Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were already prominent NBA superstars when they teamed up for an iconic Converse commercial in 1986, but the experience proved to be more than a money maker for the pair of Hall of Famers. Though both players had already been individually signed to Converse, the joint campaign significantly elevated the brand’s visibility. The “Choose Your Weapon” commercial featured Bird in Celtics green and white and Magic in Lakers purple and gold, each promoting their own version of the shoe.
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At the time, Converse was attempting to maintain its dominance in the basketball shoe market, facing growing competition from Nike and Adidas. The Converse Weapon was marketed as a high-performance shoe designed for elite athletes, and the Bird-Magic partnership gave it instant credibility.
Filming the commercial also gave Magic and Bird a new perspective on one another. The Lakers legend notably had to travel to Larry’s hometown of French Lick, Indiana, for the shoot, which he was far from excited about. To be fair, Bird wasn’t exactly ecstatic about welcoming Johnson, either.
“I had my brothers there and I was going to fight him,” the Celtics great said during a March 2024 appearance on David Letterman. “If I couldn’t whip him, surely one of them could.” But the actual truth was, most of the Birds and the whole town of French Lick were all clamoring to meet the superstar point guard.
“My mom was pretty good about it; she was all excited. My brothers were all excited; they loved Magic,” Bird admitted. “The town was excited about having come to our hometown. You know, come from a small town, it’s pretty big news … But he came in and we shot this commercial. My mom fixed lunch, and it was neat.”
Magic and Larry obviously knew each other from their numerous battles on the court, but they didn’t really know each other before their Converse collaboration. It proved to be the beginning of a lasting friendship between the two, a unique addition to their longstanding rivalry.
“It’s accurate,” Magic said when Letterman asked if this experience sparked their friendship. “We didn’t really say much once I arrived. We actually had never really interacted before. So we got to the basketball court, shot the first half of the commercial, then it was lunch break.”
“And so I’m going back to my trailer thinking I’m gonna eat alone and he’s gonna go,” the five-time champion continued. “He said, ‘No, Erving, come on up, my mom fixed lunch.’ … I said, ‘Okay, cool’ … So we go up to the house, and his mom just greeted me at the door with a big hug and that just sort of calmed me down.”
Bird’s mother also claimed Magic was “her favorite player”, which only made him feel even more comfortable in the foreign environment. All it took was a freshly made lunch and a hug from mom to make him feel like part of the family. But Magic explained that what really brought him and Bird together were their similar upbringings and values.
You’d never know it from the way they competed on the court. But in the later years of their respective careers, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were actually buddies. It only took one iconic Converse commercial to spark what would become a closely-knit friendship that has now spanned decades.
