“Thought Larry Bird Was a Good Guy”: When Magic Johnson Objected to His Handshake Being Spurned by Celtics Legend at 1979 NCAA Press Conference

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye when they met each other at the 1979 NCAA championship presser.

The rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson ranks among the greatest of all time in sports history. These 2 players were primarily responsible for the NBA becoming a popular league among audiences in the USA.

Both Larry Bird and Magic Johnson made their professional debuts in the 1979-80 NBA season. Bird finished 4th in MVP voting and won Rookie of the Year honors over Magic.

Over the next 7 years, Bird never finished lower than 3rd on the MVP voting polls. He led Boston to 3 championship wins in 1981, 1984 and 1986.

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Magic, meanwhile, became the sole rookie to be voted Finals MVP after playing all 5 positions in Game 7 of the 1980 Finals and tallying 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists. Alongside Kareem, he won 4 more championships in that decade – in 82, 85, 87 and 88.

The duo met in 3 NBA Finals. Bird’s Celtics won in 1984, but Magic and his Lakers took away the 1985 and 1987 trophies over them.

Why Magic Johnson and Larry Bird didn’t see eye-to-eye initially

Renowned NBA author Jackie MacMullan co-authored a book called Basketball:A Love Story, published in 2018. One of the excerpts relates how Bird started the seed for their rivalry in 1979:

Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson assumed he and Larry Bird were friends. They were, after all, teammates on a 1978 summer all-star team representing the United States at the World Invitational Tournament.

After the tournament, Bird gushed to his brother Mark – ‘Magic Johnson is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen.’

One year later, Magic and his Michigan State team met Larry and his Indiana State team for the 1979 NCAA national championship. Johnson approached Bird at the pregame press conference expecting a hug or at the very least a hearty handshake. Instead, Bird looked straight through him.

Bird’s icy response was twofold: Magic was the opponent, which in Bird’s mind meant he was the enemy. And Bird was irked that Michigan State had two players on the dais – Magic and Greg Kelser – while Bird was up there alone, without teammate Carl Nicks.

Magic left that afternoon wounded and angry. “I thought Larry was a good guy,” he told Kelser. “Guess I was wrong.”

How Bird and Magic became friends

During the shooting for a Converse commercial – a brand that both stars endorsed, Bird invited Magic over for lunch at his home. His reason? Bird’s mother said her favorite player to watch was Magic.

After that, their friendship blossomed despite their on-court rivalry. The crowning moment of their friendship came in 1992 as the two co-captained the Dream Team.

Magic even donned Celtics gear for Bird’s retirement announcement in the days that followed.

The 2 remain fast friends to this day and are an emblem of healthy sporting rivalries.

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