtics rivalry had begun percolating again, the two teams had not yet met head-to-head in the Finals, and while