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A magical matchup
20 years ago, Johnson and Bird took center stage for the first time
Posted: Wednesday March 24, 1999 05:29 PM
 The first meeting between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took place in the 1979
NCAA championship game. In this excerpt from Sports Illustrated's 40 for the
Ages special issue, senior writer Jack McCallum reflects on the game and the
significance of the Magic-Bird
rivalry.
Click here for a Sports Illustrated photo
essay
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Rich Clarkson |
For two people so firmly linked together -- in these pages and throughout NBA eternity -- they sure were different. Ebony and Ivory, Left Coast and East Coast, the prince of Hollywood Showtime and the lord of the blue-collar masses. But, to be sure, the best way to study Earvin (Magic) Johnson and Larry Joe Bird is to consider them as a single piece, with their double-dribble entry into the NBA in 1979 coming as a fortunate accident of timing that did nothing
less than rescue pro basketball.
... Theirs was an irresistible story line, hatched on a court in
Salt Lake City on March 26, 1979, in what is still the most-watched
NCAA final ever. Individually they were great players, together
they became an epic tale, and their greatest combined contribution
was bringing the art of unselfishness back to the game. They
passed, they battled for loose balls, they lobbied with referees, they
pushed themselves and their teammates to the limit.
... To say that these two men transcended the game merely states the obvious, for it is impossible to separate the subject of Magic and Bird from the subject of race. The basketball traditionalist, typically an older white man convinced that point guard play began and ended with Bob Cousy, started with a vague mistrust of the flashy Laker point guard. But Magic would
finally win him over, demonstrating that you can win with style and smile,
play with both substance and a sense of theater. The younger urban
fan scoffed at the more labored moves of this palest of the pale
Celtics.
Rich Clarkson |
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But Bird would finally win him over, showing that you can win
with grit and guile, play with both imagination and a headful of
Hoosier fundamentals.
... The debate over who was the better player raged among media
and fans (and, more quietly, among other NBA players). Magic broke
from the blocks first. He led his Michigan State team to a 75-64
victory over Bird's Indiana State ragamuffins in their first
memorable meeting. Though Bird beat him out for NBA Rookie of the Year in
1980, it was Johnson who picked up a championship trophy in his first
pro season. And it was after he moved from point guard to
center (replacing an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the sixth and
decisive game of the 1980 Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers that
Magic's stunning versatility became obvious. But Bird won it all the
next year, and their unspoken game of "anything you can do I can
do better" became the NBA's No. 1 topic.
Issue date: September 19,
1994
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They Caged the
Bird |
| Here's how SI's Larry Keith saw the 1979 NCAA championship game between Magic
Johnson's Michigan State Spartans and Larry Bird's Indiana State Sycamores, on
March 26, 1979 in Salt Lake
City:
Last Monday night, in the championship game, Michigan State confirmed a notion
that had been gaining credence as the NCAA tournament progressed and State
rolled to one easy win after another. The Spartans, despite a 21-6
regular-season record, are a superb team -- perhaps even a great one -- largely
because or their perfect mix of superstars in the spotlight and supernumeraries
in the shadows. Together, they accomplished what Earvin Johnson and Gregory
Kelser could never have done by themselves -- indeed, what no team had been able
to do this season. The Spartans caged Larry Bird and ended the 33-game winning
streak of Indiana State 75-64 to win their first national basketball
title.
For Bird, the word in Salt Lake City was frustration. He missed open shots, he
committed turnovers and he failed to find the open man. He also needed what
Johnson and Kelser had, a supporting cast of bit players who could come up tithe
the critical basket or rebound, Yes, Johnson scored 24 points and Kelser 19 in
the final, but a little left-handed guard named Terry Donnelly popped in 15
points and a substitute center named Ron Charles grabbed seven
rebounds.
... Confrontations between stars of this magnitude have been surprisingly rare
in the final four. More often they have come in the semifinals, where Thompson
met Walton, Alcindor met Hayes, Russell met Bradley. But this one would be in
the title game, and as Brigham Young said when he first came upon what is now
the site of Salt Lake City, "This is the
place."
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| They Said
It |
| Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote: "You can't help but get caught up in a
confrontation like that. From what I've seen of Bird, he's not just one bird,
he's a whole
flock."
Spartans center Jay Vincent: "[Bird] was very, very frustrated. He kept
saying, 'Give me the ball, give me the ball,' but his teammates couldn't get it
to
him."
Bird, before the game, on Johnson: "He is more of a passer, and I'm more of
a scorer. And to me it's a very serious game. I can't be laughing like he does
out there. I just hope when it's over he ain't laughing at
me."
Magic before the game: "I'm a fan of Larry Bird's, and I love to look at what
he can do with the ball. Only thing is, I just can't get caught looking at him
tonight."
Bird, in 1992, reflecting on the game: "I thought we'd win, because we hadn't
lost all year, but after about 35 minutes I knew they had the better team. I've
never looked back on that game. The best team
won."
Magic would later say of Larry: "It's hard to look at a white man and see
black, but when I looked at Larry, that's what I saw. I saw
myself." |
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