'When the Game was Ours' Tells Bird/Magic Stories Never Before Revealed

‘When the Game was Ours’ Details Bird/Magic Stories Never Before Revealed.
October 19, 2009 by Nick Gelso

bird and magic We first wrote about the release of this book at NSS in a story written by Matt Golden. The book chronicles the rivalry that globalized NBA basketball in the 1980’s.

Every excerpt I read from this book reveals a gem of information never before told in the words of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. This weekend, the Boston Globe published a lengthy excerpt of the book.

The book details how Isiah Thomas was snubbed from the original dream team because he distanced himself from Magic after hearing Johnson was gay contracting the HIV virus. That’s one tidbit I never knew. Of course, Magic is not gay but Isiah and Johnson’s relationship never really recovered from that. It also details how hard Bird took the news upon hearing Magic had HIV.

On a lighter note, the book reveals stories we have heard before and continue to inspire us today. Such as…

In the excerpt there is a well documented story of Quinn Buckner going to visit Larry at his home in Brookline. When Buckner arrived at Larry’s house, he found Larry was not home and his wife Dinah had explained to Buckner that Bird was out for a run…

“He was out running,” Buckner said later. “When he got back, I said to him, ‘Man, what are you doing?’ ”

Bird looked at him quizzically before he answered: “I’m getting ready for next year.”

Check out the excerpt.