But you can’t say Michael didn’t have anybody. There are a lot of great players out there—Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson—it’s just that he’s so much better than everybody else. Is he better than Magic Johnson was at the peak of his career? No. He’s the best for an overall period of time, maybe, but when you put me, Magic, and Michael at the height of our careers, I don’t think you’d find that big of a difference. Yes, Michael is more spectacular, and Magic could pass a little better than both of us, and you could say this and that about my shooting or my rebounding, but we all had our different parts of our games that made us special.
What separates Michael right now is he did it over a long period of time. You look at the championships he won over the last four or five years, and it’s just amazing. People are always so surprised that injuries didn’t come into play more, because he played so hard. Of course, the thing is he did have injuries, but he’s one of those players who played right through all that. People don’t give him enough credit for that. They say, “Oh, Michael was never injured.” But he was injured. He had back spasms like everyone else. He had sprains and muscle tears and all that stuff, but he went in, he got his rest, he got his treatment, and then he went out and played. That’s the difference between Michael Jordan and a lower-level player. The best players just lace ’em up and go.
It’s funny how you get tied to certain people, because you played at the same time. Somebody takes a picture of a couple of movie stars, and everyone thinks they’re linked together for life. That’s just the way it is. Everyone wants to believe Larry Bird and Kevin McHale were the best of friends. Sure, Kevin and I had some good times together, but the truth is, Artis Gilmore and Quinn Buckner were probably the two best friends I had on the Celtics. But that doesn’t fit what the public wants to believe. Along those same lines, everyone wants to think that Magic Johnson and Larry Bird hang out together all the time. And after
Space Jam
came out, people want to think that Michael Jordan and I play golf together every weekend.
I loved to compete against Magic and Michael as much as anything I’ve done in my life. But I wasn’t hanging around with those guys. I didn’t want to. We were trying to win the championship, and I’m not into socializing with the guys who have what you want. It’s funny how everyone decided me and Magic were best friends after we did that Converse commercial back in the eighties. The commercial was shot in Indiana, at my house and on my court. The way it went was they had Magic pull up to the court in a limo and get out with his basketball stuff on, in Lakers colors of course. I’m standing there, and he challenges me to some one-on-one. It was a really popular commercial, and one thing about that shoot that turned out to be true was how Magic and I got a chance to know each other a little bit off the court.
Before that, whenever we played the Lakers I’d say hi and stuff to Magic after the game, but I don’t think Magic really knew where I was from, or what I was all about. And I’ve got to say the same was true for me. So anyhow, Converse arranges for us to do this commercial. My mom was there, and Magic charmed her right off the bat. He was there ten minutes, and she was offering him a drink and asking him if he needed anything. She loved him right away. I knew we were going to be spending a fair amount of time together, so I let my guard down a little bit. We had a great day. We went out riding on my four-wheelers. We drove around in my truck. For the first time, I saw him in a different way—a young guy from the Midwest who loves his family. When you took away all the glitz and glamour, that’s what was there. One thing people don’t realize is that when I talk about Magic, I’m talking about the basketball player. When I’m talking about the person, he’s Earvin. When we were in San Diego for our Olympic training, we sat around and played cards. That’s Earvin. But once we got into practice, or arrived in Barcelona and there was a crowd around, that’s Magic. They are two completely different people.
Magic and I are like Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. That’s just the way it is. I knew it was going to be like that forever after I played him in college for the national championship. I never came up against anyone, other than Magic, who could challenge me mentally. Magic always took me to the limit. Michael Cooper, who also played for the Lakers, challenged me on defense, but as far as the mental game went, he wasn’t on the same plane as Magic. Magic Johnson was the only player that could really get to me. He knew it too.
Magic Johnson was the best passer I’ve ever seen. You could never guess where he was going with the ball. You’d just have to try and react with him. It took me a while to realize that. He had a three-on-one break against me two times in one game, and I got a hand on both of them, just from sitting back and letting him make the move. A lot of guys have the tendency to come down right-handed, and pass it that way. What Magic did was come down and keep the ball on the left, then just before you could react to it he’d throw it across his body, off the dribble. That’s the hardest pass to defend against.
Magic was bad for basketball in one way. He made all these great passes, and then everyone else started trying to do it. You have to be special to thread the needle the way he did, or fire off those no-look passes. Magic knew how to do it. Most players don’t. I tell my guys, “Just make the play.” If you’ve got a look at a 15-foot jumper, and somebody is underneath the basket for a two-footer, just make the play. That’s all I ask. The best passers, like John Stockton, make the pass that gives you the highest percentage shot.
While it’s true that Magic and I developed a kind of friendship the day he came to French Lick, and it’s true we both always had respect for each other, it’s not like we all of a sudden started going on vacation together. It’s funny, actually. I’ll turn on the television and hear Magic say, “Larry and I were out to dinner the other night, and we were talking about this or that.” But the truth is, I can’t ever remember being able to go out to eat with Magic, other than when he came to my house that time to shoot the commercial, and during the Olympics. I’ll tell you what has happened a lot. Magic will come up, and there will be a lot of people around, and he’ll go, “Larry, we’ve got to have lunch next time you come to L.A.” I always say, “Yeah, sure, Magic, that would be nice.” But I know it’s not going to happen. We both have pretty busy schedules, so it’s hard to get together. However, we were able to do a television interview together on the twentieth anniversary of our Indiana State–Michigan State matchup, and it was great to see him. The truth is, I’ve never been into spending very much time out in public on the road anyway. Some guys like that sort of thing, and Magic is one of them. He handles a crowd better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Kids will be clambering toward him, and their parents grabbing for him, and he just smiles that big smile and touches as many of them as he can, then keeps on going. Even though all those people never got an autograph, they think Magic Johnson is the greatest, because he touched them or smiled at them. He just charms people to death. That’s not something I was ever very good at.
Even though Michael and I have been connected through the years, it’s not like I see him every week either. We do commercials together, and once in a while we might do some appearances. The last time I was really with Michael, we played in a golf tournament together. He wanted to come to Naples the next day and play there. So we did it. But he’s another guy who has all these people around. Don’t get me wrong, the way Michael does things is fine, that’s his thing, but it’s just not my style. I have the same friends I had years and years ago. I would never push them aside to bring someone else in. Michael has some buddies that have been with him a long time too. But he also has a bunch of bodyguards and people like that, and it seems as though he can’t go anywhere without a crowd around him. That’s the price you pay for stardom.
Michael gives back in a lot of little ways that probably don’t get into the newspapers. He’ll help out a sick kid or something, and he’ll do it quietly, not because he wants the publicity but because it’s the right thing to do. Michael would be the kind of guy you’d like to hang around with. He’s a fun guy, and he likes golf. What else do you need? Now that Michael is retired, we’ll probably see each other two or three times a year, at a golf tournament or some charity thing, and that will be enough. There’s no question our approach is a little different. If I call a country club and say, “Hey, can I come over and play golf?” there would be people all over the place, wanting stuff. But if I have my friend call the club and have him say, “I’ve got a guest here, and I’d like to come over,” which I’ve done, then we go over and play and get through there without it being too bad. When Michael wants to play, he has someone say, “I’m calling for Michael Jordan, he wants to know if he can play golf at your club.” Well, when that happens, you better be ready for the circus that is going to go along with it. If you are Magic, you can handle it, no problem. If you’re me, you’re going to run from it as fast as you can.
I’m sure it’s hard for Magic now that he’s not playing. He loved the limelight, and it’s never really the same when you retire. He has always been attracted to the whole idea of show business, and good for him. I think he’s doing well, and he’s happy, and he wants to be the greatest businessman in the world, and from what I understand, with the movie theaters he’s opened up in the city of Los Angeles, he’s on his way. Someone told me Magic wants to be an agent too. I hope not. He’d be very tough. I’d rather not be across the table from him. I’m just glad that his health is holding up, and he’s able to enjoy his family.
I’ll never forget the day I found out Magic was HIV-positive. I got a call from his agent, Lon Rosen, and I was just sick about it. Really sick. We had a game that night, and for the first time in my life I didn’t feel like playing. Lon told me Magic wanted me to know before it all went public, so I said, “Is he there? Can I talk to him?” It turned out Magic was at the doctor’s, so I said, “Listen, I need to talk to him.” I waited a little while, and I called him back, and he sounded all right. Hell, he sounded a lot better than I did. I told him I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to see him. The last thing I wanted to do was go out and play basketball.
The whole thing was so incredibly mind-boggling to me. I kept trying to shake this sick feeling I had, but I couldn’t. I got to the Garden for the game, and everyone wanted to know how I felt and did I talk to Magic? I wouldn’t talk to any of them except to say that my heart and prayers were with Magic and his family.
Of course we had to play the game. We were playing Atlanta, and we were up by 15, and they came back and beat us. I didn’t care. My mind was somewhere else. I talked to Magic once or twice over the next couple of weeks, but it still wasn’t real to me. None of us knew too much about HIV then, and I think we all thought he was going to die. It was so hard to believe that someone that fun, someone that alive, could be so sick. There was never a dull moment with Magic.
Once he got on his medication and continued to feel good, I knew Magic was going to make a comeback. When you are forced to retire before you are ready, I’m sure it’s hard to put the basketball behind you. For me, it was different. I only planned on playing twelve years or so, and I played thirteen. Besides, my back was so bad I knew I could never play again. But Magic still had ideas about playing. So the first thing he does is take over as coach of the Lakers. Magic is a spur-of-the-moment guy. I’m sure two days after he said he’d coach the team, he was saying to himself, “Now what have I gotten myself into?” No wonder he didn’t like it, and no wonder he didn’t do as well as he would have liked. Coaching is not some spur-of-the-moment decision. I agonized over whether I wanted to do it for almost two years. That’s why when people were comparing my decision to coach to Magic’s, I didn’t put much stock in it. It was two completely different situations, with two completely different people approaching it two completely different ways.
Magic still wanted to play when he took over as coach. I’m convinced that if Magic wanted to coach, and put his mind to it, and forgot about all this other stuff he’s doing and really put the proper time into it, he’d be a good coach. But Magic thought he could get out there and play with these guys and practice with them and all that. You can’t. It doesn’t work.
When I decided to coach, I spent a lot of time thinking about Michael Jordan. I knew, like every coach in the league, that he was standing in the way of my team and a championship. I knew I had to figure out a way to turn that all around. For years, Michael had been playing mind games with Reggie Miller. He complained about Reggie in the press all the time. I would have loved it if I was Reggie. It’s hard for me to speak for him, but I would thrive on it. I’m sure there were a lot of guys in the league who hated me. I didn’t care. That was good. It was even better. Reggie does his fair share of talking, and he’s rubbed a number of guys the wrong way. If my guys want to say something to someone else out there, that’s fine. There were a few of our guys talking junk. But it’s like I tell them: “If you’re gonna talk it, make sure you back it up.”
I always liked how Michael handled himself. He talked it better than anyone, without crossing the line. But there was something he did during my first season that surprised me. ESPN had just come out with a new magazine, and Michael did an interview with them. He said playing against Reggie Miller drove him crazy, and he compared it to “chicken fighting with a woman.” He said Reggie’s whole game was based on flopping, and he claimed Reggie had his hands on him all the time, “like a woman holding your waist.” The comments caused a big stir, and they were very embarrassing to Reggie, and all of a sudden everyone was talking about how Jordan hated Miller.
I really did feel bad for Reggie. Of course I’m going to feel that way, because he’s my player. I didn’t think Michael should have said all those things. I understand it’s the way he felt, but it seemed totally out of character for him. He knew that he and Reggie were going to meet up again. Just play. Settle it on the court. But I guess it’s something he just wanted to say, for whatever reason. Here you have probably the greatest player ever in the NBA, and everybody looks up to him, and when Reggie has children they’re going to ask him about Michael Jordan. That’s why I felt bad for Reggie. But as bad as I felt for him, I really did like it, because I thought, “We’re going to play these guys in the playoffs, and Michael is going to be guarding Reggie.” Well, come playoff time Michael didn’t guard him. And it ticked me off.