Needless to say, Magic Johnson is one of the most accomplished basketball players and athletes of all time. In 13 NBA seasons, he led the Los Angeles Lakers to five world championships, and he also won an Olympic gold medal in 1992. Before he attained all that success, he also won a state championship in high school and an NCAA title at Michigan State University.
One would think that his most cherished basketball accomplishment would be beating his rival and friend Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics legend, in the NBA Finals. But during an episode of “The Deal” podcast, he said he values his gold medal more than his NBA titles or college championship for one specific reason.
“I think the gold medal, because of this, I finally got the chance to play with Michael [Jordan] and Larry,” Johnson said. “On my bucket list, I’ve always wanted to just throw a pass to both of those guys. Like a no-look pass, like coming down the middle. I’m coming down, and there’s Larry in the corner, just no-look him real fast and let him shoot that beautiful jump shot, like Larry does. And then Larry talks [expletive], I love that, he talks trash, I love that. And then Michael coming down the middle with the tongue out, nothing like it.”
Johnson and Bird were fierce rivals starting when they met for the 1979 NCAA championship, but in the mid-1980s, they became friends when they both shot a commercial for Converse. While Johnson lived to compete for all the marbles against Bird and later Jordan, getting to represent the United States alongside both of them was truly a special opportunity.
That iteration of Team USA basketball in 1992, which is commonly known as the “Dream Team,” breezed its way to the gold medal. Back in those days, the rest of the world had no shot at even competing with the United States in basketball, and Johnson, Bird, Jordan and the other NBA stars on that squad soaked in every second.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Magic Johnson says his Olympic gold medal means more to him than his NBA five titles
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
