She describes how Bird had recently become a target of professional recruiting. Writer Jackie MacMullan, in an effort to build up the intensity for the topic at hand, sidetracks at this point and describes the sporting world as it revolved around Bird and Johnson at the time. In fact, Johnson and Bird’s recollections tell of the ISU team barging into the MSU practice on that day, perhaps in an effort to “make a statement.” Johnson’s reaction to the event effectively sums up a kind of renewed first impression – “I didn't know they were cowboys… just what are those country guys trying to pull?” But this was their first “meeting” as opponents, and it occurred under fairly auspicious terms. In truth, they had met properly the year before as part of an international All-Star team, as this book’s first chapter chronicles. On that day, Johnson and Bird “met” in one sense of the word. Instead, the narrative on the Magic-Bird rivalry begins just the day before, on March 25, 1979. But this story doesn’t open on that date. It was on that day that their respective teams, the Michigan State Spartans and the Indiana State Sycamores, were set to meet on the hardwood in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the NCAA National Championship game.

Though they were stars in their own right, you wouldn’t have been out of the loop if you hadn’t heard of Larry Bird and Ervin “Magic” Johnson before March 26, 1979. How things were during those college days But something about Johnson and Bird’s tone throughout the work is endearing even beyond the context of athletics, so fans of literature about old rivals are sure to love it, too. On its surface, When the Game Was Ours feels like it should land squarely on the reading list of basketball aficionados and fans of the Lakers and Celtics, respectively. As a result, each chapter of this book is able to cut through the speculation and directly engage how both players felt about the sport and their burgeoning rivalry, starting from their college days and continuing all the way up until 2002, when Johnson had his old rival introduce his Hall of Fame induction. This book also manages to distinguish itself on the court because it is told primarily through the direct recollections of both Johnson and Bird (with the help of writer Jackie MacMullan).

That’s just one of the reasons When the Game Was Ours stands out in the growing field of sports autobiographies. Numerous other sports writers have covered this rivalry over the years, but never the two Hall of Famers themselves. Even if you only possess a cursory knowledge of professional basketball and the NBA, there’s a good chance that you know the names “Larry Bird” and “Magic Johnson.” In fact, if you were a fan of the NBA during the 1980s, then you certainly know that both of these players shared one of the most heated rivalries the league had ever seen.

Larry bird when the game was ours