Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals

[Deberg_1990]

Watched this last night on HBO. Great stuff.

These two really did save the NBA.

Doubtful there will ever be another rivalry as great as this one was. The Lakers and Celtics hated each other back in those days.

Check it out this month if you can.







http://www.nesn.com/2010/03/hbo-docu...asketball.html



Magic and Bird. Bird and Magic. They were the two iconic figures of the NBA in the 1980s, the two men who saved the game and the two men who kept it alive for a generation of fans.

On the floor, they were similarly great players -- team-oriented guys who made everyone around them better and would stop at nothing to win. Off the floor, they could not have been more different. They were the yin and yang of the NBA, the gregarious black superstar in Hollywood and the quiet, introspective white guy dubbed the "Hick from French Lick."

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are the two subjects of Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, a made-for-TV documentary that premieres March 6 on HBO. The film, directed by Ezra Edelman and produced by HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg, goes inside the lives of the two NBA legends, examining both the players and the men who epitomized basketball in the 1980s.

The story of Magic and Bird begins in 1979. That's when Magic's Michigan State Spartans and Bird's Indiana State Sycamores, the nation's two best teams led by the nation's two biggest stars, met in the NCAA Tournament final. It was the highest-rated college basketball game in history and it was a game that would forever alter the landscape of basketball in America.

The game catapulted Magic and Bird to even more attention on the national stage. Magic reveled in that attention; Bird shied away from it. But both went on to become immediate superstars in the NBA, as Magic went No. 1 overall to the L.A. Lakers, and Bird went to the Celtics, who drafted him the previous year.

Magic became caught up in fame and stardom in Hollywood -- he went to countless parties, met countless women and became a superstar in every sense of the word. Bird was the complete opposite. He was gritty, hardworking and relentless. He dove into scorers' tables for loose balls. He was quick to fight with opposing players. He went about his business -- he showed up, he won and he went home. He would rather be seen mowing his lawn outside his rural Indiana home than partying on the town.

But it was their difference in race that was magnified by the political climate in America in the '80s. Bird shied away from the issue; he hated being called the "Great White Hope" of the NBA. To all outward appearances, he was the only man in America who really just didn't see race.

The film captures all of these psychological and cultural contrasts between Magic and Bird in living color, but more importantly, it chronicles their historic rivalry on the court. Between 1980 and 1989, every NBA Finals featured either Magic or Bird. Magic's Lakers and Bird's Celtics met head-to-head three times, in 1984, '85 and '87. You see all the key moments, from Bird's heroic performance in '84 to Magic's famous "baby sky hook" that sank the Celtics three years later.

For all the great moments on the floor, there were traumatic moments off it. Bird endured a childhood of poverty, with fighting parents and an alcoholic father dealing with post-traumatic stress after a tour in Korea. His parents eventually split up and his father committed suicide.

Magic's lust for life caught up to him. His diagnosis with HIV in 1991 brought his career to a halt and made the world realize his mortality. Magic was 32, and his reign as one of the greatest players of all time had been tragically cut short.

But his legacy lived on, as did Bird's, despite a multitude of nagging injuries that kept him from playing on into his late 30s. Both men are remembered as saviors of a game that had lost its place in America's hearts.

There's a great moment toward the end of A Courtship of Rivals where Bryant Gumbel, one of the media figures featured prominently in the film, violently dismisses the idea that Michael Jordan saved the game of basketball. Magic and Larry saved the NBA, he argues. Magic and Larry.

After you've seen this documentary, it's hard to disagree. That's what the film is about: Two players who saved the game, and two men that a generation of fans will never forget.

[jiveturkey]

I wonder if this will come to Netflixs. I'd love to see it.

I grew up watching that rivalry and how awesome that it was followed by the Jordan era?

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

That steal he had in the finals where he intercepted it at the top of the key, dribbled ONCE at midcourt* and dunked from the free throw line melted my brain.

* not traveling, he just covered so much ground so fast that he only HAD to dribble once.

LOL

Worthy was an amazing athlete. A freak, really. His first step was so fast, it was as though he could disappear in one spot and reappear in another. Kind of like that X-guy with the tail except no smoke.

People naturally think of Kareem and Johnson ... or even Byron Scott, but Worthy was a huge piece of that Laker team that most people don't think about.

FAX

[Cntrygal]

My dad, brother and I would watch those guys play and then head out to play hoops afterwards. I can't stand watching the thugs play ball now.

[cardken]

I too watched it twice, I was in Jr. High, and High School about the age of 14--18 when this rivalry was going on. And even though I was living in K.C., miles away and stuck in the middle, I was a die hard Celtics fan and therefore a huge Bird fan. Those Finals in those years were insane. I remember staying up and watching them all in their entirety, was the only time I was a fan of Pro Basketball. Seeing these guys play, in their 5-6 years in the league, their teams talent, in their prime. It was Magical. Thanks HBO.

[Deberg_1990]

heh...the incredible thing i learned from this doc, was that before Magic and Bird, the NBA finals was shown on tape delay.

[SCTrojan]

If I remember correctly, the 1979 tourney was the first expanded field with seeding. Michigan State completely destroyed Penn in the semis and Indiana State squeaked by a pretty great DePaul team with Mark Aguire.

I remember the championship game as never being in doubt even though the final score was fairly close. Magic had Greg Kelser on his team and Bird didn't really have a teammate like that who could lighten the load.

[Blitz]

Originally Posted by Cntrygal

My dad, brother and I would watch those guys play and then head out to play hoops afterwards. I can't stand watching the thugs play ball now.

Yet you watch the NFL.

Get out of here with the racist shit. The only reason you don't mind the black players in the NFL is because they were helmets.

[KChiefs1]

Once they retired I stopped watching the NBA.

[Pioli Zombie]

It was great living in New England in the 80's, when spring came and the playoffs started. You always hoped for a Celtics-Lakers final. And in the early 80's the Celtics-76ers in the ECF's. The early years of Larry's career, when he wasn't as bulked up and his hair was long, to see him play game after game, it was indeed magical. And before he hurt his foot in 1987, Kevin McHale was amazing as well. What made those Celtics-Lakers games so great was you had 7 or 8 guys on each team could create their own offense. There is nothing like it now.
Posted via Mobile Device

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Pioli Zombie

It was great living in New England in the 80's, when spring came and the playoffs started. You always hoped for a Celtics-Lakers final. And in the early 80's the Celtics-76ers in the ECF's. The early years of Larry's career, when he wasn't as bulked up and his hair was long, to see him play game after game, it was indeed magical. And before he hurt his foot in 1987, Kevin McHale was amazing as well. What made those Celtics-Lakers games so great was you had 7 or 8 guys on each team could create their own offense. There is nothing like it now.
Posted via Mobile Device

It wasn't just offense, either. Albeit admittedly dim, I can recall several of those playoff games that were decided in the last minutes (or seconds) on a steal. It almost seemed as though whichever team needed the ball found a way to get their hands on it.

Makes you wonder about the role of officiating in some of those games, though.

FAX

[KCChiefsMan]

I think that rivalries are dead in all of pro sports. The rivalries only still exist with the fans and maybe some owners. But today's coaches and players don't care one bit about their "rivals."

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by FAX

McHale was extraordinarily physical considering his frame.

I saw him play the Atlanta Hawks one time when the Hawks had Moses Malone matched up against him. McHale would take the ball, post up, and Malone would put a forearm in his chest. He would hit him so hard with his forearm that it knocked the wind right the hell out of McHale's body, I swear. McHale would suck air, make his move and sink it. Every time. It was amazing to watch. Those guys left it all on the floor. In those days, the Garden was like a religious experience. It was a cathedral dedicated to the saint of kicking basketball ass. And, for those of you who are too young or don't remember, they actually had things called "plays".

FAX

Moses Malone had ridiculous strength too. I loved watching McHale. He would spin guys right out of their shoes. Great defender too. And those hairy armpits and the whole Frankenstein thing just capped it all off.

[Amnorix]

Being a Celtics fan in the 80s was certainly great. Alot of of great moments and memories. I remember being VERY pissed that the Rockets beat the Lakers in '86 because we wanted revenge for '85 and were 100% certain we would destroy them. That '86 team was absurd.

It's really too bad McHale broke his foot in '87. If it wasn't for that we would definitely have had a much better chance in the finals against the Lakers that year. After that, we were basically passing the torch to the Pistons and ThugBall. I think about the only thing Lakers and Celtics fans agreed on in those days was that the Pistons and their brand of basketball completely sucked.

One of my many happy Celtics memories from the 80s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3tc7TXMBT8

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

After that, we were basically passing the torch to the Pistons and ThugBall. I think about the only thing Lakers and Celtics fans agreed on in those days was that the Pistons and their brand of basketball completely sucked.

heh...yea no doubt. The doc briefly mentions the incident where Isiah and Rodman commented on Bird not being very good and only getting run because he was white.

What a couple of D-bags...

[Amnorix]

Here's a GREAT example of both class in losing, and the level of hatred the Celtics and Lakers had. In '82, the 76ers and Celtics met in the Eastern Conference Finals. The 76ers won (Dr. J, Moses, and their two excellent guards, Toney and the other guy, the Celtic killer, whose name shall not be mentioned). In the deciding game, with the 76ers up by whatever points, at Boston Garden, the Celtics fans are chanting "BEAT LA", telling the 76ers to beat the hated Lakers.

And they did.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksoRtL3rcts