Magic and Bird: Courtship of Rivals
Sport and Racial Issues
90 Minutes HBO
3/36/11
The video we watched was about Ervin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird. Both were very good basketball players. The video gave us the back ground of where each of these players came from and what it meant for them to be playing basketball. Bird was from a small town and family. He was a very hard worker and shy. Basketball was a way for him to escape and be himself. He later went to college at Indiana State two different times and made himself recognizable. We was drafted by the Boston Celtics who loved him because of his hard work ethics and he never gave up. Johnson was from a large town and family. He was always in the spotlight and outgoing. He also had a hard work ethic. He won titles in high school, college, and the NBA. He played for the LA Lakers and helped them develop as a team. He went to Michigan State not far from his house. These players played against each other and with each other on the National team. When they played it was about their team not that they knew each other. Fans of the NBA wanted to see more whites playing and Bird was their answer. Many people, especially blacks, did not think that a white boy could play as good as them until they saw Bird play.
I would like to see the rest of the video to see how their friendship and playing together/against each other turned out. I did not really realize that the NBA was mostly blacks in the 70's. I found it interesting how Bird kept trying to succeed and win a title in high school and college but he failed. I think this was due in part to him being so shy and not going to a college that would fit his playing ability. I wonder what would have happened to him if he was not given a second chance at Indian State. Where would he be today?
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