This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. What do you do when things get tough? You don't give up. You stand your ground.
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Side effects include decreased blood cell counts, tiredness, dry mouth, nausea, appetite loss, joint or back pain, and constipation. Ask your doctor about Pluvicto because every day without cancer progression is a victory. Visit Bluvicto.com to learn more. Indeed Sponsored Jobs gets you quality candidates when you need them most. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes.
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This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. This heat is doing the most, and your patience isn't. It's time to find something that actually cools you off. Cool off with a refreshing large big ult drink at 7-Eleven. Cold, refreshing, and made the way you like it.
It's available at 7-Eleven and just 59 cents with seven rewards. Visit your local Charlotte 7-Eleven and satisfy that craving today. Ballots for 825-26 while supplies last. Participating stores, see Ad for full terms. Welcome to Hear Something Good on Women's Health and Longevity, brought to you by Seneca in partnership with Life MD.
Each week, we talk to leading experts about the issues shaping women's health in midlife. From hormone therapy and weight management to sexual health and more, these conversations take a comprehensive look at the whole woman, exploring the latest science and practical steps women can take to support their long-term health and well-being. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Coming to you from the city where the West begins, Fort Worth, Texas. The rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson is considered one of the greatest in sports history, single-handedly saving the NBA from financial ruin in the 1980s.
The two superstars, who were polar opposites in background and playing style, classed for over a decade. with Magic winning five NBA titles and Bird winning three. Here's our own Greg Hengler with the story. It is Indiana State against Michigan State, the bird against magic. All of the superlatives have been used, and believe me, all of them is.
It all began in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the night of March 26, 1979. It was the NCAA championship, Indiana State vs. Michigan State, a game that still ranks as the highest rated college final ever on television. A game that's now remembered as a prologue to a rivalry that transformed a sport and intertwined two legacies. Here's Larry Bird and Urban Magic Johnson just before the big game.
It would be the first time these two would go head to head on a basketball court.
Well, this is probably the biggest game I'll ever play in my life, and I just feel like I'm representing not only myself, my team, but we're representing our school in our town of Terre Holt.
Well, it's a dream come true, really, for me. I won the state title back in my home state and then my next accomplishment was going to the NCA and playing in a game like tonight in the finals. They were two stars made to compete, but only one of them had been groomed for the spotlight. Born August 14, 1959, Irvin Johnson grew up in Lansing, a gritty industrial capital city of Michigan. He was one of Christine and Irvin Johnson Sr.'s 10 kids.
Christine was a school custodian while Irvin Sr. worked two jobs nearly around the clock. Here's Magic Johnson. My father, he got up early every morning, six o'clock or so, and uh He went to work on his trash hauling truck every single day. Around noon, he would come home.
Catch a nap. and then he worked for General Motors for 30 years. And he won an award for never being late and never Uh Mr. Day. As a youngster, Irvin displayed his own strong work ethic on the blacktop.
Here's Magic and his sister, Evelyn. I was out there all Day long. Before we went to school, the bus leaves at 7, 7:30. I was out there at 6, 6:30 working on my game. From a very young age, Irvin knew what he wanted to do.
He had it all planned out. My dreams were to play in the NBA and become a businessman. Irvin was preparing to go to his neighborhood high school, a basketball powerhouse. They're predominantly black, sexted, and high. But when Lansing began bussing to desegregate its school system, Irvin's journey took an unexpected detour to the predominantly white Everett High School across town.
My first day at Everett High School Nobody Why? Would speak to anybody black, and nobody black would speak to anybody white. Here's Irvin's high school basketball coach, George Fox. Whenever there was any racial problems, The principal would get her and go talk to these kids. I can just see him with his big hands.
Calm down, just calm down. He'd break up fights. Talk with his friends, tell him, you know, let it go. You know, we can't fight about everything. Let's just chill, let's play basketball.
Irvin's talent was so great that soon after his varsity debut, a local reporter, dazzled by his exploits, gave the budding star a nickname. In the beginning, I thought it was foolish and dumb. You know, I didn't know nothing about a nickname. Then what happened was you start saying, wait a minute. It fits my game.
Hanging out with my boys on the street corners, we used to sing Temptation song. They started saying, hey man, magic, that's cool. And then people in the street started saying, hey, Magic. And I said, hmm. He bought into it and um I think he felt he had to kind of live up to that name.
And I must say that he did. Don't change your style now that you've reached the top. He loved it. The more attention he got, you know, he just he wanted attention from anybody he could get it from. Yeah, it does.
Um I really love the game and uh I just want to win. Gets it over and back, and he jams it through Irvin Johnson. Irvin loved to dress. Nice sandal belt and pants and overcoats with the fur around the collar. Always had to have his afro blown out.
He had to look the part, play the part. Irvin was the first guy. I have a possible He not only had a posse of a lot of black kids, he had a lot of white kids hanging around him.
Some of my white friends was like Hey man, we're having a Kager tonight. Won't you come on by? And I'm saying. What's a keger?
So they said, well, what it is, we get this big cake of beer. and you just go for it.
Okay, well what time does the Kegger start? Because regular party time in our neighborhood is 10, 11 o'clock. Uh the Kager starts at seven. I said The party starts at 7 o'clock. I said, okay, man, I'm going to come to the kegger.
We had a good time. The music was kind of bad, but we had a good time, you know. Yeah. In his senior year, Magic did at Everett what he had planned to do at Sexton, win the state championship. And when it came to choosing a college, he decided to stay home in Lansing.
Next year, I will be attending Michigan State University. At MSU, Magic's star quickly went national, but at the top of the college game, he soon discovered a certain presence beside him. The first time I saw Larry Burry was actually in a magazine.
Sort of stats. Yeah. Blown away by his stats. But let's see if he can really do it. against us.
And that's always a mindset. black players if he's a great white player. It was blowing my mind because he's dominating Jack Givens, Player of the Year in college basketball. Larry Bird is eating him alive. I couldn't wait to call home to tell my boys Matt.
This dude named Larry Bird is for real. This is the baddest white dude I've ever seen in my life. When we come back. more of the remarkable story of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Here on Our American Stories.
This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. And all of our history stories are brought to us by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College, where students go to learn all the things that are beautiful in life. and all the things that matter in life. If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to hillsdale.edu.
That's hillsdale.edu. This is Matt Altmix from How to Money, and we are all about comparing prices to save money on so many things in life.
So, why wouldn't you compare prices for your next ride share? Taking a few seconds to check Lyft can save you real money on your next ride. And I did this last time I caught a ride home from the airport after some travel, and guess who came out on top? Lyft.
So don't just price check with flights and phone planes and your groceries. Comparing ride share prices will help you to save money every time you ride. Save money, check lift. This is Osvaloshin from TechStuff, and I want to tell you about Keeper Security, because unlike built-in password managers, Keeper works across platforms, which allows you to securely share information with your family, with your colleagues, with your friends. And I personally store things like passport and credit card details, so I'm not scrambling every time I travel, which makes my life more efficient.
And when you're busy, but also focused on security, like I am, that is absolutely critical. Keeper is offering a 50% discount on personal or family subscriptions using the promo code TechStuff at keepersecurity.com at checkout. Hi, my name is Lisa, and I'm a licensed psychotherapist, which means my work doesn't magically end when the session does. There are notes to write, appointments to manage, billing, insurance follow-ups, and somehow all that admin used to creep into my nights and weekends. That's why I switched to simple practice.
Simple practice is an all-in-one electronic health record built specifically for therapists with HIPAA compliant tools and high trust certification, so I don't have to worry about juggling systems. Or cutting corners just to keep things running. Scheduling, documentation, billing, insurance, client communications, even automated appointment reminders, it all lives in one place. And if you're starting or growing a practice, Simple Practice also offers a credentialing service that helps simplify insurance enrollment, which can be a huge lift when you're starting to scale. Right now, Simple Practice is celebrating Mental Health Provider Day with an exclusive offer.
Up to 70% off for one year. Yes, up to 70% off for one year. But hurry, offer ends May 15th at simplepractice.com. Simplepractice.com. The first ever X Games League Championship is going down live and New Orleans has the call.
Three days of elite action sports, a season's worth of competition coming down to one final weekend. Watch July 24th through 26th on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Or stream on the ESPN app, XGames YouTube, Kik, Roku Sports Channel, and Amazon. The championship starts July 24th. Don't miss the moment.
It becomes history. Don't you dummy? And we continue with our American stories and the story of bird and magic. Let's pick up where we last left off. Here's Larry Bird.
Well, I thought he was very good. There's no question about it. Actually, I thought he was probably the best guard on the team. Irvin Johnson. Look at that.
We didn't get to play a lot, but You could tell. I think our first game was in Kentucky. We got about a 10, 12 point lead. Man, they put us in. went to 25, 30 just that fast.
Fast break again, three on two, Griffith, one. And that's Neil by Larry Bird. Take us out. The league goes back down, put us back in. That's third, and Johnson, the show started again.
When you play with magic, there's just something about it. You want to make that extra pass, you want to get that rebound and start to break. We came down a couple times. I go behind my back, no look to him. He no look back to me.
And I'm laying it up. I'm still, oh man. There's that last play. Magic Johnson going in, drops off to Bird. Bird puts it back off inside to Johnson.
Super bad has it. This guy got game. They had some wonderful moments on the court, but the two had no meaningful conversations. Such brevity was hardly strange coming from Larry Bird, who was not only one of college basketball's greatest players, but also its biggest enigma. Larry Bird grew up in southern Indiana, in the tough working-class town of French Lick.
Population 2,000. Tiny and remote, it was one of the poorest places in the State. Arriving Pearl Harbor Day on December 7, 1956, Larry was the fourth of six kids born to Georgia and Joe Bird. Early on, he and his four older brothers earned a reputation around town. Here's older brother Mark and Larry.
We were always considered troublemakers. We're either fighting amongst ourselves or. there was always one of us fighting somebody. Larry was always one that kind of instigated things, you know. If I get my brother in a fight with somebody his age, I was happy as hell.
I like to see him get beat up. And that's just the way it was. If if I got in a a scrape with some kid. And my brothers didn't come to my side. They knew that when he got home, my dad was going to whip him.
Larry and my dad were best of friends. They done everything together. One My dad would go out to my grandma's house. Larry would always go with him. They'd go fishing.
do a lot of things together. Larry's father battled his whole life against the demons caused by PTSD. which stemmed from a tour of duty in Korea. A talented craftsman, Joe Birds struggled to hold steady jobs. My mom sometimes worked late and sometimes she had two jobs, but That's the way it was.
I worked at school during my lunch hours, worked at the local grocery store, put up hay in the summer. I mean if you want a money, you had to get it on your own. To young Larry, actions spoke louder than words. He was very quiet. kind of hung to himself a little bit.
I saw Larry take an F in an English class. because he had to get up in front of his peers and give a speech. And so I won't do it. But he just could not get in front of his friends and talk. He was that shy.
Of course.
Next thing you know, when he knew it was time for all of us together at the gymnasium, well, there he'd be. The minute he get a basketball in his hand, things were totally different. He was good enough for Indiana University's most revered and feared coach, Bobby Knight, to come calling late in his senior year. And since the Birds didn't own a car, Larry's uncle tossed Birds' loan bag in the back seat of his Ford and drove 49 miles north to Bloomington to play ball for one of the best college teams in the land. Once I got to IU, it didn't take long to realize that I was out of my Cooker.
Had over 30-some thousand students. That I didn't have the funds. First. Week and a half, I thought, man, this ain't gonna work. After 24 days on campus, Bird packed up his duffel bag and hitchhiked back to French Lick.
He did not tell anyone of his plans, not even Coach Knight. Letdown reverberated throughout the entire community. Let my mother down. She didn't talk to me for two months. But it didn't matter what other people say.
To this day, I don't care. Back in French Lick, Byrd went to work for the city.
Meanwhile, that winter, his father's demons had taken him to an even darker place. Here's Jackie McMullen, author of the book on bird and magic, When the Game Was Ours. By this point, Joe and Georgia were divorced and he was behind in his payments to the family. The police came by and of course they all knew him.
So Joe said, Hey, I need a few hours to get my affairs together before you take me away So he called Georgia and he said, You guys will be better off without me and I'm gonna take my life and he put the phone down and and he killed himself. He shot himself. Here again is Mark Bird and Larry's high school coach, Jim Jones. When dad passed, you know, it hurt Larry. I mean...
That was his best friend. It's gone now. And but Larry didn't show it a lot. He just didn't say much. You know, he just kind of held it within.
I never heard him speak out about it. At all. Here's Larry. I was mad when I heard about it. Um I was madder after the funeral because I thought he sort of cut out on us during a a tough time, but You know, he went through a lot in his life.
He did what he had to do. Here again is Jackie McMullen. If Bill Hodges hadn't been as persistent as he had been, Larry Bird. might never have existed in any of our minds. I believe that with all my heart.
I really do. It was Bill Hodges, the persistent young assistant coach from Indiana State University, who convinced Byrd to give college hoops another shot.
So with the promise to his mom to graduate, Bird headed to ISU, a school that never so much had been to the NCAA tournament. This fact did not phase Larry Bird. Once I started playing, it's the same old thing. You know, he's a small school and he ain't playing against anybody. Which is fine.
still dominated. By the time he had led Tiny ISU as a senior to a thirty three and O record and a spot in the seventy nine title game, Larry Bird had become, alongside Magic Johnson, the talk of college basketball. The day before playing in the most widely anticipated college title game ever, Magic couldn't wait to greet his old playmate. Here's magic. Indian State was on practicing, and we were waiting in a tunnel.
We got there early. I wanted to definitely say hello to Larry, you know. When it came through, it was like nobody was saying nothing. I wanted to go toward him, like his guys, like made sure that he didn't say nothing. And then they kind of start snickering like Missing State, you're in trouble.
We're going to kill you guys tomorrow. I probably did snub him. I don't remember it, but I'm sure I did. I didn't. Actually.
One any You know, like I call it love fest, hugging and slapping high-fives with opponent. You're there for a reason. You're there to win a game. That just said it's on now. Heading into the tournament, Magic was the bigger star.
But by tip-off, it was Bird, having hardly missed a shot in the semifinal, who had become the focus for the fans and, more importantly, Michigan State. We actually had two men on Larry everywhere he went. Look at the pressure around him. Two, three, that. He's short.
I didn't play well at all. Biggest game of my life, didn't play well. It's all over Michigan State University national champions 1979 toughest loss I ever took Yeah. I knew it was going to haunt him forever because we were going to see each other a lot. And you've been listening to the story of magic and bird, and the story behind the story.
You know, we learned that Irvin grew up with a mom who was a school custodian, a dad who worked two jobs, but was always there. Tough working-class neighborhood of Lansing. And what's remarkable about Magic, he could have gone anywhere. And he stayed right in Lansing and brought Lansing a national championship and started Michigan State University on this heritage that the great Tom Izzo has carried for decades. And of course, there's Larry with a slightly different childhood, working class or less, but his own dad, his best friend, killed himself.
And I don't know how you get through that. and but for the persistence of Coach Hodges, Who knows, Larry Bird would have never been heard of. And then came that big showdown in 1979. And well, magic prevailed, and as Larry Bird just said, It was the biggest loss, the toughest loss. of his life.
When we come back, the story of Magic and Bird continues here. on our American stories. This is Matt Altmix from How to Money, and we are all about comparing prices to save money on so many things in life.
So, why wouldn't you compare prices for your next ride share? Taking a few seconds to check Lyft can save you real money on your next ride. And I did this last time I caught a ride home from the airport after some travel, and guess who came out on top? Lyft.
So don't just price check with flights and phone planes and your groceries. Comparing ride share prices will help you to save money every time you ride. Save money, check lift. This is Osvaloshin from TechStuff, and I want to tell you about Keeper Security, because unlike built-in password managers, Keeper works across platforms, which allows you to securely share information with your family, with your colleagues, with your friends. And I personally store things like passport and credit card details, so I'm not scrambling every time I travel, which makes my life more efficient.
And when you're busy, but also focused on security, like I am, that is absolutely critical. Keeper is offering a 50% discount on personal or family subscriptions using the promo code TechStuff at keepersecurity.com at checkout. Hi, my name is Lisa, and I'm a licensed psychotherapist, which means my work doesn't magically end when the session does. There are notes to write, appointments to manage, billing, insurance follow-ups, and somehow all that admin used to creep into my nights and weekends. That's why I switched to simple practice.
Simple practice is an all-in-one electronic health record built specifically for therapists with HIPAA compliant tools and high trust certification, so I don't have to worry about juggling systems. Or cutting corners just to keep things running. Scheduling, documentation, billing, insurance, client communications, even automated appointment reminders, it all lives in one place. And if you're starting or growing a practice, Simple Practice also offers a credentialing service that helps simplify insurance enrollment, which can be a huge lift when you're starting to scale. Right now, Simple Practice is celebrating Mental Health Provider Day with an exclusive offer.
Up to 70% off for one year. Yes, up to 70% off for one year. But hurry, offer ends May 15th at simplepractice.com. Simplepractice.com. The first ever X Games League Championship is going down live and New Orleans has the call.
Three days of elite action sports, a season's worth of competition coming down to one final weekend. Watch July 24th through 26th on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Or stream on the ESPN app, XGames YouTube, Kik, Roku Sports Channel, and Amazon. The championship starts July 24th. Don't miss the moment.
It becomes history. This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories, and we continue. with the story of bird and magic. Let's pick up Where we last left off. The National Basketball Association in its 33rd season is troubled by diminishing crowds and declining television ratings, signs that fan interest may be waning.
College basketball was flourishing at the end of the 1970s, but after the golden era of Bill Russell and Jerry West in the 1960s, the pro game was crumbling. But on a balmy afternoon in June, while Larry Bird was playing golf in Santa Claus, Indiana with his longtime friend, Max Gibson, a stranger hollered to them. Larry Bird, you've just been drafted by the Boston Celtics. What does that mean? Bert asked.
Hell, I don't know, he said. Indiana State's season had just ended in heartbreak in Salt Lake City at the hands of Michigan State and the Celtics made a pitch to sign Byrd for the final eight games of their season. The young forward opted instead to teach flag football, baseball, badminton, and dodgeball at the local Indiana High School. His duties also included teaching mentally disabled children, a CPR course, and a driver's education course. It was an unbelievable experience, Bird said.
One evening that summer, Bird was playing baseball and positioned in left field when a hard rolling ball smashed his finger and bent it backwards. I looked down, Bird said, and my finger was all the way over on the other side of my hand. Bird had to have surgery. How long is it going to take before it's healed? Bert asked the surgeon.
Son? I'm not sure it will. He was right. Today? Bird concedes.
I never could shoot as well again. Byrd finished his senior year at Indiana State and then in the spring of 1979, the NBA's sixth selected draft pick arrived with great hopes for the city of Boston. Here's Walter Cronkite. There's hope he can help solve professional basketball's difficulties, which some say are compounded by a question of black and white. The Great White Hope.
What does that mean? Well, you know It's very hard to say because there's a lot of great white players around and I just hope that I can just fit in as well, some of them that has fit in. You know, the gray players are the black players and they're the best. Such regard meant little to black Celtics. Guys like Cedric Maxwell, who looked at Byrd and saw not the great white hope, but another case of great white hype.
I think that you would say that most black players at the time were racist. in in the sense that We did not think that you could find a white guy who could play better than any black guy. When I walk in the first day of camp, Them guys were on the floor stretching, and here comes the white savior, here comes this, here comes that. I sort of enjoyed it. 'Cause I knew I was going to battle him all day.
So that was just Cedric. I'm thinking, oh, he's slow, he can't get off a shot. He's not that strong. This is gonna be a layup. Bale knocks down the jump shot.
Okay. Maybe that was luck. Gets the ball again. Bam, knocks down another jump shot.
Now I'm thinking like, okay, hey, you know what? I'm finna D this guy up. I'm gonna show him his life. 20 feet away. Bam, 25 feet away, bam.
My mind just goes to go, damn, this white guy can play. It was a good thing too, the storied Celtics might have been the winningest team in NBA history, but they were fresh off their worst season in 30 years. And in Bird, they not only had a player who was supremely talented, but tough enough to take on any challenge. Larry Bird plays it to the hilt, baby. Talent, toughness, and confidence aside, Boston also liked winners.
And when Bird led the Celtics to the NBA Championship in just his second season, he was finally one of those two. Larry Bird is right. in the middle. He's the eye of the Hurricane known as the Boston Celtics. Boston loved Larry Bird.
It just wasn't so clear at first how much Bird loved the city back. Here's Bird speaking at the City Parade celebrating their NBA championship. There's only one place I'd rather be, French Lette. Mm-hmm. Thank you.
He proudly dubbed himself the hick from French Lick. One of the great ways, I think, of winding up with no money in your pocket is to think Larry Bird is dumb. Syntax is not intelligence. Unlettered is not stupid. He did however allow the public one small indulgence.
You could come out on Saturday and watch him mow his lawn. Huge crowds started to stop. Larry Birds cutting grass in front of us. He's mowing his lawn in the springtime. Larry is about doing things himself.
And I think it's one of the things that made him so beloved in Boston. It is now exactly 12 noon. The draft is officially open. The first pick. The Los Angeles Lakers select Urban Magic Johnson, Michigan State, 6'8, 200 pounds.
In the stoic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers had talent, but what they were lacking in was energy. Urban Magic Johnson was only too happy to provide it. Here's Brian Gumbel. Lit the place up. Change the franchise.
changed the temperament. I changed it from the very first game. Sky hook up, and good Breakers win! Here it was: the first game of a long season against the lowly Clippers. And Magic was embracing Kareem as if They just won their 10th straight championship.
It was like. Man, this is a different kind of dude. Here's Magic's close friend, Arsiniel Hall. From the day he arrived, He became the prince of the city. He reminded me of a guy who wakes up without an alarm clock.
And that's what I used to always say: I want to be happy enough to wake up without an alarm clock because I want to go into my world. Here's former Lakers head coach Pat Riley. He had it, what it is. As far as I was concerned, the it was not his ability or his size. The it was his attitude, was his leadership, was his mind.
In his rookie season, Magic led the Lakers to the 1980 NBA Championship. But what Bird couldn't possibly have known was that he had inspired Magic's performance when he was named Rookie of the Year that same day. Here again is Jackie McMullen. The PR person from the Lakers says, Hey, Irvin, the Rookie of the Year voting has come out. And Magic says, Okay, well, who won?
He said, Well, Larry Bird won. And Magic says, Well, was it close? And he said, oh no. Mm-hmm. Bird won the award by a 63-3 margin.
Magic received the remaining three votes. Bird won the title the next year, and soon after that, black kids began showing up at the playground wearing Bird's number 33 jersey. Magic was surprised the first time he saw it, especially because it was on the blacktop in Los Angeles. Bird also had a close eye on Magic. I'd get up in the mornings and see what he did because their games came on late.
Then you look at the box score. I had to have him there for some reason. Like a crutch.
somebody I can compare myself to. I hated what was being said that Larry was better than me, and I'm just a guy who can control the game. My first four or five years, that bothered me a lot. I didn't tell nobody it bothered me, but it did. And you've been listening to the story of Magic and Bird, one of the great rivalries personally and one of the great franchise rivalries of all time.
And my goodness, the NBA was in the tank. Terrible ratings, terrible attendance, and these guys come in and resuscitate the league. Bird resuscitating the Celtics. They've been in a long losing streak. And of course, Magic Johnson providing that energy, that it factor.
that the Lakers desperately needed and Karim Abdul-Jabbar needed more than anybody. What happened next?
Well, my goodness, Bird started to get the early accolades. And this only fueled Magic's desire to topple Bird and topple the Celtics. When we come back, more of the story of this great rivalry. here on our American stories. This is Matt Altmix from How to Money, and we are all about comparing prices to save money on so many things in life.
So, why wouldn't you compare prices for your next ride share? Taking a few seconds to check Lyft can save you real money on your next ride. And I did this last time I caught a ride home from the airport after some travel, and guess who came out on top? Lyft.
So don't just price check with flights and phone planes and your groceries. Comparing ride share prices will help you to save money every time you ride. Save money, check lift. This is Ozvaloshin from TechStuff, and I want to tell you about Keeper Security, because unlike built-in password managers, Keeper works across platforms, which allows you to securely share information with your family, with your colleagues, with your friends. And I personally store things like passport and credit card details, so I'm not scrambling every time I travel, which makes my life more efficient.
And when you're busy, but also focused on security, like I am, that is absolutely critical. Keeper is offering a 50% discount on personal or family subscriptions using the promo code TechStuff at keepersecurity.com at checkout. Hi, my name is Lisa, and I'm a licensed psychotherapist, which means my work doesn't magically end when the session does. There are notes to write, appointments to manage, billing, insurance follow-ups, and somehow all that admin used to creep into my nights and weekends. That's why I switched to simple practice.
Simple practice is an all-in-one electronic health record built specifically for therapists with HIPAA compliant tools and high trust certification, so I don't have to worry about juggling systems. Or cutting corners just to keep things running. Scheduling, documentation, billing, insurance, client communications, even automated appointment reminders, it all lives in one place. And if you're starting or growing a practice, Simple Practice also offers a credentialing service that helps simplify insurance enrollment, which can be a huge lift when you're starting to scale. Right now, Simple Practice is celebrating Mental Health Provider Day with an exclusive offer.
Up to 70% off for one year. Yes, up to 70% off for one year. But hurry, offer ends May 15th at simplepractice.com. Simplepractice.com. The best skaters, BMX riders, and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues until now.
The X Games League Championship is live from New Orleans, July 24th through 26th. Three days of elite action sports, plus performances from Metro Boomin, JID, Subtronics, and Bunt. Watch on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Stream on the ESPN app, Roku, Kik, Amazon, and Egg. Games YouTube.
The inaugural champion gets crowned this July. And we continue with our American stories and the story of one of the greatest rivalries, if not the greatest, in NBA history. The story of bird and magic. Let's pick up where we last left off. Their competitive dislike emerged from a greater truth.
that on the court they were two of a kind, basketball prodigies who fused the substance of the sixties with the style of the seventies to create a new and exciting yet selfless way to play the game in the nineteen eighties. But with continued low television ratings and tape delayed finals, the NBA was struggling to get the word out. After the NBA signed a new TV deal with CBS before the 82-83 season, the rescue plan was simple. Sell more magic and bird. In 1984, when the Celtics and the Lakers both reached the finals just a year into the TV deal, the superstar investment was about to pay off.
It came down to Game 7. It was like college in 1979 for Magic and Bird. Magic and the Lakers flew into Boston for Game 7. The plane pull in like the whole. airport just stop and turn.
And just stared at us, and guys running up. Magic! Larry's gonna kill you! Larry's gonna kill you! And so just looking at everybody, yeah, bird's gonna kill you, magic.
Game 7 of the 84 series was the highest rated game the NBA had ever produced. But Magic was not rejoicing. The Boston. Celtics are the NBA world. World champions.
Well, it was a big deal, and I remember asking Quinn Buckner about it afterwards. They had a celebration in downtown Boston after they won the championship. And, you know, it was unusual for Larry to have these little outbursts, as Quinn would call them. But, you know, about 11:30 at night, finally he turned to Quinn and he goes, I got him. I finally got him.
and he was talking about magic. The two teams met again in the NBA Finals the following season. But in the 1985 finals, Magic flipped the script, winning the clinching game at the Boston Garden. but the significance of their rivalry and their relationship was about to change. Converse had convinced Magic and Bird to shoot a sneaker commercial in the summer of 1985.
You're crazy. I said, you're crazy. I'm not shooting no commercial with Larry.
So I said, okay. What, we're gonna shoot in LA? I would never went to LA to film it.
Well, what are we going to shoot it? Um If you want to shoot a commercial, come to my house. I was like, oh no. Uh One stoplight. I thought Lansing was small.
I think the plan was: I'm gonna go here, I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do, and I'm trying to get up out of here. My plan was that. The ad was to be shot at the home Bird built for his mom just outside French Lick, Indiana. It featured a full-length basketball court, the day's first shooting location.
So they say, okay, you're playing one-on-one. And I'm looking at Larry and he's looking at me like, is this real? Are we playing, playing? Because you know, this is magic and birds. I could just hear Larry, you know, starting in on, well, you bring it to the basket, I'm going to send it 30 rows up.
So the guy was like, no, no, not like that. A fun game. We were both like, oh, okay. Like, you can see this relief coming over both of our faces. We sat down next to each other.
How is your summer? Oh, that's going good. How is yours? It's going great. Say man, it's a nice spray you got.
And he's asking, is this where you play? I said, yeah, let's play here if it's not windy, if it's raining or windy, I go to the gym, but. This is where I do all my work. I see that tractor, you work on the tractor? He said, man, I work on this tractor every day.
Larry Bird work on a tractor? He said, yeah. It's just them two walking and talking and every once in a while they'd stop and one of them would say something and then they'd start laughing. Then they said, okay, break, it's lunch break time. I was going to my trailer.
He said, no. My mother has prepared lunch for us up at the house. We went up to the house and we sat down there and we talked and my mom, my brothers thought the world of him. His mother was so nice, making sure I had enough to eat. I just saw my mother.
It was crazy. Be charmed her. Mek Sit. But that's magic. He makes everybody feel.
welcome and warm and He's a con man. Yeah. By the dawn of the 90s, Magic won five titles, played in eight finals, and equalled Bird's MVP tally of three. And then Magic received a phone call. I'm sleeping really, laying down, just waiting on the game and uh No phone rings and uh The voice says, Hey, you gotta come back to LA.
And uh I said, okay, why?
Well, I can't tell you until you get to LA.
So I said, okay. Dr. Mailman starts to tell me that, you know, uh through the physical that I took, That um They discovered that I had HIV. The first person I thought of was Larry. I wonder what Larry thinks.
The day that I heard about magic, it just sort of changed my love for basketball. It shook me up. You know, you gotta get that feeling. About the same type of feeling I had when my father died. Called me and we're talking, you know, it's just.
How you doing? I heard about it and uh You can almost hear both of us with some Tears in our eyes. And I'm choked up. Because he did call me and Um You know, Once something happens. To you.
And then you find out who really your friends are. and people who really care about you. You figure all those battles All those things we had to go through as warriors. as competitors Then ask men, And here this man says, hey, you know what, man, you're okay. And so, um That was the greatest moment for me too, you know.
to have him check on me. And to make sure I was okay. Magic retired immediately. and Bird's ninety one ninety two season was his last in the NBA. To his delight, Magic was invited to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.
He stole the show and won MVP honors. But that was just a warm-up for the Encore Magic hat up his sleeve. Here's Larry Bird.
He's not done yet because we're going to go to Barcelona and bring back the gold for everyone here in the United States. For the first time ever, NBA players would be competing in the Olympics on the first dream team with the likes of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. The irony was that magic felt incredible, but Bird, with his bad back, could hardly move. But you know what? Didn't matter.
We were still together. Today, decades removed from the height of their rivalry, their bond endures. Two impossibly different men with a connection only they can fully grasp. But I always I always get this good feeling when I normally see him because uh He makes you feel good. You know, he really does.
It's unbelievable. He's very private, but if he's your friend Man, you got a friend for life. And Larry Bird is a straight shooter. He'll tell you when he don't like you. That's one thing I wish I could have from him that he has, that I don't have.
I wish I had that. I mean, he walked in here, this whole room would change, and uh Maybe that's what I always wanted to be, but I just couldn't. A terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And what a story about two men so different grew up in such different ways. And their approach to the game, the style part, very different.
But on the fundamental level, these were working class ball players. They played hard, they played gritty, and they played great, pure basketball, as good as it was ever played and may ever be played again. And that they had that personal relationship that started all the way back in that converse commercial. And imagine magic, Mr. City Slicker popping into French lick.
And seeing the little town with one red light, and ultimately being invited into that kitchen. The story of two of the NBA greats, their relationship which transcended basketball, transcended race and geography. The story of Magic and Bird. Here on Our American Stories. Introducing BFA Rewards, a new loyalty program with rewards for every ambition.
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