Magic & Bird Documentary

I had a terrible childhood growing up. Growing up without a father and having an abusive stepfather didn’t help matters. Needless to say, there were not a lot of pleasant memories. One of the few positives in my childhood was that I lived through and had the privilege of watching the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird/Lakers and Celtics rivalry, which “saved the NBA.”

I can’t remember the first time I started watching basketball and fell in love with the Lakers. I do remember watching the team throughout the 80(s) and remembering it vividly. I can’t remember anything I learned in high school, but I remember Kevin McHale’s clothesline of Kurt Rambis in the 1984 NBA Finals. I had a hard time with math, but I could tell you all of Magic’s career statistics from memory.

I hated the Celtics and I hated Larry Bird. Recently, however, HBO decided to do a documentary about Magic and Bird in “Magic & Bird: A Courtship Of Rivals.” I don’t have cable and was unable to watch the showing but by the Lord’s providence the vice principal at my school, knowing I was a Lakers’ fan, recorded the show and burned me a copy. It was like I was meant to watch this.

The DVD was burning a hole on my desk because I waited for the father-in-law (aka “Big Pappa”) to be available so we could watch it together. This is a man who nearly missed the birth of one of his children because Magic and Bird were playing in the Finals. Good thing the game didn’t go into overtime or one of his sons might still be emotionally scarred. Now that’s the type of guy you want to watch this with. For the record I would’ve missed the birth of my child if it were necessary and simply not tell him/her. My justification would be that everyone has children but how many people could say they saw Magic and Bird play in the Finals?

Now that I’ve effectively offended every mother in the world lets move on. The documentary gave insight into the human component of both Magic and Bird and gave me a newfound appreciation for both players. And no, I no longer hate Larry Bird.

There were three things that stood out to me regarding the documentary. First, I was wondered why Bird played with such a chip on his shoulders. It turns out that Bird needed to hate his opponents in order to perform well against them. I’m also reading the book “When The Game Was Ours,” which gives vivid insight into the heart and mental approach Bird took towards the game of basketball. I had to take a break from reading the book because I began acting like Bird by yelling at teammates at the local gym when they didn’t perform well (I’m not making this up).

Second, the racial tension during that time period hit an all-time high. Being a middle school student at the time, I was completely unaware of how the media tried to paint the racial picture of Magic vs. Bird as really Blacks vs. White. Interestingly, neither Magic nor Bird saw it that way. They just wanted to win basketball games and simply looked at each other as the main competition.

Finally, there was Magic’s HIV announcement. After a physical before the 1991–92 NBA season, Johnson discovered that he had tested positive for HIV. In a press conference held on November 7, 1991, Johnson made a public announcement that he would retire immediately. He stated that his wife Cookie and their unborn child did not have HIV, and that he would dedicate his life to "battle this deadly disease." Johnson initially said that he did not know how he contracted the disease, but later acknowledged that it was through having multiple sexual partners during his playing career. At the time, only a small percentage of HIV-positive people had contracted it from heterosexual sex, and it was initially rumored that Johnson was gay or bisexual, although he denied both. Johnson's announcement became a major news story in the United States, and in 2004 was named as ESPN's seventh most memorable moment of the past 25 years. Many articles praised Johnson as a hero, and former U.S. President George H. W. Bush said, "For me, Magic is a hero, a hero for anyone who loves sports.”

I remember being in high school when Magic’s HIV announcement hit me like a frozen sledgehammer. Some of my female friends couldn’t understand why I was so depressed over it saying idiotic things like, “You don’t even know him, why do you care so much?” I just gave them the “You’re absolutely dumb and it would be a complete waste of time to even try and explain it to you” look and moved on without saying anything.

How would they ever understand the connection of a fatherless boy and his sports hero, the only positive male role model he’s known (at the time)? How would they ever understand how the heart of a man yearns for the inspiration of other greater men? How would they ever understand that all young men desire to be great but need personification of that greatness to see what it looks like? How would they ever understand the heart of a man seeks advantage and we live that advantage vicariously through our sports figure? Given the historical context, HIV was a death sentence. There was little awareness of how the virus could infect a person or how they could even live through it. “My hero was going to die,” I thought to myself. No high school girl will have the ability to understand this. And I don’t blame them.

Now that we’re more educated on the subject, with proper treatment people could go on living a normal and healthy life. The part that was most interesting was seeing it from Larry Bird’s perspective. He said that there were only two times in his life when he cried, the first time being when his father died and the second when Magic announced he had HIV. Bird went on to say, “For the first time in my life I didn’t feel like playing basketball.” I never knew how much Magic pushed Larry to greater heights and how much Larry pushed Magic. As a result, a mutual respect and a bond were formed. From two hated rivals to a kinship that cannot be explained.




Anyone who loves the game of basketball needs to know about Magic and Bird and how they saved the NBA and pushed each other to greater heights (You can bet this will be a lesson in the Jamreonvit household when Junior Jr. arrives). I admire men who are completely devoted to their craft and Magic and Bird were two of the very best. You know someone has accomplished something special when years after those accomplishments are done people still talk about it and stand in awe of it.

It was a great documentary. It reminded me of the great basketball legacy of two of the all-time greats. I have always appreciated what Magic has done for the game and I have come to appreciate what Bird has done as well.

… but I still hate the Celtics.