{"id":1394804,"date":"2021-08-04T15:46:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T19:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1394804"},"modified":"2021-08-04T16:37:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T20:37:40","slug":"larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Bird \u2018Really Liked' Earvin Johnson but was \u2018Less Fond\u2019 of Magic Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/larry-bird\/\">Larry Bird<\/a> and Magic Johnson are two of the greatest players in NBA history. Their famed Magic vs. Bird rivalry defined the game in the 1980s. While these two were fierce competitors on the court, they were also <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-was-so-shaken-magic-johnson-hiv-diagnosis-he-didnt-want-to-play-boston-cletics-next-game\/\">good friends off it<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How can these two basketball enemies be so close personally? Bird once explained that they can make that work because he has a very different relationship with \u201cthe man,\u201d Earvin Johnson, and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/how-did-larry-bird-feel-like-he-stacked-up-against-magic-johnson\/\">Los Angeles Lakers star, Magic Johnson<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-larry-bird-and-magic-johnson-were-rivals-throughout-their-careers-but-became-friends\"><strong>Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were rivals throughout their careers but became friends<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On this date in 1979, the Spartans faced the Sycamores in the NCAA final. <br><br>And the Bird vs. Magic rivalry was born: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zvxvppfiwP\">https:\/\/t.co\/zvxvppfiwP<\/a><\/p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/846008856429953025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 26, 2017<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Magic vs. Bird rivalry started in the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/we-can-thank-larry-bird-and-magic-johnsons-1979-finals-clash-for-march-madness\/\">1979 NCAA National Championship game<\/a> when Johnson\u2019s Michigan State Spartans took down Bird\u2019s Cinderella Indiana State Sycamores to with the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two Hall of Famers then went to the NBA, each ending up on a different coast. Bird\u2019s Boston Celtics and Magic\u2019s Lakers defined the next decade of basketball. From 1980 to 1989, at least one of these teams was in every NBA Finals. During this time, the LA Lakers took home five championships while the Celtics netted three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bird and Magic were bitter rivals when they arrived in the league. However, a <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/magic-johnson-and-larry-bird-truly-despised-each-other-changed-unexpected-way\/\">Converse sneaker commercial shoot changed that<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two players were stuck together in Bird\u2019s hometown of French Lick, Indiana, for the shoot, and Bird\u2019s mom made lunch for the two of them. Over a meal, Bird and Magic found that, while their early environments were very different, their upbringings and experiences were much the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since that famous meal in French Lick, the two greats have been friends ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bird-told-david-letterman-how-he-felt-about-earvin-vs-magic-johnson\"><strong>Bird told David Letterman how he felt about Earvin vs. Magic Johnson<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1250\" height=\"832\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg?w=1024&#038;h=682&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Basketball legends Magic Johnson (left) and Larry Bird (center) talk with Dave (right) about their friendship and their Magic vs. Bird rivalry on the court when they visit the Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday, April 11, 2012 on the CBS Television Network.\" class=\"wp-image-1394809\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg?w=300&amp;h=200 300w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg?w=768&amp;h=511 768w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=682 1024w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=799 1200w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg?w=90&amp;h=60 90w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" \/><figcaption>(L-R) Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, David Letterman | Photo by Jeffrey R. Staab\/CBS via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As friends, now that their playing careers are over, Bird and Johnson make appearances together with some frequency. One such appearance included a sit-down on the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zRnT6vEbADk\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Late Show with David Letterman<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The three icons talked about Bird and Magic\u2019s relationship, including how Bird felt about Earvin Johnson, the man, vs. Magic Johnson, the Lakers star:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong>Letterman:<\/strong>\u00a0I think I remember from the documentary that said that you really liked Earvin, you were less fond of Magic. Is that a correct \u2013 what does that mean?<\/p><p><strong>Bird:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, Earvin the man is one thing, but Earvin the basketball player, I had a little problem with him. It ended, of course, twenty years ago but \u2026 I can\u2019t really say what I think.<\/p><cite>Larry Bird on Earvin &#8220;Magic&#8221; Johnson<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>After listening to Bird say this sitting next to him, Magic shared that he enjoyed hearing that. \u201cIt makes me feel good, Johnson said. \u201cI was a thorn in his side, I\u2019m supposed to be. I\u2019m supposed to go out there and kick his butt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued and talked about how the two players didn\u2019t like each other on the court, but they did have an incredibly high amount of mutual respect. It is that <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-famous-rivalry-with-magic-johnson-included-trash-talk\/\">combination of animosity and admiration<\/a> that made Magic vs. Bird the best rivalry in NBA history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-lakers-and-celtics-didn-t-face-off-as-many-times-as-you-d-think\"><strong>The Lakers and Celtics didn\u2019t face off as many times as you\u2019d think <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Magic Johnson, Larry Bird reminisce about their rivalry in college and the NBA (2009) | ESPN Archive\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ur9tZtwC8W8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Magic vs. Bird rivalry is both the most famous and the most important long-standing, head-to-head battle in NBA history. However, the two all-time greats didn\u2019t play against one another as much as it might seem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two played their first NBA game against each other on December 28, 1979. They met for the last time on February 15, 1991. In between, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/how-many-nba-championships-have-the-boston-celtics-won\/\">Bird\u2019s Celtics<\/a> and Johnson\u2019s Lakers met 18 times in the regular season and 19 times in the playoffs for a grand total of 37 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, those 19 playoff games (<a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/if-the-la-lakers-win-the-2020-nba-finals-they-owe-a-big-thank-you-to-larry-bird\/\">NBA Finals<\/a> games, really) are some of the most iconic NBA games ever played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson\u2019s Lakers got the best of the Celtics more times than not. Magic\u2019s head-to-head record against Bird was 11-7 in the regular season and 11-8 in the Finals. Bird had the upper hand when it came to scoring, though. The Legend averaged 21.7 points in the regular season and 25.3 points in the Finals, while Johnson put up 19.4 and 20.7 per game, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bird also averaged more rebounds (10.9 regular season, 11.1 playoffs) and blocks (1.0) in the matchups, while Magic put up more assists (11.5, 13.5) and steals (2.2) per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important head-to-head number is championships, and Magic has the edge there. Boston and LA met in the NBA Finals in 1984, 1985, and 1987. The Celtic lifted the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy in \u201984, but the Lakers took it home in \u201985 and \u201987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All stats courtesy of\u00a0<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Basketball Reference<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/stathead.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Stathead<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[Correction: An earlier version of this article listed Magic Johnson's given name as Ervin.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-once-told-charles-barkley-during-game-theres-not-a-white-guy-on-the-planet-that-can-guard-me\/\"><strong>Larry Bird Once Told Charles Barkley During a Game, \u2018There\u2019s Not a White Guy on the Planet That Can Guard Me\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are friends because Bird can compartmentalize how he feels about his friend Earvin vs. Lakers star Magic Johnson. Bird once told David Letterman that he had a little problem with Magic Johnson, the LA Lakers star and Magic liked the sound of that because he wanted to kick Bird\u2019s butt. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":1394809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4814,62310,4817,4825],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Larry Bird \u2018Really Liked&#039; Earvin Johnson but was \u2018Less Fond\u2019 of Magic Johnson - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are friends because Bird can compartmentalize how he feels about his friend Earvin vs. Lakers star Magic Johnson.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larry Bird \u2018Really Liked' Earvin Johnson but was \u2018Less Fond\u2019 of Magic Johnson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are friends because Bird can compartmentalize how he feels about his friend Earvin vs. Lakers star Magic Johnson.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-04T19:46:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-04T20:37:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"832\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Crean\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@twcrean\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Crean\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/\",\"name\":\"Larry Bird \u2018Really Liked' Earvin Johnson but was \u2018Less Fond\u2019 of Magic Johnson - Sports7\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-04T19:46:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-04T20:37:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/3c64130dc33c55e64c149d1269d9c32e\"},\"description\":\"Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are friends because Bird can compartmentalize how he feels about his friend Earvin vs. Lakers star Magic Johnson.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-really-liked-ervin-johnson-less-fond-magic-johnson\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Magic-Johnson-Larry-Bird.jpg\",\"width\":1250,\"height\":832,\"caption\":\"(L-R) Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, David Letterman | Photo by Jeffrey R. 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He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike &amp; The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer \u2014 with a Manchester City focus \u2014 in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. 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He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike &amp; The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer \u2014 with a Manchester City focus \u2014 in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. 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