Michael Jordan came into an NBA that was enjoying its peak success with the rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. In the 80s, either Bird’s Celtics or Magic’s Lakers would make it to the Finals for the most part. And then, all of a sudden, their dominance started to wane as new powers started to emerge. Since making it to the NBA, Jordan always measured himself against Magic, especially because the Lakers legend had five championships. Meanwhile, Jordan and the NBA got their dream matchup when the Bulls and the Lakers met in the 1991 Finals.
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It was a fight between one of the NBA’s greatest icons and the best individual player in the league. Jordan and the Bulls would win their first championship after defeating the Lakers 4-1 and somehow MJ would end up paying a $10,000 ‘Jock Tax’ to the state of California, for the two games played in LA.
Jordan, who averaged 31.2 points, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks in the five games of the NBA Finals, probably smirked when he heard the whole state was seeking revenge on him for beating Magic.
The NBA considered Magic vs. Michael a ‘dream matchup’
Jordan and Magic did not have a friendship per se, since the latter, along with Isiah Thomas, allegedly conspired ‘the Freeze Out’ in the 1985 All-Star game. The ‘Freeze Out’ was reportedly arranged to send a message to Nike, who had signed Jordan in his rookie year. It entailed locking Jordan up in his first ever All-Star game.
Magic, who was with Converse at the time, and Jordan, who was with Nike, would not meet in the Finals because the latter wouldn’t make it until 1991. It was a dream matchup for the NBA as per the New York Times bestseller, The Jordan Rules.
“MICHAEL VERSUS MAGIC. THAT’S THE WAY THEY SAW IT IN Chicago. Magic versus Michael. That’s the way they saw it in Los Angeles. Dollar signs. That’s the way NBC and the NBA saw it, for this NBA Finals between the Bulls and Lakers was going to be big,” wrote Sam Smith in The Jordan Rules (1991).
“It was Jordan going for his elusive first title and Johnson probably going for his last. Scorer against playmaker. Coke against Pepsi. Nike against Converse. McDonald’s against Kentucky Fried Chicken. If Jordan was the most popular and well-known player in the NBA, Johnson was Hollywood. It was a dream matchup.”
There was always a tacit rivalry between Magic and Jordan, which was inevitable because of their greatness. The NBA’s Magic vs Michael marketing further aggravated the narrative that already appealed to the fans. The rivalry culminated in the 1991 NBA Finals where the two Titans collided for the very first time in the postseason.
Michael Jordan once told Larry Bird and Magic Johnson to quit or he’ll bust their a**
Back in 1992, when the NBA’s greatest-ever talents assembled for the Barcelona Olympics, we got the chance to see Bird, Magic, and Mike play together in practice sessions, against other countries.
Even their meetings outside the court were as legendary as their time in front of the camera. Once, in a hotel room, Jordan told the heroes of the past decade that their time was over, so they better quit.
“I’m telling you, Larry, I’m telling you Magic — if you don’t quit, every time I see you next year I am busting you’re a**. When I come to your arena, I’m busting you’re a**. I’m warning you right now, you better quit,” Jordan told the legendary duo of the 80s, according to Ahmad Rashad.
