Top 100 momentsNo. 12
Magic vs. Bird
Michigan State and Indiana State meet in the NCAA final. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird invent the rivalry that pulls the NBA out of the doldrums.
March 26, 1979. Michigan State against Indiana State. Magic Johnson against Larry Bird. The NCAA championship is the most-watched basketball game America has seen. Bird is the introvert from French Lick. Magic is the show from Lansing. The game is not even the best they will play. It is the first time the country meets them as a pair.
They go to the NBA, to the Lakers and the Celtics, and drag a struggling league with them. Tape-delay Finals become prime time. Showtime versus the Garden. The rivalry is racialized, marketed, and also real: two men who cannot stand to lose to each other and eventually cannot stand to lose each other.
Without that Monday night in 1979, the NBA of Jordan, of the Dream Team, of global sneakers, has a different opening act. Magic and Bird are the plot.