With all the talk about the most overrated and who's the best, I thought I would post this about 2 of the best. HBO did a documentary of them and I must admit it was great. It not only talked about Bird and Magic it also talked about the state of the NBA at that time and also rasicism. Two Great Players and how they pushed one another and their teams to be the best.. <object width="320" height="240"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1079539"></param><param name="FlashVars" value="domain=http://www.hbo.com&videoTitle=Preview ©ShareURL=http%3A//www.hbo.com/global-video/video.html/%3Fautoplay%3Dtrue%26vid%3D1079539%26filter%3Dall-sports%26view%3Dnull"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.hbo.com/bin/hboPlayer.swf?vid=1079539" FlashVars="domain=http://www.hbo.com&videoTitle=Preview ©ShareURL=http%3A//www.hbo.com/global-video/video.html/%3Fautoplay%3Dtrue%26vid%3D1079539%26filter%3Dall-sports%26view%3Dnull" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="240"></embed></object><div><a title="Preview " href="http://www.hbo.com/global-video/video.html/?autoplay=true&vid=1079539&filter=all-sports&view=null">Preview </a></div>
Watched it and it was great. For those who were not around during that era maybe it was not as good but those two were the ultimate team players. I still think Magic is the best all time basketball player even over MJ. Bird was right there with him. For all those that think MJ saved the NBA they are really wrong, Bird and Magic saved the NBA during what was the golden era of the sport. Basketball really took a nose dive in the 90's IMO. Those of us that were Rockets fans were lucky because we had Dream and a couple of championships to cheer about. But the league as a whole was just not as good. Scoring went way down while coaches like Pat Riley and JVG started slowing down the game and making it boring to watch. The league pretty much hung it's hat on the MJ brand and nothing else. The game was so bad that the league had to make new rules in order to keep it interesting. If Bird and Magic had not been so much fun to watch in the 80's MJ would have been a lot less impactfull in the 90's. As a Rockets fan I'm just glad we played such a big role in the 80's beating LA twice in the play-offs and playing Boston twice in the finals.
Watched it a couple weeks ago as well. I've told everyone to watch it. It's amazing the kind of impact two players so different (personality and even race wise) from each other yet so gifted at the game could do to save the NBA.
I watched it a couple of days ago and it really gave me a better insight of Bird.. Majic and Bird were like Superman and Lex Luther or Batman and Joker, they both needed each other; to bring out the best in the other. I thought Bird was prick plan and simple.. But the guy is all business all the time, has that fire inside of him to win no matter what. I loved how they also touched on the racism and with Bird being called the "Great white hope.." I remember that period, but i loved how Bird wanted no part of that conversation. I also remember how the players from the ABA were bringing that "All About Me" attitude to the game and you can see that in the NBA right now.. History repeating its self..
Bird was a freak of nature on the court. Pure Shooting, Elite BBIQ, passing, & even put up great rebounding numbers early in his career. Magic was something the league had never seen before or since. A 6'9 point guard who had an elite BBIQ, handles, passing, and post game. Magic was also an elite free throw shooter as was Bird. Two of the top 3 ever! Easy!
