Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

please welcome his longtime rival and now his good friend Hall of Famer Larry Bird thank you very much what an honor it is to be here tonight be a part of the celebration of all the inductees like to call out to all New Englanders Boston Celtic fans throughout the country it's it's time to lay down your weapons the battle is finally over and it's time to move on I can remember the first time I laid eyes on Magic Johnson we played on an all-star team back in college I could not believe what I was seeing in practice I actually thought I was a bad judge of talent because neither one of us got to play in the games but I can remember going home and telling my older brother I just seen the best basketball player I'm probably ever gonna see in my life and he started quiz me ask me questions well how good is he actually 6:19 him the ball like a five nine guarding shoot the ball he can pass like he can't believe because I'll come on well since 1979 the NCAA Tournament my brother come up to me says yeah he's a lot better than you that made me work harder knowing that me and magic was going to be linked from 79 through our pro careers and I have to met I worked tirelessly every day practicing for one reason try to beat them damn Lakers I'll tell you a little story one game we play the Lakers in the form and we sports enough to win at the end and we come down the tunnel they had a tunnel where you go down underneath was coming down to bus there's a lot of fans around and when we won games on the road we tend to stay a little bit longer and celebrate especially in the forum we got the top the tunnel we had to wait because this traffic was out there and the fans were throwing stuff at us and I was very quiet and very humble that day and I was looking out the window and I happen to see Ervin walking across the parking lot to his car of course he had a number of people around him and I just watched him I could see the pain on his face the look in his eyes that he was a beaten man that day so if my thoughts in my head my other teammates were talking doing her own thing I was just watching him I said suffer baby suffered I looked I seen him get in his nice car knowing that he was not going to go out to eat that night there he's probably going to go home shut off all the lights pull down the blinds and sit in that dark room for hours I know I've been there but what a pleasure it was for all them years to play against in my opinion one of two of the greatest players that probably ever play this game not myself I'm talking about Michael Jordan of course but I've always said that if you put Michael Jordan's name in a head Magic Johnson's name and a hat and you picked out one of them you wouldn't be disappointed at all because both of them are fantastic basketball players but this is Irving's night I'm very honored to be here man I want to beat that guy I was going to write up a big speech but I wanted to talk from my heart by said damn he broke my heart so many times do I have anything left fellating gentlemen would you please welcome the newest inductee of the Basketball Hall of Fame Irving Magic Johnson magic is escorted by his wife cookie Johnson and his mother Christine Johnson well I know I know this is supposed to be somewhat formal but standing here between the two of you guys after that and knowing what's about to come I'm going to make it a little less formal and simply say this from the bottom of my heart Irvin Magic Johnson one of the greatest of the greats to ever play this game you made teammates and opponents better you made the game better you are very special and by the unanimous vote of the honors committee and with the privilege and pleasure of that power invested in the Board of Trustees how pleased I am on my watch to be able to induct you as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall thank you first of all I have to I have to thank God because 11 years ago I didn't know if I would be here to acceptance of war so is truly a blessing as everybody has mentioned before I got up here you do not go into this hall of fame and win this honor by yourself Larry you know you just what a basketball player should be 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 or six years so it was tremendous playing against you and I'm just happy and I think God that I got to know you not as just Larry Bird the basketball player but Larry Bird a man and I appreciate you coming out there's been a lot of people who have touched my life and made it possible for me to be who I was out on the basketball court I started off with the first of all I want to thank all my friends for shoveling the snow off that basketball court with me and and throwing that ball back I know you didn't want to be out there but you knew I did that's why you stayed with me Dale Kenny Dino James all of you and to all my coaches Mr Rosecrans mr. Brockhouse but first of all mr. dark for teaching me the fundamentals of basketball and you were like a second father to me and I thank your wife for always cooking those great tacos after we were done playing I think my high school coach mr. Fox for teaching me that making your players better with win championships I remember when you my senior year and I was after over 40 points and you said urban we will never win with you averaging over 40 points you got averaged around 2025 and make all the other players better and you're the first one who started me off learning that not and I thank you for that and coach Eastcote I thank you for defying the basketball guys when you said hey guys but I'm gonna let him play point guard anyway and you taught me how to be a perfectionist you always said Earvin if you're going to take those shots in the game you got to practice them in practice and then as Eric snow and all the rest of the guys you always holler be a guard not a garbage and I hope I was a guard and out of garbage and Tom Izzo thank you for bringing both of them here to be here with me and then I moved on to coach McKinney who got hurt in a bicycle accident I wish that I could have played up unto him but he taught me a lot coach Westhead and then to probably want my best friend's in life you're special man Pat Riley and we you taught me preparation is the key you kept motivating me and driving me and you said to me a number of occasions that you know buck you're slipping you're playing around 750 and micro and larrya up around 800 what's wrong you kept pushing me to get up around 800 and you taught me that basketball and the team is like a family and you got to approach the game every night to play to win but play hard and play together and then the last thing you did which was incredible I never forget you taught me what a friend is really like in 1991 when you were coach other Knicks and you had that night for me and that prayer enough and I appreciate that thank Thank You line and Charles Tucker and Michael Ovitz who helped me with my career and helped shape it and I appreciate that Joe Smith for introducing me to a lot of those people I want to thank the greatest owner in all the sports dr. Jerry Buss for not only being my owner but also a friend a guy coming out at 19 knowing I was away from a big family and you really became a father figure in Los Angeles for me and you and the whole family I also want to thank all my the great players that I played with along the way especially at the Lakers because without players you can't make it I didn't make it by myself here when you talk about Greg Kelso Jay Vincent you talk about Kareem James Worthy you talk about Mitch Kupchak and Kurt Rambis and then two of my two of my best friends in the world with Byron Scott and Michael Cooper and then two guys who not only shaped my career for me but helped me Jerry West and then bill Sharman bill Sharman thought I taught me that I had a lot of work to do I was thought I was a hotshot Ricci rookie coming out of college and I went to my first training camp coach Brown and Bill Sharman afterwards came over to me and said you know I used to be pretty good at shooting free throws you want to shoot free throws against me I said oh yeah okay I'm gonna take this old guy you know we did we shot 30 coach Brown bill bill let me go first and I hit about 23 out of 30 bill Sharman went 30 for 30 I felt so small but I knew that I had a lot of work to do and I thank you for that humbling lesson coach Sherman Howard Schultz and Ken Lombard thank you for the business and and mr. Warren grant I always told you I want to be a businessman after a basketball and you put me in a position to do that and I thank you for that and Angie and Sean and Nicole thank you as well and then comes my big family because I come from a family of ten and first of all I want to thank my uncle for taking me everywhere to play basketball playing against the men when I was a little boy and making me physical and tough I thank my sister Evelyn for showing me how to shoot a jump shot because you beat me all the time my sister Yvonne learning to protect your family and always you were the first one to fight if anybody said anything bad against the Johnsons my sister Kim for helping me with my homework all the time and you a smart young lady my sister pearl for always being to protect her always protecting me and hating every girl I brought home but the one I married my brother Larry for being out there and working on the Earl Monroe spend every time we would get out there after seeing the Knicks play you he was the ultimate Earl Monroe fan and so we had to do the Pearl spin move in the pearl double pump move before we could practice anybody else's shot and my brother Quincy for telling me I always had to have common sense if I was going to make it and you gave me that my sister Lourdes who always was by my side my probably my biggest cheerleader my brother Michael who taught me that toughness was going to be the key so he beat me up every day and my sister Mary who had passed away but I know she's up there saying what a wonderful day and I know she's proud as ever and then mom for your beautiful smile that you gave me my personality that I have and you gave me the gift of giving back and I think that's what you gave me that's what sticks with me the most try to help people other people and people always ask me when I go speak who is my role model and that I always say is you I've only wanted to be like you my whole life you gave me my work work ethic you taught me that anything in life I was going to achieve and get I had to work forward and I thank you for that my three babies my son Andre you made me proud every day you've gone out and gotten your job you as you young people say you've been putting it down and and you're the best son a father could have and then to my two babies ELISA EJ you've you make daddy smile each and every day and make it work coming home to see you and meet that story to you both of you every night and the only reason that I'm living after eleven years honey is because of you and one of the only reasons I'm here because and I married you is because you used to throw me the basketball back when I was shooting jumpers at Michigan State I thank you for being the best wife and the best mother and my best friend all at the same time to David Stern and Russ Greenwich thank you you allow me for 1213 years would be a little boy to play the game I love to try to go out and be the best player that I could be to try to win games and to also turn the fans on and hopefully that they had just as good as time as I had I mean basketball is the ultimate and I think coach Brown said it best you know this game is great but we should all play it the way it's supposed to be played and we should also for the young people just think about learning how to play the game not the other things but learn how to play but we have to get back to the fundamentals of basketball so made with that Larry again we're gonna meet up again you know I was waiting to you you know your back was a little better because you would have had an excuse when I took you out into the garage or the park but but now I look at you you're tan you're ready to go so now let's get it on now we can play checkers we can play we better probably play P cuz horses a little too long for both of us and we have to have it where you know I have to go first because if you go first I know it's over for me but thank you for this great award I tell you may God bless you all you you

Channel: OfficialHoophall

Views: 1,747,971

Rating: 4.8421969 out of 5

Keywords: Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Speech, Basketball Hall of Fame, Enshrinement, basketball, history

Id: ad9UqapGC7o

Length: 21min 57sec (1317 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 21 2012