Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson is
arguably one of the greatest rivalries
in basketball and an important storyline
throughout the late 70s and 80s in both
the NCAA and the NBA in the mid-80s the
two battled it out in the NBA final
three times in a span of four years for
two of the most successful clubs in the
NBA a Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles
Lakers however the first chapter in
their storied rivalry began in 1979 in
the n-c-double-a championship final in a
sophomore year the versatile Johnson led
his Michigan State Spartans to the
championship game at 6-foot line the
oversized guard could control the ball
as well as the boards few could match up
with magic whose unique skills allowed
him to flop between forward and guard
easily meanwhile the hick from French
Lick led his Indiana State sycamores to
a Finals matchup with magic and the
Spartans after achieving an impressive
33 in one record the award stacked up
for Byrd that year as he won the USBWA
College Player of the Year award as well
as the John Wooden and James Naismith
Awards despite all the awards however it
was Magic who came out on top as the
Spartans controlled the game defeating
burden the Sycamores bird may have
racked up the regular season awards but
Johnson took almost outstanding player
honors of that year’s NC double-a
tournament Larry Bird finished his time
at Indiana State as the fifth highest
scorer n-c-double-a history after
averaging thirty point three points over
the span of his collegiate career
Magic Johnson averaged a very rounded
17.1 points 7.6 rebounds and seven point
nine assists at Michigan State before
being named the number one pick in the
1979 NBA Draft
arguably one of the greatest rivalries
in basketball and an important storyline
throughout the late 70s and 80s in both
the NCAA and the NBA in the mid-80s the
two battled it out in the NBA final
three times in a span of four years for
two of the most successful clubs in the
NBA a Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles
Lakers however the first chapter in
their storied rivalry began in 1979 in
the n-c-double-a championship final in a
sophomore year the versatile Johnson led
his Michigan State Spartans to the
championship game at 6-foot line the
oversized guard could control the ball
as well as the boards few could match up
with magic whose unique skills allowed
him to flop between forward and guard
easily meanwhile the hick from French
Lick led his Indiana State sycamores to
a Finals matchup with magic and the
Spartans after achieving an impressive
33 in one record the award stacked up
for Byrd that year as he won the USBWA
College Player of the Year award as well
as the John Wooden and James Naismith
Awards despite all the awards however it
was Magic who came out on top as the
Spartans controlled the game defeating
burden the Sycamores bird may have
racked up the regular season awards but
Johnson took almost outstanding player
honors of that year’s NC double-a
tournament Larry Bird finished his time
at Indiana State as the fifth highest
scorer n-c-double-a history after
averaging thirty point three points over
the span of his collegiate career
Magic Johnson averaged a very rounded
17.1 points 7.6 rebounds and seven point
nine assists at Michigan State before
being named the number one pick in the
1979 NBA Draft
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