“Magic Johnson and I thought Larry Bird was a black guy!”: When the Laker’s legend former teammate were in disbelief of Bird’s ethnicity given his offensive prowess

Magic Johnson and his former Michigan teammate, Greg Kelser, hilariously thought that Larry Bird was a black man upon hearing of his game. 

The rivalry that exists between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird is one that is on par with the rivalry that exists between the two teams they played for. David Stern knew exactly what to capitalize on when coming into the league as Commissioner and knew that pushing Magic-Bird over Lakers-Celtics was the right move. And it was. 

The two would unfortunately never meet in the NBA Finals until their 5th years in the NBA, in the 1984 NBA Finals. Larry Bird would beat Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers in a grueling 7 game series to claim his 2nd championship.

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The last time the two met in a game that had stakes as high as the ones during the ‘84 Finals, the script was flipped and it was Magic Johnson who came out on top. This is of course, in reference to the 1979 NCAA championship game that saw Johnson’s Spartans blow out Bird’s Indiana State. 

Magic Johnson and the rest of Michigan State believed Larry Bird was black. 

Prior to their run-ins with one another on the collegiate level, Magic Johnson and his Michigan State teammates got wind of a guy torching defenses for 35 points a night. However, they imagined this mysterious, offensively talented man to be vastly different from who he turned out to be.

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Greg Kelser, a senior when Magic was a sophomore, turned out to be perhaps the most accomplished guy Johnson played with on that Spartans roster. He would play 6 seasons in the NBA and average 14.2 points in his rookie season, the highest mark of his career. 

During a televised return of Magic Johnson to Michigan in 2010, Greg Kelser would reminisce about their battles against Larry Bird and his Indiana State. This is what Kelser had to say about the ‘Hick from French Lick’: 

“We thought Larry Bird was a black guy in Indiana, killing everybody. He’s scoring 35 a game? He’s gotta be a brother! We soon learned he was one bad white guy. We had a lot of respect for Larry Bird.” 

Jackie MacMullan would also confirm this belief of Magic’s on her ‘Icons Club’ podcast