Editing Magic Johnson (section)

== Rivalry with Larry Bird ==
{{See also|Celtics–Lakers rivalry}}
[[File:1987 NBA Finals Lipofsky.jpg|thumb|left|Johnson against the [[Boston Celtics]] during the [[1987 NBA Finals]]]]
Johnson and Bird were first linked as rivals after Johnson's Michigan State Spartans squad defeated Bird's Indiana State Sycamores team in the 1979 [[NCAA]] finals. The rivalry continued in the NBA, and reached its climax when Boston and Los Angeles met in three out of four NBA Finals from 1984 to 1987, with the Lakers winning two out of three Finals. Johnson asserted that for him, the 82-game regular season was composed of 80 normal games, and two Lakers–Celtics games. Similarly, Bird admitted that Johnson's daily [[box score]] was the first thing he checked in the morning.<ref name="magiclarryquotes" />

Several journalists hypothesized that the Johnson–Bird rivalry was so appealing because it represented many other contrasts, such as the clash between the Lakers and Celtics, between Hollywood flashiness ("Showtime") and Boston/Indiana [[blue collar]] grit ("Celtic Pride"), and between blacks and whites.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bork |first=Gunter |title=Basketball Sternstunden |year=1995 |pages=49–55}} {{ISBN|3-7679-0456-X}}.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1057184/1/index.htm |title=The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of |last=Halberstam |first=David |date=June 29, 1987 |magazine=Sports Illustrated|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210082434/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1057184/1/index.htm|archive-date=February 10, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=June 17, 2019}}</ref> The rivalry was also significant because it drew national attention to the faltering NBA. Prior to Johnson and Bird's arrival, the NBA had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings.<ref>Neal, Rome. {{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/magic-time/ |title='Magic' Time |publisher=CBS News |date=September 26, 2002|access-date=June 11, 2022|archive-date=May 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506035445/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/26/earlyshow/leisure/main523385.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> With the two future Hall of Famers, the league won a whole generation of new fans,<ref name="cbc">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/larry-bird-inducting-magic-johnson-1.337388 |title=Larry Bird inducting Magic Johnson |publisher=CBC |date=August 15, 2002|access-date=April 5, 2021|archive-date=January 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103211953/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/larry-bird-inducting-magic-johnson-1.337388|url-status=live}}</ref> drawing both traditionalist adherents of Bird's dirt court Indiana game and those appreciative of Johnson's public park flair. According to sports journalist Larry Schwartz of ESPN, Johnson and Bird saved the NBA from [[bankruptcy]].<ref name="espnshowtime" />

Despite their on-court rivalry, Johnson and Bird became close friends during the filming of a 1984 [[Converse (company)|Converse]] shoe advertisement that depicted them as enemies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aamidor |first=Abraham |title=Chuck Taylor, All Star: The True Story of the Man Behind the Most Famous Athletic Shoe in History |year=2006 |page=151 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0-253-34698-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00014103.html |title=Eye for victory |last=Schwartz |first=Larry |publisher=ESPN|access-date=February 28, 2009|archive-date=November 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127175835/http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014103.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony in 1992, and described Bird as a "friend forever";<ref name="magiclarryquotes" /> during Johnson's Hall of Fame ceremony, Bird formally inducted his old rival.<ref name="cbc" />

In 2009, Johnson and Bird collaborated with journalist [[Jackie MacMullan]] on a non-fiction book titled ''When the Game Was Ours''. The book detailed their on-court rivalry and friendship with one another.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sheinin |first=Dave |title=Book review: When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121101705.html |newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 12, 2016 |date=December 13, 2009|archive-date=April 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425055327/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121101705.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, [[HBO]] developed a documentary about their rivalry titled ''[[Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals]]'', which was directed by [[Ezra Edelman]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Clinchy |first=Evans |title=HBO Documentary Revisits Magic Johnson–Larry Bird Rivalry That Saved Basketball |url=https://nesn.com/2010/03/hbo-documentary-revisits-magicbird-rivalry-that-saved-basketball/ |website=NESN.com |access-date=October 31, 2018 |date=March 6, 2010 |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103211809/https://nesn.com/2010/03/hbo-documentary-revisits-magicbird-rivalry-that-saved-basketball/ |url-status=live}}</ref>