The rivalry between Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson and the Hall of Fame forward of the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird, is considered one of the greatest individual rivalries in basketball. The two dominated the NBA in the 80s and the 90s with a combined 8x NBA championship between them. However, beneath the legendary rivalry exists mutual respect, and Johnson recently portrayed this by singing high praise of Bird.

Magic Johnson recently appeared on the ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast with Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe. In one of the segments, Johnson sang high praises of Bird’s shooting ability. Moreover, he compared Bird to one of the modern-day NBA elite shooters, considered by many to be one of the best to have ever graced the court.

Larry Bird dubbed ‘Stephen Curry before Stephen Curry’

In the first few minutes of the podcast, Shannon Sharpe asked Johnson about his relationship with Bird before coming to the NBA. Johnson responded with a mind-blowing story of Bird, which forced Sharpe to crown him with a riveting title.

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Johnson talked about the days before the famous NCAA tournament championship, where Bird and Johnson faced off against each other for the first time. Before the championship game, Bird and Johnson came together in the WIT tournament, where the country’s best college players had gathered. Johnson and Bird had their first meeting in the tournament.

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When he first saw Bird play, Johnson reflected, “Man, I am sitting there watching him shoot Shanon; he must have made thirty in a row.”  To which Sharpe responded, “So he was Steph Curry before Steph Curry.” Johnson gave the approval of the comparison between Bird and Curry. 

Larry Bird was way ahead of his time in the 80s. Bird was one of the first elite shooting forwards the league had ever seen. He was a 6’7” forward with a deadly jumper and averaged a 37.6% 3PT-shooting percentage for his career. He also participated in several three-point shooting contests on All-Star weekends and came home with the win. Many fans consider him to be one of the greatest shooters ever.

The greatest rivalry that saved the NBA

The NBA’s reputation had taken a massive hit in the 60s and 70s. The league was losing its TV rights to other sports leagues, such as the mighty NFL, NHL, and MLB. But the league’s fortunes turned overnight when the biggest franchises of the league drafted the two stars of college basketball.

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted the 6’9” point guard, Magic Johnson; while the Celtics drafted the blonde white kid from Indiana State. The two stars dominated the league in the 80s. Their teams won a combined 8x NBA championships, among several other awards.

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The rivalry between the Johnson’s Lakers and Bird’s Celtics put the NBA back on the map. Millions of fans wanted to tune in and watch the legends against each other. As a result of the same, Johnson and Bird are often credited to have saved the NBA.