Before Larry Bird and Magic Johnson became fierce NBA rivals, they played on the same team during a college exhibition game.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. (Image via SI)

The rivalry between Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird and LA Lakers’ Magic Johnson is one of the biggest blockbuster, longstanding rivalries of all time, in the history of the NBA. What made the two superstars so unique was that they revolutionalized the game in their own way. That, and the 8 NBA championships that they won between them.

Recently, on All the Smoke podcast alongside Matt Barnes, Magic shared a hilarious story of their first meeting. While the story in itself was heartwarming, Barnes’ initial response to Bird being brought up made it all the funnier.

Barnes said the following when Magic initially started talking about Larry Bird:

He had a little N***er in him.

Bird was known for going toe-to-toe with a range of bigger, stronger superstars during the era, and would also never shy away from trash-talking. While his paths officially crossed with Magic the first time during he 1979 NCAA Tournament Final between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Michigan State Spartans, they played together in another exhibition game, just months later. Magic revealed:

When I first met him I said ‘Alright, I’m gonna see this dude, this white cat can really go like he said.’ It’s respect, this ain’t nothing, yeah. So I said let me see what he can do. That boy, he could play, man! He turned it out. We played on a team in college in a tournament together, this is the first time I ever sat on the bench. He and I are on the bench. We were like the guys in front of us weren’t better than us.

Magic revealed that Bird and himself both started on the bench. However, their talent meant that they took over once they were brought in:

But the Kentucky head coach was coaching the team, so he started 3 guys from Kentucky. But when we got in the game, we turned it out. I saw this guy eat Jack Gibbons up, he was Player of the Year that year. And Larry Bird was just slicin’ and dicin’ him.

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Larry Bird and Magic Johnson both had illustrious careers

There were several reasons why the two players immediately became iconic. Apart from obvious talent, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were both enigmas in their own rights. Bird came to the NBA as a scrawny white player unfazed by the bigger and seemingly intimidating competition that he faced.

He was drafted sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, with Magic being drafted 1st overall the following year. Johnson revealed that while the two had a lot of determination and would go at each other almost every game, they also always had a lot of respect for each other.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. (Image via Open Source, X)
While Bird became the best shooter in the league by a comprehensive margin, Magic revolutionalized the PG position and won a total of 5 championships with the Lakers. He had a difficult end to his career, which happened after an HIC diagnosis in 1991.

Regardless, the two are even today amongst the league’s greatest-ever players and changed the game in their ways. To have done so while having utmost respect for each other makes the rivalry all the more special.