Players do it, legends do it, pundits do it; comparing eras of the NBA is part and parcel of the experience. Though it can often detract from the appreciation of the game, these conversations also highlight the stark contrast between past and present eras. For Magic Johnson, one difference between his time and today stands out the most, even more than the play style and physicality.
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As one of the faces of the Los Angeles Lakers, Johnson reflected on how he and his teammates could never imagine shaking hands with the Boston Celtics after a game.
He joined his Showtime teammate Byron Scott on his podcast to discuss how such niceties have dampened the competitive spirit in the NBA. Johnson established that this lack of rivalry also adversely affected the viewership.
“It’s disappointing now to see them shaking hands,” Magic said on ‘Byron Scott’s Fast Break’. “And they wonder why the viewership is down.”
Scott agreed with Johnson and recalled how the Lakers-Celtics matchups of their time would end with the losing team walking off the hardwood. They took the rivalry seriously and didn’t feel the need to address their opponents after the game. According to Magic, the modern NBA would benefit from a return to those old ways.
“See, in football, in the NFL, they have rivalries. And they hate each other… So, that’s why the fans view the games or watch the games because they’re like, ‘Oh man, something is going to happen!’” the co-owner of the Washington Commanders explained.
In 2024, the NFL accounted for 72 of the 100 most-watched telecasts in the country. And according to Magic, their competitiveness plays a big role in the draw.
His team, the Commanders, boasts one of the fiercest rivalries in the NFL with their NFC East opponents, the Dallas Cowboys. On Thanksgiving 2023, the Washington-Dallas matchup drew in over 44 million viewers, making it the third-most watched game in regular season history.
Johnson added that his playing days attracted similar attention due to the competitiveness that teams played with. “In the NBA, everybody tuned into the Lakers-Celtics because they knew that we hated them, they hated us and something was going to happen, right?
Magic blamed the lack of rivalries for killing the mystery of what a game might offer the viewer. “Whether a fight might break out [or not]. But they were also going to see something special,” Magic remarked.
Certainly, the tension has been lost over the years. On March 8th, the Celtics snapped LA’s eight-game win streak and still, the team’s biggest stars were seen shaking hands after the final whistle.
Whether or not something so minute can truly affect the level of competitiveness on display is one question. The other is about the prevalence of handshakes themselves. According to Isiah Thomas, the NBA has Michael Jordan to thank for the phenomenon.
“Up until 1991 when the Detroit Pistons got swept by the Chicago Bulls, nobody expected a handshake,” Zeke said on ‘The Mark Jackson Show’. “Go find me the picture of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird shaking hands after they played each other.”
Patrons of ‘The Last Dance’ will remember Jordan’s frustration with the Pistons after they walked off the court in Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. However, Thomas believes that there was never any precedent for it until that moment.
Now, decades later, even the fiercest rivalries are book-ended by gestures of formality, a trend that Magic Johnson certainly wants to put to bed.
