When the Game Was Ours [Tapa dura]

I thought it was really cool to see a book about the rivalry that brought us a new and improved NBA that was Larry Bird and Ervin Magic Johnson. The two, as you will see, could not be further apart in so many was as they were. They almost played on the same college team, you find out, but then they play against each other for years in so many venues.

The book is layed out so we have a target date or highlight date, whether it be the college finals, an allstar game or the NBA finals, you see each event as a time in history, from both of their perspectives and from those of others with a bit of history between events and from each of their lives. You learn a lot without brutal details about our two heroes. And really for some of us, that is just what they were. I hed the chance to talk to Ervin one day on the phone, really. He was a down to earth guy, and I thanked him for what he and Larry had done to the game. He said he heard that a lot. Interestingly, that was in 95, before he returned to play again. Who would have known that it truly was what got the game of Basketball back to what it could be.

Jackie MacMullan does a great job weaving and bobbing through the lives of both. Passing back and forth between the two of them and scoring with each chapter. (sorry, I just could not help myself).

This should go down as one of the most intriguing and best reads about pro basketball and even sports. This is a great book for those who experienced it, those who are interested in the game and even kids interested in the sport. It is written tastefully so young kids could read it.

These were two men of character that started off as fierce rivals and went on to mutual respect and became great friends. To see all of this behind the scenes and how the two of them kept their game great is a treat.

Highly recommend.

For twenty-years basketball fans have heard and read from many sources what the true feelings of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were like as these two unbelievably competitive men changed the game of basketball. They were so totally different... and yet at the core... so totally alike. For the first time Larry and Magic collaborate to reveal what they "really" thought about each other through each and every step of their game-changing careers. It's like having a split screen with Magic on one side and Larry on the other as they share their childhoods... college... and NBA careers... and even their post playing lives. At the end of each historical milepost the split screen becomes one as both Hall of Famers summarize in real-time... adding comments that are more sage with the blessing of age and maturity.

When Magic and his Michigan State team met Larry's Indiana State team for the National Championship Game in 1979 it drew a 24.1 Nielsen rating, "THE HIGHEST IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY, A NOTEWORTHY MILESTONE THAT REMAINED UNTOUCHED THREE DECADES LATER." From that time forward Larry and Magic were forever linked-compared-and-intertwined for the rest of their lives. A mutual hatred breeded mutual respect and in the end a lifetime friendship. Along the way they were universally credited with saving the NBA. "IN 1979 THE LEAGUES FOUR-YEAR DEAL WITH CBS WAS WORTH $74 MILLION. BY 2002 THE LEAGUE HAD INKED A SIX-YEAR DEAL WITH ABC, ESPN, AND TNT VALUED AT 4.6 BILLION." The author's pull no punches as they both admit that starting in the aftermath of their NCAA showdown that one hated the other. After Magic won the NBA championship in his rookie year Bird now admits extreme jealousy. Though neither one admitted it in those days they each followed the others stats and accomplishments like madmen possessed. As some individual awards went Bird's way... Johnson felt slighted. But through it all they both admit this feverish competition between the two made them both rise to athletic levels they would never have reached without the burning desire to outdo the other. And then in 1985 they both agreed to take part in the now infamous Converse commercial entitled "CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON"... and Magic came to Larry's home in Indiana... and the miraculous took place. These two fiery... hating... competitors... started to talk and found out they were very much alike... and their childhoods were extremely similar. And then in the unlikeliest of scenario's they became extremely good friends. They realized then... and now... that their lives were forever interlaced. Magic couldn't go anywhere without people asking how Larry was doing... and Larry couldn't go anywhere without being asked how Magic was doing.

Any true basketball fan will not only share the exhilaration of the glorious pinnacles of the author's careers... but you will also feel the grief as their careers come to an end. And of course Magic becoming HIV positive. The definitive epitome of the friendship that had been born through these competitive games... was when Magic demanded that Larry be contacted and made aware of his disease before it was made public. Along with the accepted fact that Bird and Magic saved the NBA... potential readers will also truly enjoy the coverage regarding Michael Jordan taking the baton and leading the NBA to reach even higher goals. The detailed story telling regarding the 1992 Olympic Basketball Dream Team is a must read for all basketball fans. A scene between the greatest players in the world at the Olympic Village during a game of pool with Jordan, Magic, Larry, Barkley, Ewing... and others... as they banter between themselves as to who "was" the greatest... "is" the greatest... and "would-have" been the greatest... if time had been shuffled differently... is one of the greatest behind the scenes look at these famous stars I've ever come across. It is akin to the stalking of lions in the jungle as they contemplate changing the pecking order.

The rabid rivalry that was Magic and Bird raised each of these legendary "team-first" ballplayers to levels... that in this retrospection... they publicly agree... they would have never reached without the other. It's left to the imagination how much higher Jordan may have gone if he had had his own Larry or Magic in their prime. Basketball is forever greater because of this rivalry... and no discussion of one... will ever take place without a discussion of the other... for all eternity!

I'm sorry to be the one voice in opposition to the other reviews but I was so excited to get this book and had the worst time getting through it.
First...I never got the impression anybody but Jackie MacMullan was the author. If Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had not been listed as authors I'd have never wondered reading this why not. It doesn't read like they wrote it and Jackie put form to it...it reads as if Jackie wrote it and had interviewed them as well as many others...like a typical biography. I was more expecting that I'd be reading what I felt was direct writing from the two stars of the story.
My biggest gripe is the non linear story telling style used. In the brilliant book on Sandy Koufax the author alternated chapters of his life with a chapter about each of the innings of his perfect game and that was a clever way to tell the story and the biographical chapters were pretty much in chronological order. Books about folks who really don't have a great life story but a recent event of significance often begin with a "teaser" about something recent and then after the reader is grabbed take you back in time. The story of Bird and Magic needs no such gimmicks as this is a meaty story full of drama and much of it in my opinion is LOST because the author bounces around from year to year back and forth with no respect for chronological order so much of the story is confusing and drama lost. I say that as someone who knows the story and feels that the natural story arc is truly something special...and not needing of the continual back court dribble that the author employs.
The author also spends more pages on the first Converse commercial they filmed than either the 84 or 85 playoff series...man I was sad about that. I was looking for a lot of juicy inside the huddle type of talk and was let down.
To sum up ....I am happy to have read this book, but it wasn't as enjoyable or easy as I hoped. I did come away with even a greater respect for Bird (and being a life time Laker fan that is saying something).
I think the "Sizzle" on this one is much tastier than the actual "Steak" which is more like hamburger in my opinion. If you are a fan of Larry Bird I'd recommend his autobiography "Drive" if you haven't read that before this book.