‘Magic & Bird’: An Unrivaled Rivalry, Friendship
SportingNews
When HBO Sports’ latest do entary, "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals," debuts this Saturday (8 p.m. ET), you will see a story that goes beyond Earvin "Magic" Johnson vs. Larry Bird, Michigan State vs. Indiana State and the Lakers vs. the Celtics. It’s about two men living parallel yet much different lives, and their special place in the history of sports and popular culture.
The result is an exceptional hour-and-a-half of television. Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer found out more about the compelling process of making the film from the do entary’s producer, Ezra Edelman:
Sporting News: What was the most surprising thing you learned?
Ezra Edelman: Frankly, it was that their friendship and bond was in fact genuine, and not a function of some sort of media hype. I was somewhat skeptical going in, but then you understand when you see them talking about each other.
SN: What is something new viewers are likely to learn?
EE: I came in a big sports fan and basketball fan, and I thought ‘I don’t know much about Larry.’ I don’t know how many people know about his dad, his dad’s suicide, or how just the depths of the poverty that was around him. Then there’s Bird himself, and the mystique surrounding him. From traveling to French Lick, you get more of a sense of his inner life. From being around Bird and Magic so much, you see how fixated the two were on each other.
SN: Does Magic’s personality live up to what everyone knows?
EE: He’s a people pleaser. We went wanting to access another side of him, because of the image that all came so easily for him. After being around him, I understood his magnetism. There is a charm about him and an ease with how he carries himself.
SN: Is there any individual sports rivalry that can rival theirs?
EE: You have Chamberlain and Russell, and you have Ali and Frazier, which has inherent drama with two guys beating each to the brink of death. But Magic and Bird has a special place. As I was seeing these two guys opening up about each other, I found it moving. You couldn’t make this story up. It had cultural, racial and geographic significance. There was great texture to their rivalry. It’s a real connection with cultural ramifications. Each man occupied archetype, and in their own way, help begat players such as Michael Jordan.
SN: Will a rivalry like this ever happen again?
EE: Magic and Bird came along at the right time. In today’s media culture, where you have sports on television around the clock, and the Internet with people blogging about everything, it’s hard to focus on just one great story. Now you have to debate such things, create them out of a vacuum, hoping they can live up. I don’t think the atmosphere is there where such a rivalry can exist at the same level.
SN: Do you think this could ever turn into a feature film?
EE: Through the magic of cinema, you wouldn’t necessarily have to find guys that are 6-9, 6-10, but of similar heights. I think it would work best if you found unknowns to play them. It would be impossible to do justice to them as basketball players. You can’t focus too much on the basketball then, and it would require using a lot of real footage. I would like to see it happen.
Man, I just got rid of my HBO, too! I'm so bummed that I'll miss the first airing of this do entary. He's right about the rivalry...I don't think there will be one quite like the Magic/Bird paradigm...just two contrasting styles...rivals on the court/buddies off it. They still seem to have that mutual respect for each other and good will.
Man at first I HATED Bird then I come to admire an respect him.
I dont care what the stats say ...Magic and Bird. The greatest Celtic and Laker players becuae of what they did FACING each other. hekeem won when MJ was out Mj's riivals got old and could not measure up and even my Lakers earlier this decade had no rival in the East that could compare ...(spurs were the Lakers only true compe ion after Portland choked in 2000)
these guys were playing for the sake of the league with les at stake. THENBA Finals of 84, 85 and 87 were basketball at it's peak. and the two regular season games were circled on any true NBA fans calendar.
Great stuff. Cant wait to see it.
Now these two were gamers and hated each other on court and played with so much tenacity,makes me envious of old times. ONly a few players who still have that same tenacity in now-a-days game,these days their all about getting paid and 22 inch rims. But Bird and Magic saved the NBA,they changed things when the NBA was struggling
One of NBA's greatest rivalries unfolds on big screen
By Nathaniel Friedman, Special to SI.com
The le is more significant than you might think.
The HBO Sports do entary Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals (premiering Saturday at 8-9:30 p.m. ET) really is about two men and the relationship between them. The film covers a lot of ground and gets in all the necessary game analysis. It's always fun to watch a rookie Magic Johnson clinch the 1980 le, or be reminded of just how unmistakably rugged Larry Bird and the Celtics were at their peak. The pre-NBA clips of the two, especially in high school, are the stuff hoops fans live for.
But that's not the kind of narrative Courtship is after.
At the heart of Courtship of Rivals is its attempt to paint a psychological portrait of each man. For all the immortal game footage, it's present-day interviews with the two superstars that pack the most emotional punch. The Bird that emerges -- at once dark, calm, combative and open -- may be the most nuanced look we've ever seen of Larry Legend.
Johnson's convoluted Magic/Ervin distinction makes more sense to him (and Arsenio Hall) than it likely will any viewer. But it's a far cry from the slick, smiling pitchman. Both emerge as tragic, or at least tormented, figures; even Magic's HIV announcement takes on new poignancy.
Courtship of Rivals hits all the right historical notes and then some, even examining the Larry Bird culture wars as a function of Reagan-era politics. In passing, it brings up perspectives you'd love to hear more about: that Magic and Bird are more similar than is regularly acknowledged, or the two ushered in a new era by finally synthesizing NBA strategy with ABA flare.
Yet, by presenting the Greatest Basketball Story Ever Told as a struggle, and then bond, between two strong personalities, you end up realizing that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson made history -- not the other way around.
Bump. It's tonight.
"People say Michael Jordan saved the NBA. Bull . Magic and Larry saved the NBA."
-Bryant Gumbel, closing the show
Duncan, Kobe, Manu, Wade. Everyone else the NBA markets is pretty much a paycheck/endorsement player.
Just watched this after it's been sitting on my dvr and all I can say is it's absolutely great. Any real sports fan and human being watching the part where Bird and Magic are giving their recollections of the time Bird called Magic after he found out he was HIV positive will get a bit of that lump in their throat. It's Brian's Song-esque in it's emotional impact. Every bball fan should check this out.
This is an excellent do entary. Man, I remember that feeling too when I heard Magic got HIV. I thought he was going to be dead in 5-10 years, and spend his last years looking like Michael Jackson. Magic was damn lucky he didn't get the virus 5 years earlier before they had decent drugs to combat it. I loved seeing that 92 All-Star game again; that's far and away the greatest all-star game ever played.
I don't know if you can call getting HIV at any point in your life "lucky" regardless of drug improvement. Just sayin'
I remember actually being devastated when I found out he had HIV. I was walking home from middle school and I came across the news report at a local liquor store right when he made the announcement that he had the HIV virus. I went home and was crushed. He was one of my heroes and the reason I played basketball as a young kid. I still haven't seen this do entary, but I will have to soon.
was a great do entary. Really showed how much Bird really hated Magic. Magic had not as much hate but even when they became friends, Larry wanted to rip his nuts off. Jackie Mac's book is equally as good..... still irritates me about 1984. Lakers gift wrapped that le for Boston:
4 Celtic wins: avg. of 8 points
3 Laker wins: avg of 16 points
people remember Worthy's pass to Henderson but forget he played a uva game two.
imho Magic Johnson got cured a long time ago. The government controls the cure to AIDS/HIV and only administers it to the select few rich and powerful enough to get it. Everyone else receives treatment. As Chris Rock put it, "there ain't no money in the cure".
and tbqh the government's had a cure for AIDS all along, considering they were the ones who created it.
I wouldn't doubt it ........
Magic Johnson is disgusting TBH..
It's pretty lucky in comparison to the quick death HIV was just a few years before. I'd say getting a second lease on life is pretty fortunate.
Of all NBA players I have ever talked to, Magic was by far the nicest. The only others who even come close are Dr. J and David Robinson.
Well, the HIV doesn't kill you...it's when it becomes AIDS that does you in. I see what you mean, but I still think that if he wasn't Magic...he would've been dead because he wouldn't have the bankroll he does now to buy the "cure."
I took a class in college on HIV and as part of it met lots of normal HIV+ people who took these life-saving drug tails. It was a of a financial burden for most of them, but not something you needed to be a millionaire to pay for. Could be worse now with the way our healthcare system has just gone to these last few years though.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
