Earvin "Magic" Johnson (The Greatest Point Guard Ever to Play The Game) NBA Legends

[Music] a television screen from here to Bangor Maine greatest point guard to ever play the game is here super legend the point guard ever to play the game of basketball normally when every special guess it could be anyone but this time it really is especially yes that's right mister Magic Johnson was the best point guard of the 1980s Isiah I will have to save Magic Johnson number one Magic Johnson Magic Johnson a six nine lead part [Music] [Applause] he's only got ever seen we'll look at a guy time measure for speed measure his distance look away for about three seconds look you off and then hit that guy in the dime without everything [Music] everybody wants to be mad everybody wanted to go out there and throw your pants and pass and he wants to win so bad but he always had fun she's always smiling he always appealed to the crowd he always wanted to be in it because he needed us with the teams get off seven feet smart in that aspect if I could do that then I'll be on my way if I can learn how to give an assist in their play to the crowd and get the crowd involved then I think that's what it's all about I could remember back in the day when I used to watch this a male would love to play against him and he was retiring when I got into the NBA and when he came back I thought that it was wonderful it was amazing that I was actually out on the floor at the same time as he was he was having the basketball I mean this is like a dream come true I couldn't really talk to him it was almost like he's talking to me and I was just in my house like wide opening it was like okay yeah and I don't even know if I even hear what he said but I was just watching mouths going out they okay got these stopped as I went off unbelievable I mean when you finally see somebody for the first time that you really love this appreciated your entire life you meet them for the first time I mean it's like a total shock let me feel great because there was my idol going up I mean he was the guy that I really wanted to be like he was the guy that just set the tone for guys like myself to come into the game and play point guard being over 65 I just telling him that it was just great to be out on the floor at the same time probably already guessed that we were going to put magic at number one since he's the only point guard that showed up on our top 10 greatest players of all time list and was good reason though the 15 point guard related stats and analytics we looked at as mentioned in the outset magic is top 20 and 13 of them and top 10 and eight on top of that he want five championships is a three-time MVP and two times Finals MVP he's number five all-time and total assists number one in assists per game for the regular season and the playoffs number five and assists percentage number three an offensive rating number one in offensive rating for the playoffs and has a fifth most win shares for the playoffs in Indy history those achievements are amazing playing alongside other Hall of Fame players like Kareem abdul-jabbar and James Worthy magic could have blended into the scenery and let his teammates run the show instead he had the greatness to stand out among those players and established himself as the leader of the team his size mobility and ball handling skills made him one of the most complete players ever proof of this is the fact that he's second only to Oscar Robertson and triple-doubles [Music] this guy's a freak of nature 6:9 and handle the ball way to handle it Magic Johnson had tremendous basketball intelligence like a great base runner knowing as he comes around first base why this can be a triple and not a double he just sees the whole series of possibilities in front of him I could never get him hit the head on purpose and crisis just to show me that I can get the ball to if you wanted open up that eye on the side of her head he brought the playground back into basketball high five and jumping up and down and joined everything wanting to get the people involved in the game it's just refreshing to have anybody that comes along with that type of enthusiasm that love for the game and you can't help but get caught up in that he had to have fun it's gotta be fun to him I couldn't just all be working drudgery and being serious I mean he was the most serious fun person I have ever been around in my life Mervin being the point guard knew that he had to conduct that team when they were down he had to psych them up when they were too high he had to bring him down he was really a coach on the court Magic Johnson was different and it was evident and clear when he had the ball that things were going on that people hadn't seen he can do anything on the basketball court he could be a powerful could be the world's tallest point guard he could be the world's shortest seven-foot Center if you go to the worst seat in the arena there's only a few that reach that high Magic Johnson reaches all the way to that top road I believe I was the second best point guard at that error but Magic Johnson was the best point guard in my opinion Tapper play who are guys just quick off the top of your head that you compete against at the point guard that you felt you guys were so great they just didn't get there just do I would say in in the 80s for for a short period of time Keeks I thought Mark Price had a run in this league for about two years or so there was just about as good as anybody you definitely mo cheeks Gus Williams I have one time tiny Archibald was still you know it is you know by saying all that saying all that there was to it none of them were like magic right not none of us for you none of us were like magic during his 13-year NBA career magic accumulated three MVP awards three Finals MVP awards ten all-nba first team selections five championships and twelve all-star appearances Magic Johnson is fifth all-time and total assists not bad for what most would define as a short career 18th all time in steals and first all-time in assists per game Magic Johnson had an amazing career and is perhaps the greatest point guard of all time depending on who you ask he was born in Lansing Michigan Christine and urban Johnson in 1959 one of 10 children his legend grew from playing on the playgrounds cuz they have I will see this kid come off man he complained and they tell somebody else and then it just got all over town and they start looking for him and asking for him let's play let's play in 1974 Ervin took his playground game to Everett high school I could see the greatness of Vernon Johnson he was about 14 years old coming into high school once we got in a game he would always include everybody he wanted to win and meant if he had to score 50 he would but if he had to score 20 and get everybody else involved that's the greatness ayah that I appreciated in his first season Johnson pulled the Everett Vikings out of the doldrums of losing basketball as they became state championship contenders for the first time in the process he became the darling of the press a guy came in and said oh I gotta give you a nickname anything like this and I said I'm 15 now I started giggling oh my boy they giggling - yeah okay so he says somebody's called dr. dey somebody has the name biggie say can I call you magic idea right so the next day in the paper back home Earvin Magic Johnson it is senior year magic averaged 29 points and let Everett to where it had never gone for this team Everett high school who really didn't have a history of basketball to win the state title you know it was just like who's every and all sudden here they are and beaten this couldn't be stopped it's very good there's no question about it actually I thought he's probably the best guard on the team we didn't get to play a lot but you could tell I think our first game within Kentucky we got about a 10 12 point lead and they put us in went to 2530 just that fast [Applause] take us out the lead go back down put us back in that's Bird Johnson the show start again as a youngster Irvin displayed his own strong work ethic on the blacktop I was out there day before we went to school bus leave at 7:00 7:30 hours I said 6:00 6:30 working on my game my mother sometimes had to bring me food or she would have one of my brothers and sister go get that boy so he could eat something from a very young age Irvin knew what he wanted to do he had all planned out my dream for the plan MBA and become a businessman but for neighborhood basketball powerhouse Sexton high I knew the players I knew the tradition I wanted to be a part of that and it was on the west side of town which was at that time predominantly black but when lansing like many cities in the mid 70s began busing to desegregated school system Ervin's journey took an unexpected detour to a predominantly white school across town my first day at Everett high school was my first time I really had to understand there was a race problem nobody why would speak to anybody black and nobody black was big to me by the way a lot of racial tension a lot of fights rioting they didn't want minorities there he kind of shrugged it off and basically his attitude was okay well I'll overcome this whenever there was any racial problems the principal would get her button and go talk to these kids I can just see with his big hands calm down just calm down he'd break up fights talk with his friends telling you know let it go we know we can't fight about everything let's just chill let's play basketball and there was no dispute over urban Johnson's ability to play ball his talent was so great that soon after his varsity debut a local reporter dazzled by his exploits gave the budding star a nickname in the beginning I thought it was foolish enough you know I didn't know not about a nickname then what happened was you start saying wait a minute it fits my game hanging out with my boys on the street corners we used to sing temptation song they start saying hey man that's cool and then people in the streets are saying hey magic and I said hmm he bought into it and I think he felt he had to kind of live up to that name and I must say that he did his senior year Johnson did it Everett what he had planned to do with Sexton win the state championship recruited by over a hundred schools nationwide a hometown hero stayed put Michigan State he wanted to be a guard from day one even though he was six eight this first game he sports seven points and had seven turnovers and there were people that said well Judd is ruining Magic Johnson playing him out of position but magic quickly adjusted to his new position and by midseason the Spartans stood in the glare of the national spotlight that's what I remember about Michigan State the fact that we got chance to change college basketball innocence and we did it with style we had an unbelievable basketball i.q he was the the leader he was a take-charge guy from the day we walked on the cornice somebody else when y'all throw it up this is for the homies side y'all throw it up for my thirties in the Midwest yeah I know it up put it filthy ride south yeah I know yourself two dollar signs up stop playing games get your ball [ __ ] paper Danny means man it's a house long gang stuff whatever it takes did you scramble long babe bro seconds Tony days many days you know you got great hair as Michigan State's resident basketball genius magic had clearly found a new home he also found cookie his future wife we totally fell in love at first sight I had a boyfriend at the time and when I decided to go to Michigan State he's no you can't go to Michigan State I'm like you know he's like you're gonna meet magic you're gonna meet magic a mirror and that's the truth that's a true story and I at the time he had the whole world he came to different people when he was with me he was urban but the minute we stepped outside that door he became magic I mean magic was his stage name even he would laugh about it [Music] well he always says there's two people whose urban Johnson from East Lansing and there's Magic Johnson from Hollywood is another guy you know he is Magic over here fun-loving guy never saw aren't you going to distress him I don't stress stretching's for show-offs my ball plan doesn't talking for me so you know when I was in college one time I was watching the game on TV they had this home box office thing and I turned on this game they were playing against Russia and I just watched her magic playing I go oh my god that's the best player I've ever seen playing because I didn't follow basketball he was a sophomore at the time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I remember telling Fran demise they're gonna win the NCAA championship this year well we go all the way through undefeated and there's magic standing there it's just like it was made to happen on the night of March 26 1979 it was the NCAA Championship Indiana State vs Michigan State a game that still ranks as the highest rated college final ever on television a game that's now remembered as a prologue to a rivalry that transformed a sport and intertwine two legacies but on that night March 26 1979 the first time Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ever went head-to-head on a basketball court they were simply two young men trying to win a very big ballgame the biggest game I ever played in my life and I just feel like you know I'm representing not only myself my team but we're representing our school or in our town Terre Haute was a dream come true really for me on I want to state the title back in my home state and then my next accomplishment was going to the NCAA and planning a game like tonight in the finals they were two stars thrown together by the cosmos to compete everything was written with burgers magic magic versus bird that whole thing and and it wasn't Indiana State vs Michigan State anymore it was it was lab versus Magic Johnson Larry Bird had become alongside Magic Johnson the talk of college basketball I imagine want to be friends with Larry Bird he wanted to be friends with them in the world an invitational tournament and Larry just wasn't very receptive I think he wanted to be friends with him during the Final Four Larry wouldn't even go over and shake his hand so now magic saying well what's with this guy everybody loves me how come you don't love me just a year after sharing the court on Team USA they were back together and the day before the big game magic couldn't wait to greet his old playmate in the air state was on practicing and we were waiting in a tunnel we got there early I wanted to definitely say hello to Larry you know when they came through it was like nobody was saying that I wanted to go toward him like his guys like made sure that he didn't say none and then they kind of start snickering like Michigan State are you in trouble we're gonna kill you guys tomorrow that just said it's on now I mean let's face it if Larry Bird were black and came through Chicago it wouldn't have been as big a deal they were they were polar opposites one black one white one outgoing one shy that was the charm of the attraction heading into the tournament magic was the bigger star but by tip-off it was bird having hardly missed a shot in the semi-final would become the focus a fans and more importantly of Michigan State we actually had two men on Larry everywhere he went surprised didn't play a box on one you know four guys on Larry and one on the other four because that's they didn't have a lot of talent you know if you stop Larry you pretty much stop them I didn't play well at all biggest game of my life and in play well I think our lint and our size our jumping ability was able to bother him [Applause] and she well missed think three free-throws Larry Bird has had a cold shooting night I battled them but I didn't have it [Music] [Applause] magic not only we're here leader on offense I thought you did a great job on Larry Bird in the zone tonight in the ball he has a coach gave him a good game plan the goal gives Larry Bird all we had to do is go out and do it that's what we've done congratulations super ballgame it was over you know that was my four years I was done it still hurts and when you win 33 in a row and you walk into the game you know you never know what to expect but I expect to win we didn't win toughest loss ever took I knew it what's going on to him forever because we were gonna see each other a lot in college when we met for the 1979 NCAA championship you know I had a real dislike for Larry the vibe was nasty was ugly was so we didn't like each other magic were you inclined early on to become friends with this guy because you were drawn to him because of his basketball abilities was we did you want to be friends with him from the beginning from the beginning I wanted to be friends but Larry didn't want none of that they had some wonderful moments on the court but they probably spoke to each other for maybe five times during that entire time period and and it was more like hello how are you this morning Larry I'm good magic what'd you have for breakfast don't remember have a nice day but such curtness was hardly strange coming from Larry Bird I'm the one who did all that tell you truth it was I just want to be hanging around him I mean that's my main competition I think he was a mystery to the extent that that that he wanted to be a mystery he didn't enjoy doing interviews he didn't go out of his way to do them he wasn't particularly good at him he was kind of like hey this is who I am you wanna know who I am watch the game and so I said okay that's how it's gonna be then we have to be like you don't like me fine all right good I don't like you either disliking him too but you know he told me that you know I smiled all the time and he knew that I I will smile at you but I want to cut your heart out at the same time so he knew that that was part of my strategy to gets him lure him in as much he didn't want to show demonstrated any weakness by becoming your friend now did you feel what his advances to being a friend and you just rejected them you were not interesting didn't like him I mean what was what was your side of that not like one mole girlfriends say advance is like a little scared I probably did snubbing and I don't remember it but I'm sure I did I didn't want any you know like I call it love fest hugging and slapping high fives with opponent you're there for a reason you're there to win a game you know my fame was when you compete you're really not friends you want to keep an edge he wanted to be the Wizard of Oz he wanted to intimidate people and keep them at bay further we are away from each other the more I like I was like that through high school and through college but Irving is an outgoing guy he loves everybody wants to high-five and you know he got that big big smile my goal was the tide take three of them teeth home with Indiana Michigan aided by forward Greg Kell sir magic led the Spartans into the Final Four at the beginning of the game did you meet Ervin there why do you do you remember trying to talk to Larry before the game nope yeah you had learned your lesson I learned my lesson and at that time he was going after something I wanted bad and I was going after something he wanted bad so we didn't want to talk we wanted to get it on meanwhile across the southern state line Larry Bird's sycamores of Indiana State savored their unbeaten season we were totally shocked then we watched him all year long coming along and we kind of thought you know well as soon as they get to the tournament then we'll find out the real thing and then somehow they just kept winning Michigan State wasn't a dropkick then either I mean back then it was believed that magic was great but oh he couldn't shoot and so it wasn't a foregone conclusion that we'd see magic and Larry in the final and then the unlikely occurred magic and bird would meet for the national title their differences were striking when Larry Bird played against Magic Johnson in the 1979 NCAA finals you would have thought that there couldn't be two people less alike in the world I did not like labor he didn't like me because we were both going after the same thing I want to be the best and he wanted to be the best so it's like two old gunslingers saying meet me out front and you know only one could survive all of a sudden you had a college basketball game it felt like a heavyweight championship fight this thing picked up momentum picked up momentum and and here you had this jazzy kid from East Lansing and the hick from French Lick and and one kid with a team of four players that you knew wouldn't be able to get a pickup game soon as the turbos over and then this this team that that had to be flashy because they had to keep up with magic it was ali/frazier it's it's it's all it was as it turned out they were company and ivory twins they were they were the same guy they were a small town guys who grew up on their local hard courts where they could spend five hours seven hours a day just playing basketball and the only thing that cared about was winning the game we're mirrors of each other I'm a smile a little bit more but the way we play the game a basketball was exactly the same because we would do anything to win we didn't care about scoring points we cared about winning the game and making our teammates better magic flew over the Sycamores scoring 24 points while a beleaguered burg remained on the ground magic had a tremendous advantage of guards of that era and even the guards of today is that he could see the whole court he can see over people because of his height and then his great ability to handle the ball and pass he could just do more things because he was a 6/8 point guard magic was his mind ball to me he hit the ball off the board and dribble it up and make the play it seemed like he had his hand in everything [Applause] [Music] that was a similar game it brought a lot of non-college fans to the game who then became college basketball fans I've got a chance of turning Michigan State around and make him a basketball power we were not winning the national championship they was the best team in college basketball at that time we knew he's gonna play against a great team Michigan State as I watch small film I knew it's gonna be the best team we played against all year but when in 33 games in a row you know you sort of take teams lied at the n-c-double-a championship is there right what did that it was like a 10-point loss am i right Larry well thank you Dave yeah felt more more like a 20-point loss but you know when you're out there playing and you get started in these games sometimes go oh these guys are pretty good right and I had that feeling at halftime that these guys were too much I don't know mentally if I just prepared as I should have been for that game because I mean I didn't have a good game I shot like seven for 20 from the field and you know our team too relied on me to score so if I had a week to go back on papi that we prepare and get ready for that game what did losing that championship mean to you and how did it affect it's the toughest one I've ever taken because you know you had all your friends you're at a college it's really when you step away from home I felt in Indiana State they accepted me brought me in it was tough and it's still tough but today and he couldn't escape the memory of losing to him in 1979 oh it ate at him bad that he didn't win that national title against magic there was something just burning it was one thing for them to be in the 79 championship magichead the better team everybody agreed with that about you magic what did winning that title mean for you well you know you just heard him it's still tough going after the NCAA somebody else would have just been happy with winning that and just loaded on that and he you know he took him that long to say okay take this place to the next level with a stage set for a new era two players would dominate national attention for the next decade the Magic Bird game change the NBA and colleges that made the Final Four so popular because that's where the show was going next and it was magic leading the way it was big then because it was the highest rated college basketball game of all time if you wrote this scripted to shave but in real life we really embraced it loved it believed needed that the NBA at the time struggling doesn't begin to describe where the NBA was we hoped the glow that attached to their season would attach to us the rumors were fast he was the number one pick of the LA Lakers they drafted Magic Johnson and they flew him out to Los Angeles so it was going to be the first time that my dad ever met him he came to our house he rang the doorbell I had the honor of opening the door and here was this kid with this smile that just blew you away so I escorted him and Bill Sharman into the house and asked them if they'd like something to drink made some small talk and magic said you know I'm really happy that I was drafted by the Lakers and I'm gonna play here for three years and then I'm gonna go play for the Detroit Pistons because that's where I'm from like my life I bawled you out of my head I couldn't believe what he said and you know and you gotta imagine I was 17 and magics 19 I mean we're very close in age he's just another teenager to me and but he had this command and this vision of exactly who he was and what he you know what he loved doing and I wait this isn't the plan so I ran upstairs to talk to my dad and say you know he just told me that he's gonna play for three years and then he's gonna leave and my dad didn't miss a beat didn't even stop what he was doing he said you know as soon as he puts on a Lakers uniform I walked out on that floor he's never going [Music] what tripped me out was I'm riding right I'm riding in a limo I'm seeing orange trees and lemon trees in people's front yards just stop I gotta go pick up orange are you crazy I said no I gotta do this and so I ran up like a like a scared little kid grabbed it all back to little more I've never seen an orange tree I've never seen a lemon tree I was fascinated when 20 year-old Earvin Johnson arrived in Los Angeles in the fall of 1979 he was a world away from Lansing the only home he'd ever known [Applause] [Music] the Lakers needed a player that was a leader they needed a rebounder and they got him one player he was a breath of fresh air I think when he saw this kid out there he was a kid with this enormous amount of energy I think it rejuvenated his interesting game it was a wonderful combination probably needed the burden relieved from him out there every night had by himself he came at the perfect time for my career because I had lost a lot of enthusiasm his skill and expertise is what the team is like we improved so much and made it easy for me to smile there was something magnetic about this not only is played but that smile personality he did everything right magic took the once two-spirited Lakers into the 1980 Finals versus the 76ers but when an injury knock Kareem abdul-jabbar out of Game five it appeared the Lakers 3-2 advantage was over that it what it is as far as I was concerned the it was not his ability or his size the it was his attitude was his leadership was his mind I mean I don't have to talk about Game six at Philadelphia Jake Johnson well sure in his rookie season magic had helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers I think the Sixers win without cream so you could play magic at center you compete winning was the last thing on our mind so when we come out to the center court magic steps into Center and I think it shocked Philadelphia in Game six with an injured abdul-jabbar back home in LA Magic played all five positions scored 42 points grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out 7 assists magic played brilliantly dealing 7 assists grabbing 15 rebounds and scoring a season-high 42 points the Lakers won their first NBA title in eight years finally one of the greatest of all time 42 points you shot the hook shot a jump shot he broke through the basket he dropped a couple shots I've never liked Magic Johnson off here's a guy that should have stayed in college in javanese college the great at least certainly made a believer out of me haven't seen you play that much you're absolutely fantastic I believe Kareem not playing was the worst thing that could have happened to 76ers in that series in just four years he'd won titles in high school college and the pros you know I just did what I did and I did it to win I I'm so happy that every stage of my career I want championships high school college MBA and then the main thing is making my teammates better you know coming down man wasn't nothing like coming down on that fast break looking left going right you know and hearing a crowd scream across the masthead of the Los Angeles Times the next day it said [Music] FUBU whatever took for the team and if it meant getting rebounds going points getting assists if you would do it you get to the pros Larry has this incredible year but there he is watching in a club while Magic Johnson wins a championship and he's thinking all right I'm behind tuna nothing now I watched that game and I couldn't believe it I always want to play at that level but what bird couldn't possibly have known was that he had inspired magics performance when he was named Rookie of the Year earlier that same day the PR person from the Lakers says hey Irvin the Rookie of the Year voting has come out a magic says okay well who won he said well Larry Bird won and magic says well was it close and he said oh no he went out that day yes to try to win the NBA championship but also to prove it 2-1 Larry Bird you know what I should have been Rookie of the Year even though I won the championship I still want to win wicker you too he won that championship I was pissed I wanted one but even after he had won one the next year his obsession only grew deeper I'd get up in the mornings and see what he did because her games came on late then you look at the box score I had to have him there for some reason it's like a crutch spike and compared myself to I hate it what was being said that Larry was better than me and I'm just a guy who can control the game my first four or five years that bothered me a lot I didn't tell nobody it bothered me but it did he was a star when he first arrived here coming off the NC to a game and quickly during that first season he became one of these stars in town but that game put him on another level that made him the star in town [Music] it's funny how I wanted to meet the celebrities but they wanted to meet me I was like shocked he was young famous and after Lakers owner Jerry Buss signed him to a 25 year twenty five million dollar contract very rich the kid from Lansing was ready to sample a different kind of fruit his playboy boss knew all the ripe his trees I say oh I'm hanging with him when they were coming into the box and he had 10 20 of them and look which one you want oh okay it's like that then he said I'm gonna take you to the Playboy Mansion what no you kid so I went there and my first time I'm backing up like I can't believe me but I'm backing up away you know it's like I'm scared to death probably ten guys to a hundred women you know everybody think is sex driven but it's really not you you you have dinner then you watch the latest movie and then of course I don't want to ever say that sex wasn't involved if you meet somebody and that's what you know you wanted to do you did that but it's really a great experience to go up there so yeah I had fun there but part of sports and in connection with the celebrity culture and magic was perfect for it he was a born star with that wonderful smile and that it knows how to work the house magic knows how to work an audience magic magic is a showman [Laughter] so it's kind of like a very chic thing to do all the top agents all the top stars all the top producers you'd look around that court courtside and it was a real scene among the famous faces in the crowd were Bruce Willis and Don Johnson Bruce was starring and moonlighting while Don had one of the biggest hits of the decade Miami Vice all so far the scene was John Travolta he was coming off the 70s disco hit Saturday Night Fever and starring in the 80s follow up stayin alive Charlie Sheen had a spot on celebrity row he was in the quintessential 80s film Wall Street where it was said that read is good and through it all there was Jack Nicholson after going crazy and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Jack was calmly sitting courtside after the shining Matt Johnson was the key that turned the engine that ran that force that went up and down the Hollywood Hills [Music] some razzle dazzle a Showtime team magic was perfect for that he was born for that playing in the form I guess like an audition of Holi I mean before I became a legend competing against their son when they step out on the court it was just instant entertainment he had to walk past rows of stretch limos and parking it was like Academy Awards every night every Hollywood celebrity wants to be a famous athlete it could happen only in Los Angeles where all the great stars came out all the time the whole LA deal you just knew it you just knew you were in the presence of greatness that's my that's my [ __ ] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he came to LA like the Pied Piper you know people were giving him this and giving him that but you know he stayed pretty grounded to the game everybody was getting high there but you can't even smoke her joint around Matt he had real old school down in the trenches work ethic and that was honed in him by his dad Earvin Johnson senior magic was always this guy you know he never did none of that so I did everything for him Magic Johnson was living on a natural high he was starring in the role of a lifetime point guard of a Hollywood team with an offense called Showtime Showtime but Johnson has a director and star of Showtime the Lakers captured five NBA titles for the 1980s competition drives me [Applause] [Music] competition makes me you know play this game competition makes me get out there practice five or six hours trying to be the best that I can be so time was coming down on the fast break looking left so time was you know coming down you know kicking it to somebody then they said now I don't have a shot kicking there's somebody up no I don't have keeping somebody up and finally somebody cooked but if anyone could dim showtimes dazzle it was Larry burden company three times in four years the NBA's two leading lights met in the finals and the heat generated by their rivalry was felt across the nation they're competitive dislike emerged from a greater truth but on the court they were doppelgangers team-oriented stars who cared about winning above all else basketball savants refused the substance of the 60s with the style of the 70s to create a new and exciting yet selfless way to play the game in the 1980s yeah I'm gonna pass but I'm gonna pass in a way to make you look like a jackass though we're so similar in the way they competed I mean if there were two halves of the same brain same craziness to excel I seen that first couple days I was with him basketball i.q off to charm scenic a little different most players plan a game the right way was everything a lot of guys can just score a lot of guys can just rebound a lot of guys can just make plays we can do it all Larry and magical control the game with 12 shots it was amazing maybe 7 for 12 they'd have 20 points 15 rebounds and 12 assists and you go I think I shot the ball 12 times was the best player on the court by far I think it was tough at first I don't think either one of them wanted to recognize if they had any equal anywhere in what they did but they sure as hell didn't want to recognize if they're equal happened to be that other guy that's why we hated each other too cuz we knew we were mirrors of each other I didn't for a while the two of them had they had to come to grips with that they had begun changing the game we were able to change not only basketball but we were able to change the NBA too when the NBA and CBS signed a new TV deal before the 8283 season the rescue plan was simple sell more burden magic and sell them not just as ball players but his arch rival characters in their own dramatic saga you got this slick Showtime african-american guy out west and you got the lunch bucket floppy-haired white guy with the bruises all over his body and central casting it's perfect I mean this was like made in heaven in 1979 this idea of magic and bird was created and so that was sort of a no-brainer we have a doubleheader it would be the Celtics plane first and the Lakers plane second and that's the way we did it and when the Celtics and Lakers both reached the finals just a year into the new TV deal in 1984 it appeared the superstar investment was about to pay off it was huge it was probably the biggest moment the NBA had up to that point you had Boston in LA East against West it had all the elements of a classic showdown including what was becoming the most inescapable element of all did we know that blacks and whites were lining up the whites with the south as the blacks were of course we knew that even in the Celtics own backyard they land at Logan Airport at the 84 Finals he's getting accosted by various people who were telling him Larry's gonna take him down but this one an older african-american gentleman cuz after he goes magic I want to wish you well good luck I want you to crush the cells cuz he said oh where are you from he said well I'm from Boston he said you're from Boston and you're rooting for the Lakers I thought everybody here was crazy about the Celtics and he looked right at me said now why would I root for those white boys Boston after all was a town still scarred by the ugly busing crisis of the mid 70s a violent period of urban unrest during which white had been pitted against black the resulting taint on the city nationally coupled with a Boston roster littered with white players a firm too many black Americans that the Celtics were not the team for them even the day people's that play with the Celtics team you know I hated you at that time you know I wanted magic to win I didn't want that damn Larry Bird to win we had all these black players but they looked at because we had Larry Bird leading us as a team that was why the Lakers and Celtics he kept fans attracted to it kept fans enthralled and the fact that that every time they were asked to perform a chicken bird really did only heightened it it was the East Coast versus the West Coast Celtic pride versus Laker tradition its bird versus magic the most hellacious competitors going at each other they'll kill each other whatever it takes to win magic always needed that we needed each other we made each other get better and better we made each other have to go practice in the summertime because I knew Larry Bird was shooting to three hundred jumpers of that so that made me have to do it this is this guy's gonna be a nag more thorn in my side for a long time there was something that made Larry Bird and Magic Johnson kindred spirits in their respect for the game their respect for the way it should be played the larry and magic rivalry taught the opinion of fans across the country one of them was the urban black kid from michigan and the other one was that you know when you're kicking country boy from Indiana I mean that was perfect that's central casting your person you measure yourself against all guys and all players have a opportunity to play in the championship and play against play with the Lakers ourselves then they then they understand what basketball really is they were perfect archetypes for what was becoming the biggest story in sports but for the real-life players the narrative was much simpler it's finally gonna happen we get to go head-to-head again it's just a matter of rolling that ball out there and let's get it on the NBA World Championship Series I'm Brent Musburger in each of the last four NBA World Championship Series either magic or bird has competed but this is the first time that the two have gone head-to-head for the time and we jumped out on that first game and we won in Boston and with less than a minute to go in Game two the Lakers were closing in on a commanding series lead [Applause] from that point on things began to crumble trying to work on Maxwell [Music] [Applause] cheesy Johnson drilling the time out the Lakers regained their stride in Game three only to be rudely knocked off it again in Game four [Applause] Kurt Rambis got taken out we start fighting instead of playing and it made us realize we were not mentally tougher than the Celtics Magic's just not himself [Applause] remember in places where you know Earvin didn't do what people expected him to do [Music] [Applause] Johnson this is a mode something's want a timeout respondent Magic Johnson goes to the bench [Applause] Game five went to the Celtics game six to the Lakers was like 1979 all over again down to one game for Bird and Magic said this is gonna be seven game series sweep them in four that's the only time I ever felt that ain't no way they're walking out here with the win no way [Music] [Applause] the link [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I pride myself in being the guy who's going to win it for us and and deliver under pressure and it didn't happen Game seven of the 84 series was one of CBS's highest-rated telecasts of the year and the highest-rated game the NBA had ever produced all of a sudden whether it was at CBS or Madison Avenue the sports writers around the country became phenomena what is happening here the absolute foundation in this resurgence was the Celtics and the Lakers Larry Bird and Magic Johnson but magic was in no mood to bask in the accomplishment I took a media beating tragic magic this is why we say Larry Bird is better it's probably the first time ever in my life I was depressed and I didn't want people to see me it was something I never dealt with in my life I hope it was hurting over killed him he made some bad plays down stretch nobody in there was happier than me you know not only when the game makes you feel good but just knowing the other guy's suffering and you know he was I remember after the game that both the E and I were in the showers crying and stayed in there for about 35 40 minutes it was hard because not only had we lost to the Boston Celtics he had lost to his nemesis Larry Bird [Music] I think he just made me just like him you know because he was that good and and I think you you'd be jealous a little bit well it was a big deal I remember asking Quinn Buckner about it afterwards they had a celebration in downtown Boston after they won the championship and you know it was unusual for Larry to have these little outbursts as Quinn would call them but you know about 11:30 at night finally he turned up when he goes I got him I finally got him and he was talking about magic in 1984 the Celtics claimed first championship blood from the Lakers in the war between magic and bird while the Boston stars 27 point average lifted his team to a seven-game victory Johnson made ill-advised decisions in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime losses and games to inform and free hear hell was the thought we don't get Boston this year I think it became even more so in 84 we had them on the ropes and it turned out to our dismay and we had that but you know what fun thing about this rivalry in this game that there's always next year are you crazy I said you crazy I'm not shooting a commercial with Larry so I said okay what we're gonna shoot it in LA I would never went to LA to film it oh we got shoot my plan was that shoes but last years MVP yep even after converse had convinced magic and bird to film a sneaker at together in the summer of 85 a question remained how would the two hated rivals on the court get along off of it but I don't know how he's gonna react I don't know how I'm gonna react we even shake hands so how are we gonna do a commercial together the ad was to be filmed at the home bird had built for his mom it featured a full-length basketball court the day's first location so they say okay you're playing one-on-one and I'm looking at Larry he's looking at me like is this real are we playing plan cuz you know this this is this is magic and Bert I could just hear Larry you know starting in on well you bring it to the basket I almost ended 30 rows up so the guy was like no no not like that a fun game we both oh okay see this relief coming over both of our faces that brief day taunt led to the next stage dialogue we sat down next to each other I was going good great said man it's a nice spread you got these ask mr. square you play yeah they play here for just not windy if it's raining or windy I go to the gym but this is where I do all my work I see that tractors you work on it on attractive said man I work on this tractor every day labor work on the tractor he's yeah it's just them two walking and talking and everyone's why they'd stop and what I would say something and then they'd start laughing then they said okay break it's lunch break time I was going to my trailer he said no my mother has prepared lunch for us I'll pass the house we went up to the house and we sit down and we talked and my mom my brothers thought the world of him his mother was so nice making sure I had enough to eat I just saw my mother it was crazy be Charmander he said but that's magic he makes everybody feel welcoming warm and he's a con man and while magic charm Georgia Byrd it was someone else who intrigued her son he met Ervin at lunch Ervin was a good dude I liked her a lot better magic I was just so happy to finally be perving with him because magic was I don't know if I want to get to know this guy but Ervin got a chance to talk about family I grew up we just we just keep became to relax guys it's just talking that day it was great it was a great day beautiful day still for bird ever the competitor that's all it was just one day magic thinks the next year okay well now we're great friends so you know after the game we're gonna go out we're gonna have a beer and Larry's like no you're right I know you better you're a good guy but I still don't want anything to do with you he's a happy-go-lucky guy if a mini him got to be really good friends to go out on the court he could still play a same game I couldn't yeah it's just the way it is the one time great white hope who had further emerged as the polarizing racial figure to impart to that IRA's increasingly conservative political climate the rolling back institutionally of like achievements the civil rights movement we're going on a pace from about 1975 on but the triumph of the movement that rolled back took place in the 1980s and I think there was people were very aware of the black community and I think there was a lot of sublimated frustration and I think one of the ways it got sublimated was into basketball and I think Larry through no fault of his own was the receptacle within which the lingering resentments somehow floated and after Byrd led the Celtics to the championship in 1986 his third in the pros winning his third straight MVP award in the process the resentment grew I always felt that the press was biased in favor of Larry Bird it always felt to me like they were gonna make Larry the hero you know you'd see somebody score and Larry would be in a cast and a suit on the bench they'd say Larry Bird made that possible a couple weeks ago when he told that guy he could do it and he just did it they'd go get his [ __ ] the assistant he not in the game not to be racist but we have a white guy who's the best in the world predominantly a black sport now and he got a guy like Larry Bird who can't run him can't jumped but can do everything out there bird may have sought to avoid the conversation entirely but the more he won the less he could escape it in 1987 after Boston beat the Detroit Pistons to advance to the finals for the fourth straight year Pistons rookie Dennis Rodman called Byrd overrated because he was white his teammate Isaiah Thomas then chimed in with some thoughts of his own [Music] I can remember in the locker room I think it was Jack McMullen come up to me and said Isaiah just said little boom boom boom I go so he didn't care he didn't care everybody else around him cared very deeply in the days and weeks as it turned out ahead media made it out like was something but it didn't matter to me what Isaiah or Dennis Rodman said and still don't it has no bearing what I do in my life and in 1987 as bird vied with magic to be the best the flap over Isaiah Thomas is racially fueled remarks forced Byrd to address his least favorite topic at the worst possible time I had to go to a press conference I was in LA trying to get ready to play the Lakers and tell people I didn't care this don't bother me the main thing is if the statements or whatever was said doesn't bother me I don't think it should bother any of us from playing all year trying to get back to the finals and play against magic this was a distraction magic was on a mission to prove to himself in the world that with the ball in his hands he was still the one in control and after his Lakers ran through the 85 season he quickly got what he wanted another shot at burden the Celtics they one of these we won in the West so it's like guy everybody just get ready sit back and let's enjoy it but that smile belied the intensity of the clash that awaited bird was facing off against magic for the third time in four years and if their relationship had softened the determination to beat each other had not yes I had a glass of water and any of those guys had been on fire how would you drink the water and watch them they called us you know chokers and sissies you know we didn't like that and they thought less of a Sun knew they did 85 we played him four times in exhibition season for some reason I don't know why they scheduled that by the fourth game there was an all-out brawl they call this one of the greatest rivalries in all of sport the Celtics the Lakers and if that is true it is the most one-sided rivalry in all of sports eight times these two have met for the NBA championship and eight times the Celtics have won but in the 85 Finals magic changed the script over six grueling games he masterfully controlled the pace with all-around brilliance behind their point guard the Lakers finally knocked out the Celtics winning the clinching game in the Boston Garden had even the score with bird on the NBA floor but the significance of their rivalry and their relationship was still just taking hold it's game poor proved the level of competition between them was higher than ever bird played awesome down the stretch of that game trailing 2-1 in the series the Celtics were down by one point in the final minute of the game but Larry Bird wouldn't be easily vanquished [Applause] with seven seconds left though the Lakers still had life three years earlier in the 84 finals magic had flubbed a similar situation but this was a different magic one with a whole new bag of tricks my man switched to Kareem and Kevin McHale jumped out to me as soon as I saw Kevin I said oh I'm taking you know magic puts it on the floor a couple head-and-shoulders fakes and he raised up in the air and there is nobody there was gonna get that shot I remember after they called timeout thinking there's still a shot here Celtics may still win this game well they set up a great play bird walk worthy all the way up forced the denial all the way up we've done it before clear everybody out go to the ball break the corner he caught it here and as he caught it all he had to do was turn and just turn and he just let this thing go got wide open love couldn't believe it and I'm standing right there it is straight as an arrow dead on we're lucky because it's right on line he looked at me like how did you ever leave me that wide open change the whole series the Lakers won the series and six in the aftermath of a year in which magic had won his first MVP the rivalry suddenly took on a new tone man he was just a great basketball player I was shocked that he said it because I thought to myself maybe this is the beginning of a new era that's not going to include him it was the passing of the torch a little bit after vanquishing burden 87 magic wasn't done winning the following year he squared off in the finals against his good friend Isiah Thomas and the Pistons beating them to become the NBA's first repeat champions in two decades by the dawn of the 90s he'd won five titles played in eight finals and equaled Birds MVP tally of three but the more magic one the less Irvin seemed to be around to reap the spoils once I tasted the champagne and the championship I wanted more of that and more than so magic kept growing because we were successful in 1985 la beat Boston in six games the interior private war between magic and bird she had no light on who was better Johnson recorded a pair of triple doubles and dished out of finals record 84 assists while Bert averaged 24 points show time you know it was just a racehorse basketball at its best and magic was just a great guy in the middle of a break making great decisions it doesn't make that shot the series is tied 2-2 if the Celtics win at home in Game five they take a 3-2 lead back to LA and they just need to get one of the remaining two games and they might they might well have done it that's the biggest basket of Magic Johnson's career pride myself in being one of the best players to ever play in this game in a clutch situation you know I love the Rings like magic was so serious and dedicated to his game and he was a crazy crazy competitor and a crazy man Irvin I think is the smiling kid from Lansing I think urban died about 25 minutes after the NCAA championship game Irvin doesn't have the ego that magic is magic got a crazy ego and winning is everything magic became a legend with his three Finals MVP s and three regular season MVPs hey the guy wanted Finals MVP as a rookie he had the opportunity to play with some of the all-time greats but rather than writing their coattails to history he and five all-time in windshear the playoffs he truly earned his spot in history what was even Johnson's vice now you know my publicist wants me to say winning but women loved her back then before voicemail is to have these mail slots in the hotels where you leave your key and when we get into a town Ervin's mail slot would be so packed and it would be just Susan and a phone number Linda and a phone number Joyce an opponent I mean that was every city everything every time I was on top of my game as magic so I needed all that around me at that time women this to that Hollywood [Music] magic was living in a context of sybaritic access from the minute he walked in the door and he developed a sweet tooth sex with several women at the same time yeah like I said women have different fantasy some want to be with two or three at a time hard and hard and with one or more women oh yeah oh yeah I meant one or more at the same time at the same time yes you know one time I had six at one time oh and so I think that they made their decision really do believe he looks upon Magic Johnson as a movie character he played I think Irvin got overwhelmed in LA by what it meant to be a star that's probably true that the magic ego swallowed Irvin a little bit but that's okay because I couldn't win five championships without that through all of this haze of women and money and fame and fortune he still kept basketball in at number one he never seemed to lose that focus and that's exactly what's happened you know magic could be the mayor of Los Angeles he could be the Governor of California that's how much the state loves him and that's how much he loves this town my dad knew he is the ultimate matchmaker and they really were I think the most special relationship between an owner and a player that's ever been and probably ever will be Magic Johnson spoke publicly for the first time about him contracting HIV I'm sleeping really laying down just waiting on the game and the phone rings and the voice says hey you got to come back to LA okay why I can't tell you till you get to LA so I said okay two hours later he was in the office of Lakers team physician Michael Melman dr. Melman starts to tell me that you know through the physical that I took that they discovered that I had HIV first time ever in my life I'm such a control freak brain do things the right way I'm out of control oh it was every time how is it possible what happened how did it happen to me my mind is racing you know and and then you just it's just toughest and I'm thinking Urban's gonna get skinny and die I mean literally that's what I thought Ervin's gonna get skinny and die the first person I thought of was Larry I wonder what Larry thinks the day that I heard about magic had just sort of changed my love for basketball it shook me up now you gonna get that feeling by the same type of feeling I had when my father died he wants to understand why you know how can I talk to him I need to speak to him it was just really important for Larry to talk to him you know I sort of I don't know I want to hear from him probably didn't believe it caused me to down we're talking you know it's just how you doing I heard about it and you can almost hear both of us with some tears and eyes and I'm choked up because he did call me you know what something happens to you and then you find out who really your friends are and people who really care about you you figure all those battles all those things we had to go through as warriors as competitors then ask men yes this man says and you know what man you okay and so that was the greatest moment for me to you know to have him check on me and to make sure I was okay first of all let me take that get after late afternoon because of HIV virus that I have attained I will have to retire from the Lakers you talk about letting the air out of a balloon having a crash landing there's no words to define but that meant to disfranchise but they're meant for those of us that were so close to him [Music] you know what eulogize him and we want to know give him love and support and prayers and all the other people that are afflicted with a father's insidious disease AIDS was synonymous with death and I think that's immediately what everybody feared is that magic was going to die everyone was afraid for him personally I just didn't want to see this bubbly enthusiastic guy suddenly not be that meaning and that was my greatest concern for him it wasn't a basketball tournament at the time that Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV positive the prevailing medical intelligence was that by this time Magic Johnson would either be apathetic dying man barely recognizable physically or he'd already be dead it was just like knowing someone who's got cancer that's cancer that's run throughout their entire body you know they're gonna die reporters crying I mean we thought this guy was in total denial I plan on going on living for a long time bugging you guys like I've always have we thought this this smile was gonna be wiped off his face forever and he was gonna die in but we're gonna watch him die in public I just remember in the room he was joking and I'm sitting there looking at him crying and he's like poop man I'm gonna be okay and we'll be okay it's gonna be all right I'm gonna go on I'm gonna beat it and I'm gonna have fun sure come on you're gonna beat this but to him it was a contest Larry Bird and Magic Johnson aids Magic Johnson he's same thing it's just a different game different roles but I'm still gonna win he wasn't planning on going nowhere Herman was planning that date to find the right medicine to eat right get rest and live forever that's what he was playing it thank you again and I'll see you soon but his magic put up a positive public face his nemesis still out of sorts shed the mask he had hidden behind for years he was visibly like just it really set him back far the two toughest days I've had since my father passed away and I've been very depressed and then sort of dinner love it I listen to him talking this press conference about how devastated he was and I remember thinking to myself god damn Larry found urban you know this tile blue something like that happening it just never had other than one other instance and I was hoping I'd never see that again because I remember how I felt weeks after that yesterday was just a sad day and at his game that night bird was forced to confront pain he couldn't so easily play through didn't want to be there that night first time ever and really last I remember we played in Atlanta and you'll feel for the game you know this wouldn't what a good time be out there never had that before that night he threw a pass I'll never forget he threw a half court pass behind his back for a layup and if you blurred your eyes you squint your eyes it looks like magic and that was Larry saying goodbye you know I mean this competition thing is amazing what it does to you what you put your body through and what you do and what you say and how you feel knowing that he's not there wouldn't feel right I think it's all them years that you know what's he doing well if he's practicing this hard I bet he shot 500 shots today and I didn't get 500 and it's always that mind games bird played through the 91-92 season his last in the NBA but a part of him was already gone I didn't check the papers anymore you know didn't matter I still want to compete you know but wasn't the same really what and on top of that I learned quickly how differently I be looked at now that I had HIV with the exception of that year when he was called tragic Johnson because on the basketball court things didn't shake down properly this is the first time I'm hearing ignorant magic Johnson was not a hero he admitted his lifestyle and anybody with that kind of lifestyle really isn't a hero hatred there was some of my former teammates who had their own little things that they were talking about why this happened to me you know anybody else does heterosexually got it come on man you're in denial I've been called gay [ __ ] Urban's lover I've been called all that [ __ ] lon Rosen got a call from Isiah Thomas asking you know I keep hearing Magic's gay and lon said well for cryin out loud you know better than anybody he hasn't you're one of his best friends and he said well we don't know what's going on in Hollywood and the fact that Isiah was questioning why he got this I think it was really really hurtful to him he used to say you know I don't want people to stop shaking my hand give me my hugs he loves to be loved and uh that's what bothered him that most that people would change in relationship to him he would show up at the Lakers facility to work out and to shoot some baskets and he tried to engage his teammates and say hey you wanna play a little one-on-one before practice and oh geez no I can't I gotta go get taped or oh geez I get work to do I gotta do something else in Jack McCallum's forthcoming book on the dream team Clyde Drexler made some very candid comments suggesting that you received undue accolades shortly after you announced that you had HIV I know you were unaware of these comments right so I want to read them to you he said very candid he said everybody kept waiting for magic to die every time he'd run up the court everybody would feel sorry for the guy and he said that you were on the declining end of your career at that time period and if it hadn't been for your diagnosis he would have been the MVP that year is that a fair statement you know I think that you know Clyde I mean if that's how I felt that's how he felt you know I think that Clyde was a guy who always fought for more publicity a guy who probably thought that he should deserve more credit I didn't want any sympathy only thing I wanted was to be treated the same way you treated me before you knew I had HIV you know a lot comes out after the fact that I mean here there's 20 years later and now you want to make these comments 20 years later now I know Clyde you know know Clyde so this is really funny you want to make these comments 20 years later but at the end of the day I got to take the high road I don't have time to worry about what a guy felt like but you had a chance to say these things to me or if you you had a problem whether you should have came out with it at that time and then instead of hiding behind the book you know no never I'm never gonna hide behind anything you know I'm going to tell you what time it is and I'm going to tell you how I feel the difference between Clyde and I is that I figure out a way how to win I don't I don't sit back and ever say mmm the guy gave him all the sympathy and I should have been an MVP I never say that all the times I diced you the one do you know how many times I should have won I could say I I could have done this I'm not that guy when I see crying I'm gonna hit him hug him and man how you doing how the family how your wife you know I would never mention this cuz it doesn't mean anything to me I just got to keep moving forward you know vicious nasty thing there is a developing story that we need to address the NBA is investigating racist remarks allegedly made by LA Clippers owner Donald sterling in a phone call with his girlfriend it's an audio tape obtained by TMZ in that conversation the man believed to be sterling takes issue with his girlfriend posting a picture of herself with Magic Johnson and posting it on Instagram saying quote privately in during her entire not only is he not apologized but he lashed out at you in a big way magic and really said some terrible things Magic Johnson you know has made a public comment what do you have something to say to him what could I say to him he it doesn't matter it doesn't matter I'm hurt but it doesn't matter you're hurt that he that he said that he spoke out publicly he's got to come down hard he shouldn't own a team anymore and he should stand up and say I don't want to own the team anymore especially when you have african-americans written his apartments coming to the games and playing for him and coaching for this is this is bad for everybody it's bad for America and so I'm really upset about it it's obviously appalling it's very disturbing and there's no doubt that the league itself Adam Silva specifically has to take actions this is the first big test massive and he's got to suspend this guy he has to suspend this guy I don't know that young lady I took a picture and all of a sudden I'm in the middle of this mess but at the same time I would not let you attack me without responding I felt proud to be covering a league that handled a situation like this as definitively and as boldly as it did today Chuck a man I I was in shock today ain't gonna even lie Arnie I was sitting there I built my whole today I've got to be in front of my television at two o'clock and when he said I am banning mr. sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA I said wow I mean here is a man who's I don't know if I say this he acts so holy I mean he made loved every girl in every city in America and he had AIDS and when he had those aids Ike went to my synagogue and I prayed for him I hoped he could live and be well I didn't criticize him I could have is he an example for children you know because he has money he's able to treat himself but Magic Johnson is irrelevant in this thing he didn't do anything harmful to anybody and I respect him and I admire everything that he does you know I'd like to help even more if he will offer me an opportunity to help I like to help minorities what is he done can you tell me big Magic Johnson what has he done but yes he's a business person he's got age did he do any business I'd like did he help anybody in South LA I think it's HIV it doesn't actually a full-blown AIDS well what kind of a guy goes there recent he has sex with every girl then he catches HIV and is that someone we want to respect then and tell our kids about I think he should be ashamed of himself I think he should go into the background but what does he do for the black people doesn't do anything you know that's his opinion if he thinks I'm not a role model that's his own opinion but I've know the things that I've done in urban America and for people you call up it's a neighborhood I mean I've sent over 10,000 minorities to college I got 150 of those students on scholarship right now what does he do work for the Dodgers well I think he got a little wrong I'm saying that african-americans don't contribute to there to african-american communities as much as Jewish there's no african-american a message to the mother [ __ ] it on the Clippers you bitch-ass redneck white bread chicken [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] you your momma and everything connected to you you racist piece of [ __ ] [ __ ] you you know I was like you know the party then the you know the girls and you know whatever all that most of that time I wasn't here that's why I wasn't here his partying had always been legendary frankly imagine such a good guy such a nice guy he was almost like a Babe Ruth and a lot of things that happened off the court just weren't written about it was a room at the Forum sort of a side room that belonged I guess he'd have women come in after the games when Jamal retired that room got bequeathed to magic and so magic would have his guys from what I understand would have these guys kind of she found a woman in the audience what kind of pseudonym or where he had some woman who was coming to the game and they would meet him in this room after the game in magic I always have a smile on his face there's an infidelity in pro sports there's a I think an acceptance that is really disturbing because these guys are so-called superheroes' they're supposed to be superheroes sexually to what this situation deal was it opened the eyes to everybody else in the league and I think everybody who's living that type of lifestyle as shock waves from Magic's disclosure radiated well beyond the sports world he was left with an even more painful task the emotional disengagement in the Laker Brotherhood and the game that had always sustained him the hardest thing burden that day was not speaking to the press and telling the world it was going downstairs to the locker room and telling his fellow teammates but he's not gonna be there anymore for them he's not gonna be on the court that was the only time I saw Ervin Johnson break down magic calls the night before and told me that he had something then very important he wanted to say to me and to meet him at the farm and that's when he told me and all I could do is cry this isn't how the movie's supposed to end you know the good guys always supposed to ride off from the sunset the day that we found out it just seemed like the end of the world we cried and we thought that it was over even with this devastation he just said you know what we're gonna fight this thing and I was I was like okay let's do it he tried to be as positive as he could and he smiled response to everything he said I'm gonna do it the way I've always done it which is exactly the way he handle of today directly honestly and extraordinarily upbeat fashion which is just magic my father taught me strength and I that's what I am I'm too strong and I'm worried about I just keep going it was this unshakable optimism that carried a new and penetrating message about AIDS to a nation in denial to have a man like Magic Johnson come out and say yeah I'm HIV positive and and watch me continue with my life let's a lot of people realize that this is not the end of life but civilian clothes didn't quite suit magic his game hadn't changed his physical strength was uncompromised and his will to win remain firm three months after announcing he was HIV positive he took the floor at the 1992 all-star game but it wouldn't be a smooth return there were players like like Karl Malone like Mark Price who weren't sure that it was safe for magic to play they didn't know what it would the risks were for playing with somebody who had the HIV virus but I think Magic Johnson overpowered that tension with his great joy and you could see it in his face with getting out there and playing in typical magic fashion he would own the day scoring 25 points and winning the MVP [Applause] seeing everybody embrace magic at the end of the day I think that did a lot for people's understanding and awareness of HIV he comforted other people that said don't worry about me I'm gonna be fine I'm gonna deal with this and he was he was still Earvin Johnson he was not you know broken by this the reaction to magic at the all-star game and a gold medal performance in the Olympics that summer convinced Johnson to rejoin the Lakers the following preseason when he wanted to come back there were people talking about whether they could play against him there was a great debate if I get in collision with a guy you don't have to be mad they could be Joe smoke but the fact of the matter is if you got the AIDS virus before for me to play as far as I'm capable of playing and people can't respect my decision that's tough MAGIX return ended before the regular season began Magic Johnson is retired from basketball again this time he says he will not change his mind Johnson's decision to retire again appears to been influenced very much by what has happened in the intervening month in 1994 Johnson grew restless from the game of basketball and accepted an offer to coach the Lakers magic went into coaching because he always felt that I I think even as a player that I can change it you can always control it as a player I can change it I can make us win I can make this play work I can make him a better player don't worry I can handle it because he was in control of it I was gonna dictate it I'll take care of it and then when he became a coach and he put that responsibility in the hands of immature not as talented players if the party was very frustrating for him with a record of five and eleven magic step down after just 16 games but the thought that he might be done with basketball was unacceptable to him prompting a comeback as a player in 1996 32 games later however he knew that the curtain had rung down on Showtime it took away a little bit from what he had accomplished it wasn't just a matter of coming back once and having it not work out it was coming back retiring coming back retiring coming back retiring even if he wasn't doing it he was talking about it I don't think there's any question that had he not done the seesaw thing then he would be held in high regard I was privileged to know magic as a player and I know him now and I can make the case he was the most beloved athlete ever in any sport [Applause] dominated with joy is is like a weird I never seen that combination before we became pariah among the players who caramel all said he's gonna show you also the athletes are not hired and people think they are my feeling was dead man walking he just wanted to play basketball and it got taken from him the worst thing of all this that I couldn't play basketball I don't even think dealing with HIV it was I couldn't play the game the surroundings was his whole world that's his personality when you take that away never team in my life that will be up during year the great legends I think Larry Bird personally for bringing the best out of Magic Johnson because without you I couldn't rise to the top and I really appreciate that it's just been a great wonderful 12 years with you I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have okay know what and you know what now what was he became as great and entrepreneurs as we've ever seen I mean this this man dominates he's dominating the business world why he dominated basketball absolutely it is stunning what this man has wrought changing venues from passing lanes to Wall Street magic had turned himself into a new kind of role model his real estate company develops property in minority neighborhoods and his movie theaters ranked among the most profitable in the country do you ever play basketball with him I always hear he thought he had a real jump shot and I had to remember it was Princeton I was playing against so I had to back off you know but he really thought he could play basketball but one of my greatest joys was I used to own the Magic Johnson theaters and he called me up and he said magic I want to come to the theater so okay what time you want to come 2:00 a.m. so first we close at 2:00 a.m. but okay I'll open it for you so we opened it up my manager and projection guy he brings his big bus full of people Jimmy when they get off they all in pajamas and they go to watch the movie we let him have the theater and kept calling and he kept coming back but he was a night out but he was very very intelligent and he was a jokester all at the same time you know and so he's a good dude and I I toured with Michael Jackson and I got a chance to tour with Prince so those those two best things I've ever done in my whole life yeah well those are pretty great things to do now you're an owner of not only the Dodgers everybody knows you own this Los Angeles Sparks WNBA - yes the season starting right right about we started our first game where one and oh and Candace Parker is back how's the great players right she is and she got left off the Olympic team so she's taking that personal and she's taking it still and take it out on the league did you and Candace went one-on-one right now who would win that game Jimmy come on has nothing changed about me right now who's 21 oh and we would go to 10 I would let her get to 9 so used to win I knew nothing else back then continue don't know no that's tough money comes out they may be better players but there never be better winners and that's what my whole goal was to win in as a obviously he's had stakes and Lakers Dodgers and sparks and the MLS team whoa he's uh he's Magic Johnson the former Laker great of course in the Dodger owner joining us Dan Patrick show and it's a pleasure to know him he has God in his heart and and I Love You Man magic you you're you're an alzheimer you are the Alzheimer to magic you love Larry Bird and here's the thing you played him for title for four titles you won three bird one one yeah but your relationship is such that they're even doing a Broadway play about you and bird ladies and gentlemen playing Larry Bird mister and in the role of Magic Johnson please welcome mr. Kenan [Music] it's an incredible night i tomorrow Tunney a good friend of mine asked me to become an investor on this show and I read it and after she said Larry Bird and Magic Johnson I said well you had me at Larry Bird I am thrilled I mean I office is right down the street I grew up in New York I live up on the west side Madison Square Garden the south of here so at the epicenter of New York City on Broadway the NBA is on the marquee so it's a great night for me it's a little different than I'm used to but being with Irving we don't get together a lot I think last time I seen us by six seven weeks ago but we like to hang out a little bit and to watch this 9:00 I'll be exciting for us how surprising do you think it is to see an NBA show debut on the Great White Way why not want to do another rebuy ball sick of it I saw them the first time around why do you think audience just to come out and see your life story well if you're a sports fan and you've been around long enough I think that they know our story and I think it's a great opportunity for the ladies bring their husbands down and take a look I'm more painful when the Lakers lose or the Dodgers lose well right now has to be the Lakers because you know at least the Dodgers were off to a good start to an hour the Lakers I think the pain is because we've never seen the Lakers lose like they're losing this season and I think fans are still wondering what's the plan to get back to being a championship team well that's just I don't know what that plan is and I every time I look at you maybe as frustrated as anybody else but what do you think is that grand planned here that brings the Lakers back how would you like magic brought back at what capacity I would like him to have complete control of basketball operons and here is why because I know this much if you are 2 or 15 he's gonna do something and I promise promise you Magic Johnson would do this he'd have a press conference just to tell Laker fans don't you worry this is a momentary lapse this will not last oh we ain't having this Laker nation I have a message for you happy days are here again a new day a new era of Laker basketball we welcome in governor and president Jeanie buss head of basketball operations Earvin Magic Johnson thank you for being here what can you share with us that led you to this point well first of all I think that coming back just to the organization that I love the Lakers and then I've known this woman who has been put in charge by her father Jeanie buss and when we sat down for dinner and she asked me to come back I think the timing was right re-energized everybody that works for the Laker organization and make sure our fans understand that you know we're here the jeanny is always always dedicated her life to winning and to making sure that the Laker fans are happy with the product that's on the floor she how hard was this for you on a personal level because it involves your brother Jim and Mitch who you've known for most of your life this was a very difficult decision it was probably so hard for me to make that I probably waited too long and for that I apologize to Laker fans but now with clarity and direction and and after talking with Ervin really knowing that a change was needed and that's why we're here today you mentioned waiting sometimes that because you wanted to give Jim his three to four year timeline in almost its entirety I wanted I wanted you know for the current front office to have their opportunity to show us what Laker basketball was going to be and it just wasn't going in a direction that was satisfactory for what this organization stands for in magic over the last couple weeks what did you learn about where the organization was headed where you knew you wanted to get in there and start to make things happen well it really wasn't about the last couple of weeks it's been about the years right and I think first of all I wanted to work side by side with Jeannie and I think that if it was probably any other situation I probably wouldn't have you know left my business aside left my business to concentrate fully a hundred and fifty percent on Laker business but because of her leadership and I know she wants to win so bad that I decided hey I want to work side-by-side with her this is exciting time I told my wife cookie I said I can't believe it it's 1979 I get picked by the Lakers I jumped and screamed I said I can't all right and then I get off the plane and here's dr. buns Jeannie's dad sitting there waiting on me and we hit it off and thank God he took me in like I was his son and we were brought up together brothers and sisters and then he said okay if you can write a check I'm gonna let you be owner so I said okay here's the check dr. buss and he allowed me to be owner when he didn't have to and then I was there Ginny called me said you know my dad want to see you and she thought it was that time and we I stayed in that room for hours and we laughed as he in his final days and then for her to say Ervin I want to entrust you and what I believe in you I'm gonna put this franchise in your hands right to make basketball decisions has been unbelievable so I thank you and I thank you guys because this is like if you if you could draw up your dream job right what would it be this would be it Oh magic started off with a big hug and a big kiss so happy for you and I can't tell you you know just how many times that I thought about you know how much you really love the Lakers and I remember you know seeing you cry on the floor you know after losing in Boston and you know winning in the finals and everything else and just you know it's hard to really describe to people how much you care and love the Los Angeles Lakers and I'm truly happy for you in September of 2002 Johnson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame after a unanimous vote sharing the day was the player against whom he was measured for college stays forward together they invested the ceremony with a special life I was gonna write up a big speech I wanted to talk from my heart I said damn he broke my heart so many times do I have anything left I've always said that if you put Michael Jordan's name in a head Magic Johnson's name in a hat and you picked out one of them you wouldn't be disappointed at all I had to thank God because 11 years ago I didn't know if I would be here to accept your support Larry the biggest reason that I'm here is because of you making me go to that gym every summer not only staying for four hours but I figure I'd better stay for six because I knew you were there about five to six yourself Larry you know you just what a basketball player should be [Music] the biggest reason that I'm here is because of you it was tremendous playing against you and I'm just happy and I think God that I got to know you now that's just Larry Bird the basketball player but Larry Bird the man and I appreciate you coming out here doing Larry again we're gonna meet up again ready to go so now let's get it on now we can play checkers the thing that characterized his game was a Greek word called enthusiast most the gift and giving the best with enthusiasm that's what he did every game I thank him for spreading the cord out him and making you go did you see I thank him for making team bigger than I it's not like that now he taught me how to run my VCR because you never want to miss a magic game you know may God bless you all of all the nicknames probably as good as it is Magic Johnson magic is exactly what he books all we can hold for as we go through that new millennium is that there'll be a magic Johnson forest [Music] nothing but net you you

Channel: Face PC Gaming

Views: 3,225,977

Rating: 4.5216284 out of 5

Keywords: Earvin, The Best Point Guard to Ever Play The Game, NBA Legends, hd, 1080P, FACE PC GAMING, SPORTS, LARRY BIRD, SHOWTIME LAKERS, NBA, ENTERTAINMENT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS, 1979 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP, MAGIC JOHNSON

Id: Wf_x4mE0wfc

Length: 118min 33sec (7113 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 19 2017