HBO's 'Magic & Bird' Digs Into Legendary Rivalry

Over the past year, there's been a revival of interest in the legendary rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, with two tomes on the subject -- Seth Davis's When March Went Mad, focusing on the pair's 1979 NCAA showdown, and Jackie MacMullan's "in-their-own-words" When the Game Was Ours -- drawing favorable attention. HBO Sports' new documentary Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, premiering Saturday, fills the visual void in the nostalgia, but also works to uncover greater truths about the duo and the individuals, the rivalry and the sport.

At its core, it's simply compelling material. Bird is still seen as a mystery of sorts, an abrasive introvert keeping close guard of his memories, his emotions. As such, watching Bird discuss the pain of losing in Salt Lake City in '79, the thrill of beating the Lakers in the NBA Finals, the shock of learning of Magic's HIV diagnosis -- it opens up Bird in a way the printed word cannot. But in revealing the vulnerability of Bird the documentary doesn't quite humanize Larry -- that seems impossible, really, for a character so much larger than life. He's still more myth than man, as I suspect he'll always be.

Magic has never had trouble connecting with the masses, and for a good portion of Courtship of Rivals Johnson's natural ebullience serves as a driving force. The contrast of Magic and Bird as personalities is well-tread material, but the doc presents it in a clever way: each wanted what the other had. Johnson wished he could be as straight with people as Bird. Bird wishes he could light up a room like Magic. As camp as it may read, it sounds perfectly sincere coming from their lips.



The game footage is, as you'd expect, fantastic. Rarely (if ever) seen video from the pair's first meeting -- in the 1978 World Invitational Tournament -- is the gem, with the highlight an unbelievable fast break in which Bird and Magic each drops a no-look to the other. Other clips, many from NBA Finals series, are familiar, but the presentation is well executed, with the narrative and reel never getting in each other's way.

HBO's MAGIC & BIRD:
A COURTSHIP OF RIVALS

Saturday, March 6, 8 p.m. ET/PT

Also Showing (all times ET/PT):
March 6, 11:30 p.m.
March 9, 4:15 p.m.
March 11, 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.
March 14, 8:30 a.m.

See HBO.com for full broadcast scheduleNearly all docs focused on sporting heroes end up more celebration than investigation, and despite a fairly critical look at Magic's promiscuity Courtship of Rivals fits the mold. Despite a decent chunk of time devoted to Magic's carefree sexual lifestyle, Bird's own skeleton -- an out-of-wedlock daughter of whom he denied paternity for three years until a blood test confirmed he was the father -- isn't mentioned. Courtship is careful not to demonize Johnson for his lifestyle, but Magic's sexual escapades are presented as unique owing to his personality, fame and proximity to Jerry Buss's never-ending harem. As any number of references will say, Magic wasn't the only ballplayer getting laid in the '90s.

Aside from strained theories of Reaganomics causing Bird backlash among blacks (seriously?) and Charles Pierce's absurd suggestion that it's "a miracle" Bird doesn't wear a hood having grown up in the Ku Klux Klan hotbed of southern Indiana ("Praise be to Larry Legend for not being a hateful person!"), the documentary moves along flawlessly, and is a must-watch for any nostalgic fan of the league's greatest modern rivalry and every too-young-to-know basketball fiend. When the subject is this enthralling, there can never be enough said or shown. Courtship of Rivals is an excellent addition to the Magic-Bird canon.