OF3-10/30/09 8:25 AM
HOW TWO NBA RIVALS BECAME BEST FRIENDS.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
Who would have thought that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, two of the fiercest competitors in the history of basketball...
NAT of Announcer during NBA Game
"...Johnson fouled by Bird, as those two great stars..." (:05)
...would ever become great friends --- and even team up to write a book together, about basketball and their own rivalry. Not Larry Bird.
SOT - Larry Bird
"He was always smiling. And as I told Magic, my goal my whole career was trying to knock out his two front teeth. (laughs) Then he wouldn't be smiling so much." (:09)
Not true, says Magic Johnson.
SOT - Magic Johnson
"When I saw Larry, I wasn't smilin'. Now, normally, I have a nice big smile. But Larry Bird took that smile right away. He was cocky and confident. He looked at you and he would tell you, 'You can't stop me. I'm gonna get about 40 tonight.' Then he would go out there and get 40." (:19)
It would be wrong to say that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson didn't think much of each other. They thought about each other all the time!
Bird tells Jim Axelrod...
SOT - Larry Bird - with Jim Axelrod, CBS News Correspondent
"(Byrd:) I always said, 'I know what he's doing. I know he's still out there.' And I'd get up an extra 200 or 300 shots, just because of him. And I had other things I wanted to do that day, but I couldn't do it a lot of days, because of him. (Axelrod:) That can make you hate a guy. (Byrd:) Well, I was wanting to hate him. That was in my mind. He was the enemy." (:18)
But behind the rivalry was a deep respect, says Magic Johnson.
SOT - Magic Johnson
"The ultimate respect that Larry Bird got --- especially in the black community, the African-American community --- was like, 'I don't care if he white or not, that guy can sure play basketball.' (laughs) And so, you know, you're sittin' in the barbershop and people are talkin' about 'Larry Bird, Larry Bird, Larry Bird.' So, I'm sittin' there like, 'All right, hurry up and cut my hair, I gotta get into the gym!', you know?' It was drivin' me crazy." (:21)
You'll see both Bird and Johnson when I see you on the television this "Sunday Morning" on CBS. The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. October 30th, 2009. |
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