MAGIC & BIRD: A COURTSHIP OF RIVALS (TV)

Summary

A documentary about the rivalry and relationship between professional basketball players Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

At the NCAA Championship on March 26th, 1979 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Indiana State plays against Michigan State, marking the first time Johnson and Bird play against each other. Johnson, born “Earvin Johnson, Jr.” on August 15th, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan, is one of ten children and lives in a small house raised by his two hard-working parents. He exhibits a love of basketball from a very young age and has aspirations of playing professionally. As a teenager he attends the then-recently-desegregated Everett High School, where he becomes acutely aware of the deep racial divides within his own community. He responds in a diplomatic fashion, hoping to overcome these tensions and simply wanting to play basketball. His stellar performance on his school’s team quickly gets attention, and a local newspaper writer gives him the moniker of “Magic” Johnson. He is somewhat put off by the nickname at first, but soon comes to embrace it. Johnson achieves fame in high school among people of all races, and feels that he has to “live up to” his nickname by putting on something of an ostentatious image. He and his team win the state championship, and he decides to attend college at Michigan State University in order to stay close to home.

Johnson’s fame continues to rise during his college years, and it is during this time that he sees Bird on the cover of a magazine. He finds himself impressed by Bird’s statistics, but is curious to see if he, as a white player, can compete with African-American players. In 1978 the two of them are picked as members of Team USA in the World Invitational Tournament. Johnson witnesses Bird’s playstyle firsthand and finds himself amazed by it. Bird is similarly impressed by Johnson’s performance on the court. They speak to each other little at this time, partially due to Bird’s shyness and awkwardness in interviews. He comes from a poor household in a mostly rural area of southern Indiana, where he and his older brothers earn a reputation as troublemakers. He is especially close with his father growing up, although he is unable to help his father cope with severe post-traumatic stress disorder from his tour of duty in the Korean War. His difficulty in securing regular work and occasional alcoholism prove to be major obstacles for the Bird family. Bird is mostly remembered as a quiet and shy child, although he finds a ready means of self-expression in basketball, at which he excels. However, his rise to prominence in his high school is dismissed by talent scouts, as they are uninterested in is small hometown. However, he does get noticed by the head coach of Indiana University’s team, and he signs on to play with them. However, he leaves school after a few weeks, concerned both about his precarious financial situation and that he does not fit in with the drastically different culture of the university. He returns home to do maintenance work; his parents divorce and his father becomes unable to make his payments to the family, eventually resulting in him committing suicide. Bird does not express his feelings over this incident, and only rarely discusses it with anyone.

The head coach of Indiana State University convinces Bird to come play for him, and he promises his mother that he will graduate from college. Despite the school’s small size and lack of notable opponents, Bird still exhibits great talent at the game. He and Johnson are regarded as the most talented stars of college basketball throughout the nation. Just before the NCAA Championship in 1979, Johnson attempts to greet Bird, but is kept away by both Bird and his teammates; Bird desires to simply focus on the game without any personal attachment or friendship with other teams. Johnson interprets this as a challenge. The game attracts attention not only because of the talents of both Johnson and Bird, but for their racial and personality differences, adding another element to the perception of the game. During the game, Michigan State’s team devotes extra attention to guarding Bird, and Bird regrets that he did not play better during the game, unused to Michigan State’s play style. Michigan State wins the championship, and Bird is disappointed that this loss ends his last college season, being undefeated until that point.

During this time, the NBA is undergoing changes; individualistic “renegade” players begin to dominate the field, new teams are added, and viewer interest is waning without popular figures to idolize as they did in the past. The presence of many African-American players in the NBA creates controversy among some white fans. In addition, at this time reports surface about drug abuse among NBA players, further tarnishing its reputation. The Boston Celtics sign Bird on in an attempt to bolster its white viewership, hoping to have a white player that their fans can identify with. The press gives him the moniker “The Great White Hope,” although Bird does not accept this appellation and does not wish to think of basketball as being a platform for racial issues. This does not appease the African-American members of the Celtics, who are unconvinced that his talent is anything special and have racial biases of their own. Bird practices with them regardless and slowly manages to change his team’s opinions of him. On the court, Bird faces resistance of a different kind as some opposing team members choose to pick fights with him, often becoming physical. Bird, however, takes this in stride and is generally able to defend himself. Bird’s play style is described as “rough” and “hard-working,” something the Boston crowd greatly appreciates. In his second season, Bird leads the Celtics to the NBA Championship, although he still has difficulty adjusting to the city of Boston, as it is radically different than his hometown in Indiana, and he does not want any distractions from his basketball career. His persona comes to be seen as something of a “hick,” but Bird’s simple demeanor comes to belie his intelligence and sense of humor. His reclusiveness reaches the point where crowds are attracted to the weekly sight of him mowing his lawn, one of his rare emergences outside of the court.

Meanwhile, Johnson arrives in Los Angeles in 1979 to play for the Lakers. Johnson quickly connects with the other notable talent on the team, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and does his best to inject “energy” into the once-great team, motivating them to do better. In his first season he leads his team to the finals and in Game 6 against Philadelphia fills in for Abdul-Jabbar, scoring 42 points, securing the championship for the Lakers. He gains great fame in Los Angeles, and he is signed to the Lakers for a 25-year contract, making him quite wealthy. He enjoys his new lifestyle, even visiting the Playboy mansion, but remains focused on the game and refuses to take any drugs, even recreationally. He comes to regard his “Magic” moniker as being representative of his Hollywood image and competitive to a fault, and not his true “fun-loving” persona. As Johnson’s fame increases, he crosses paths with Bird again and wants to be friends with him, although Bird’s noted reclusiveness makes this a difficult proposition. During their first rookie game the two nearly come to blows over one particularly hard foul, and Johnson decides to match Bird’s competitive demeanor, sparking enmity between the two. Bird still recalls his loss to Johnson in 1979 and is envious of Johnson’s success, although Johnson is inspired by Bird being named “rookie of the year,” upset that he was not picked and intending to prove everyone wrong. The two indirectly compete with each other, each one trying to match and exceed the others’ accomplishments on the field. Bird keeps pushing himself to match Johnson’s statistics, while Johnson is resentful of the media attention Bird gets, including sports commentators claiming that Bird is better than him. Some note that their rivalry stems primarily from the many similarities between their play styles and philosophies, that they are “mirrors” of each other.

Despite the changes in the NBA at the time, viewership still declines. Just before the 1982-1983 season, the NBA signs a new television deal with CBS, who decides to capitalize on both Bird and Johnson in order to increase ratings. They latch on to their rivalry and frame it in dramatic terms, playing up their individual characteristics and personas in order to cast them as equal and opposite “characters.” In 1984, the Celtics and Lakers face each other in the finals, further intensifying the television campaign around Bird and Johnson. The game also draws out a racial divide between the two teams: whites support the Celtics while African-Americans come out in favor of the Lakers. The city of Boston still struggles with the aftereffects of the busing crisis of the mid-1970’s, still experiencing deep racial divides amongst its citizens; many view the Celtics as a “white team” and African-Americans turn against it. The players themselves, however, are unconcerned about these issues and simply relish the opportunity to face each other once again. The Lakers win the first game of the championship series in Boston, but lose the second game in an extremely close overtime. The Lakers win the third game, and by the fourth game tensions flare between the two teams and they become increasingly confrontational. The Celtics win that game in another narrow overtime, and also go on to win the fifth game. The Lakers win the sixth game, tying the series 3-3 and necessitating one final game to decide the championship. The Celtics win the championship; Bird is elated, but Johnson is devastated.

The 1984 championship proves to be a massive ratings success, although Johnson is highly resentful of the negative media attention surrounding his performance in the games. He decides to redouble his efforts and work harder to prove his superiority over Bird. 1985 sees the Celtics and Lakers face off again in the finals, and Johnson is eager for the opportunity for a rematch. The intensity of the rivalry between the teams comes to a head; they find themselves in physical confrontations during several exhibition games during the season. Johnson works harder at controlling the game, and in the finals the Lakers are victorious over the Celtics. After the game, Converse asks Bird and Johnson to appear in a sneaker commercial together, causing some dispute between the two. Both are uncertain of how they will react to each other off of the court. The commercial is shot in Bird’s hometown of French Lick, Indiana on the basketball court behind a house he purchased for his mother. After some initial tension, the two have a conversation and are amiable towards each other, making small talk. Johnson has lunch with Bird and his family, and all parties treat each other quite warmly. Bird also meets Johnson’s father and expresses respect for him. Johnson hopes that this experience creates an understanding between the two of them, but Bird is still focused on the game and does not want to interact with Johnson on a personal level.

The advertising campaigns centered on Johnson and Bird further polarize their fans, including an exacerbation of the racial issues around them. However, the divide had a great deal of nuances; Johnson was viewed as a “crossover star,” but Bird was vilified by some for his perceived representation of the ultra-conservative politics of the 1980’s, particularly the controversy surrounding the government’s attempts to counter the progress of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Resentment towards Bird grows as he leads his team to the championships again in 1986, particularly as the press starts to label him as being the “best in the world” and similar appellations. Bird himself is unfazed by the media attention. In 1987, the Celtics defeat the Detroit Pistons to advance to the finals, and Pistons rookies Dennis Rodman and Isiah Thomas call Bird “overrated” and claim he would be considered nothing more than “just another good guy” if he was African-American. Again, Bird does not care about these comments and is indifferent to the subject of race in general; this surprises some people due to Bird’s upbringing and his hometown’s proximity to the center of the modern Ku Klux Klan. Bird is forced to hold a press conference to address Rodman and Thomas’s remarks, which he views as an unwelcome distraction in his preparations for the finals, again playing against Johnson.

Johnson and Bird experience their third NBA Finals meeting in 1987, and each one is more determined than ever to defeat the other. During the fourth game of the series the Celtics lead in the final minute of the game, but Johnson recalls a similar situation from one of their past games and adapts to it, managing to secure victory when Bird misses a vital shot in the game’s final seconds. The Lakers end up winning the championship in game six, and Bird becomes quite emotional about it, calling Johnson “the greatest player I’ve ever seen.” In 1988, Johnson continues his winning streak by beating the Pistons to accrue yet another championship. However, Johnson finds that his desire for victory supersedes his usual personality, and he becomes consumed by his “Magic” persona. During this time, Johnson becomes involved with the many female fans offering themselves to him, and plays up his Hollywood-style image in various advertisement and television appearances. Despite all that, basketball remains his primary focus. Meanwhile, Bird starts to experience back problems in 1985, exacerbated by his physically demanding style of play. These problems persist into the early 1990’s, although Bird continues to play his hardest despite the excruciating pain, inspired by the example of his father. He is forced to frequently re-align his own spine in order to preserve its structural integrity. He keeps this issue a secret from most of his peers.

Meanwhile, Johnson discovers from the Lakers team physician that he is HIV-positive. This news leaves him distraught, particularly in the wake of his marriage two months prior. He is relieved to discover that his new wife and their unborn child are not infected, and slowly reveals the news to his closest friends. Bird finds out as well and is quite shaken, unable to fully cope with the news. Later Johnson tells Bird about it in person, and both are emotional about the matter. Johnson is touched that Bird expresses such concern for him during this time. Johnson announces the news to the public at a press conference on November 7th, 1991, also announcing his retirement from the Lakers, and many are convinced that his death from the disease is inevitable. Bird also speaks to the press, revealing his intense reaction to the news, comparing it to the death of his father. He feels a sense of disappointment and dismay knowing that Johnson is no longer in the competition. He finishes the 1991-1992 season in the NBA, which proves to be his last one.

Reactions to the revelation about Johnson’s HIV prove to be harsh, as rumors spread that Johnson contracted the disease through homosexual intercourse. Johnson feels hurt that some of his former teammates are suspicious and perpetuate these rumors. He is most upset that he is unable to continue his basketball career, and instead dedicates himself to becoming an educator about HIV. He eagerly accepts the offer to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, performing well enough to earn him the title of MVP. He and Bird both compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, marking the first time that NBA players get to participate in the Olympics. Johnson uses this as an opportunity to spread information about HIV, and remarks that it is “therapy” for him, especially since it gives him the opportunity to play alongside Bird again. Bird plays despite his rapidly-deteriorating physical condition, and manages to play well considering the circumstances. Both of them remark that they have great respect for each other despite their many differences, and that they “never tried to change each other.”

Details

• NETWORK: HBO
• DATE:
• RUNNING TIME: 1:28:08
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 122123
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Sports; TV - Public affairs/documentaries
• SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2010
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Ross Greenburg … Executive Producer
• Rick Bernstein … Executive Producer
• Joe Lavine … Senior Producer
• Ezra Edelman … Producer
• Rahul Rohatgi … Associate Producer
• Aaron Kent … Animation
• Aaron Cohen … Writer
• Gary Lionelli … Music by
• Liev Schreiber … Narrator
• Larry Bird … Interviewee
• Earvin "Magic" Johnson … Interviewee
• Steve Springer … Interviewee
• Evelyn Johnson … Interviewee
• George Fox … Interviewee
• Jackie MacMullan … Interviewee
• Bryant Gumbel … Interviewee
• Rick Robey … Interviewee
• Mark Bird … Interviewee
• Jim Jones … Interviewee
• Jerry Sichting … Interviewee
• Charles P. Pierce … Interviewee
• Cedric Maxwell … Interviewee
• Michael Cooper … Interviewee
• Kevin McHale … Interviewee
• Arsenio Hall … Interviewee
• Pat Riley … Interviewee
• Ted Shaker … Interviewee
• Chuck Klosterman … Interviewee
• Dan Dyrek … Interviewee
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Dennis Rodman
• Isiah Thomas