When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [55]
The arrival of Bird and Magic also fortuitously occurred at the same time cable television overtook the sports market. For years most viewers had three networks and one local station to choose from. With the advent of networks like Fox, which tied its success to televising NFL football, the landscape changed dramatically. In the meantime, a fledgling network based in Bristol, Connecticut, called ESPN, believed it could make a business out of a 24-hour sports channel. Stern was initially skeptical, but the NBA's relationship with ESPN blossomed as the network grew.
When Stern began looking to upgrade the NBA's entertainment division, he hired Ed Desser, the executive producer of California Sports, and queried him on how to package a highlight show, what constituted a compelling pregame lead-in, and which camera angles were most viewer-friendly.
In 1982 the NBA couldn't afford to buy a 30-second spot to promote its Saturday games on CBS and was dependent on the network for a "charity promo" on Thursday nights. As Johnson and Bird rejuvenated the fortunes of NBA franchises, the network was happy to use them as their advertising hook. It was "Come see Magic and the Lakers and Larry and the Celtics," a marketing strategy that did not sit well with the new commissioner.
"I was happy for the publicity," Stern said, "but I didn't think it was so fair to Kareem and McHale and Parish and Worthy."
The rest of the league understood why it worked. Doug Collins, an NBA player, coach, and broadcaster, said Bird and Magic added a new wrinkle to competition. It was no longer who could score the most points, but who could make the better pass, or whose team could win more championships.
"Having two team-oriented superstars like them really helped save our game," said Collins.
Hubie Brown's Atlanta Hawks went to the playoffs three straight seasons, but their only sellouts were against Philadelphia, Boston, and Los Angeles. It was no coincidence that those teams featured Dr. J, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson.
"In the mid-eighties, Larry and Magic were the two 'must-see' guys on your schedule," Brown said. "And we were in no position to say anything but, 'Great. We'll take it.'"
The explosion of the television market, combined with the drama of Magic and Bird, attracted a new generation of viewers. In 1979 the league's four-year deal with CBS was worth $74 million. By 2002 the league had inked a six-year deal with ABC, ESPN, and TNT valued at $4.6 billion.
There were other factors that fueled the growth of the league, among them Stern's push for top-notch arenas with luxury suites, which proved to be a valuable source of revenue, and his globalization of the game.
Stern, whose unquenchable thirst for new frontiers has come to define him, plunged into the international market. He attended sporting goods conferences in Munich and Milan. He developed relationships with European professional basketball teams and asked them about the structure of their league, their television contracts, the talent level of their players, and their facilities.
He visited Israel, Africa, Mexico, and China. Stern scheduled exhibition games overseas and worked closely with the Olympic committee to lay the groundwork for NBA players to be eligible to participate in the Games. He developed a strong relationship with FIBA (the French acronym for Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur), the international governing body, paving the way for foreign players to play in the NBA. That led to untapped marketing dollars worldwide.
"But all that was possible because of Magic and Larry," Collins said. "It started with them. They captured the imagination of the entire basketball world. People ask me all the time which one was better. My answer is, 'Flip a coin.' If you win and I pick second, I wouldn't have lost. You couldn't possibly lose with those two."
In the spring of 1984, ten-year-old Derek Fisher plunked himself in front of his television set in Little Rock, Arkansas, and watched the most