When the Game Was Ours - Larry Bird [99]
"Hey," Bird said. "Did you fall asleep?"
"Larry," Walton answered, "we are world champions. How do you expect me to sleep?"
Just as they had done the previous fall, Bird and Magic filmed another Converse ad in September, this time in conjunction with Isiah Thomas, McHale, Mark Aguirre, and Bernard King. The commercial, in which each player rapped a few lines that were both horribly corny and terrifically funny, opened with Magic holding his yellow-and-purple Converse shoe and rapping, "The Converse weapon, that's the shoe. Lets Magic do what he was born to do." From there Isiah, then McHale, then Aguirre, then Bernard King described what the shoe did for them. King's rap of "What can the Weapon do for the King? Why, I can do just about anything," was followed by a bubbly Bird who declared, "You already know what they did for me."
The collection of NBA players asked in unison, "What?"
"I walked away with the MVP!" said Bird, cradling his trophy and beaming like a Hollywood star.
No wonder Bird was so happy. At the time, he was a reigning NBA champion who was recognized as the best player in the league and had the hardware to prove it.
Within a year, the smile, the trophy, and the championship would be gone. His endorsement partner Magic Johnson would pilfer all three of them.
8. JUNE 9, 1987
Boston, Massachusetts
LARRY BIRD WAS OPEN, and there was nothing Magic Johnson could do about it.
The ball had swung around from one Celtics threat to the next, from Dennis Johnson to Danny Ainge and then, in the deep left corner, to Bird, the basketball player Magic feared most.
How could Bird be left alone like that, even for a second? Later, watching film, Magic would see that, a moment before, James Worthy had yanked Bird's number 33 jersey to prevent him from wriggling free. Had the referee spotted him it would have been a foul, but Worthy surmised correctly that the officials were concentrating on the top of the key, where D.J. was holding the ball. When D.J. passed it to Ainge on the left elbow, Worthy did what he was supposed to do: he rotated to put a hand in the face of Boston's young shooter. Ainge saw him coming and dumped the ball to Bird in the corner.
Lakers big man Mychal Thompson, a newcomer to this rivalry, was a sliver late in reacting. He knew instantly that his hesitation had cost him, so he charged to the baseline, his arms outstretched, in an urgent attempt to disrupt the sniper from hitting his mark. As Thompson lunged toward Bird, he looked for some indication that the forward was off-balance, or rushed, or distracted.
"There was none of that," Thompson said. "He was cold, lifeless. Like a shark."
Bird's shot was perfect—a dead-on three-pointer that instantaneously deflated the city of Los Angeles, as well as the proud franchise that bears its name. The Celtics, down 2–1 in the 1987 NBA Finals to the Lakers, had just gone ahead by two points with 12 seconds left, and it was all too familiar. As Magic jogged to the sidelines, trying to ignore the uproarious reaction of the Boston Garden fans, his temper flared.
"How could you leave him alone?" Magic berated his teammates in the huddle. "Everyone in the building knew he was taking that shot. Did any of you actually doubt he could hit it?"
No one responded. Magic surveyed their expressions and understood he needed to move on—quickly. "If we dwelled on the sting of Bird making that shot," he said, "we were going to lose."
Johnson thumped his hands together and changed his tone. "C'mon, fellas," he said, "plenty of time."
Coach Pat Riley drew them close in the huddle. The Lakers championship in 1985 had exorcised the doubt from 1984, and the coach detected a resolve in Magic that hadn't been present three seasons earlier. There was no hint of panic from him in the huddle. The young buck had grown up.
"Run 'fist,'" Riley told Magic as the Lakers returned to the parquet.
LA's patented "fist" play called for three Laker players to clear out while Johnson brought the ball up the left side of the floor with Ka-reem Abdul-Jabbar establishing