Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird: Was LA Lakers or Boston Celtics Legend Greater?

Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson’s Showtime Lakers were two dominant dynasties that occupied the same time and space on the NBA’s grandest stage. 

To think how many more championships they could each have won had the other not been simultaneously dominant is a scary, yet exciting prospect.  Surly the Lakers would have had more than five or the Celtics more than three.

In fact, each of these teams (separately) or both at the same time made it to the NBA championship series in every single year of the 1980s including three head-to-head meetings versus each other. 

And the Lakers won two of those three championships where tensions reached a fever pitch.

Wouldn’t it be fascinating if we could create a holodeck program borrowed from the science fiction TV series, Star Trek, to watch a real life simulation of these two amazing franchises going head-to-head in different hypothetical situations.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are each multiple NBA Champions and MVP winners and they each have played with several outstanding players that have been inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. 

Some of the greatest of these names include Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson for the Celtics and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy for the Lakers.

Magic and Bird are two of the greatest all-time legends amongst dynasties and have become the unofficial measuring stick used by coaches, analysts and fans alike to judge players at their small forward and point guard positions.

They were also two of the best team players that exhibited a rare ability to make everyone else around them better.

“Bird’s duels with Magic Johnson were legendary. The two turned the NBA from a minor pro sport in 1980 into the big-time business it is today. The two combined to change a scoring game into a team game.”  (Larry Schwartz-ESPN)

Before everybody started comparing King James to his Airness and before there was even a Michael Jordan himself, there was Larry Bird and Magic Johnson–the NBA’s two most feared gladiators of the game.

So with that introduction, we welcome you again to another Bleacher Report debate, as Featured Columnist, Ethan S and I faceoff yet again.

This time around, it’s the Hick form French Lick and his Boston Celtics versus Magic Johnson and his Los Angeles Lakers.

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