A Great Standard of Living

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. —  Everyone’s thrilled to be a Hall of Famer but no one is as thrilled as Magic Johnson, whose induction, it was once feared, might have to be posthumous.

“The thing I’m most happy about is, I’m actually here in person, myself, to accept the award, that I’m living,” Johnson said at the pre-induction news conference.

“It’s a great day for me, that I’m here and will be accepting it myself. I’m here to greet all of you. I’m here to give Larry [Bird, his presenter] a hug and him give me one back. This is special. My family is here. My parents are still living.... It’s a special time because 11 years ago, nobody knew.... “

Since Johnson announced that he was HIV positive in 1991, an act of courage that was all but overshadowed in a he’s-no-hero backlash, he has never admitted so dramatically his relief at surviving. But it’s 11 years later and here he is.

Johnson was inducted Friday night and it was as special as special could be. It’s not true that the Basketball Hall of Fame built him his own wing but it did open its new $45-million hall for the event, putting up billboards around town advertising, “The New Hall Has Magic.”

Bird, credited with reviving the NBA with Johnson in the ‘80s, presented him, returning the favor Johnson had done by attending Bird’s retirement ceremony in Boston, when Magic tore off his Laker warmup to reveal he was wearing a Celtic jersey and Bird blurted, “Magic, get outa my dreams!”

“I was going to speak from my heart,” Bird said Friday at the induction ceremony. “But, man, he broke my heart so many times, do I have anything left?”

Johnson had originally hoped that the hall would bend its rule, that a player must be retired for five years to be eligible, so that he could enter with Bird, who was inducted in 1997.

However, the hall stuck to its rules. Since Johnson had returned to play in 1996, he would have to wait.

“I’ve always said that I was hoping and wishing that we would go in together because coming in [to the NBA] together was so wonderful for us and for the league,” Johnson said. “But it didn’t happen but we’re still together today....

“It’s funny how God blesses you with someone in your life, like a Larry Bird. This is a once-in-a-lifetime situation, that we could have each other in each other’s lives and we’re able to do the things and accomplish the things that we accomplished.

“I mean, the Celtics against the Lakers. Indiana State vs. Michigan State--I mean, even today, Indiana State-Michigan State is the highest-watched game in NCAA history [actually, it’s the highest-rated basketball game ever]. That’s 25 years later or something.”

Johnson and Bird started as bitter rivals but a funny thing happened as they went from the 1979 NCAA final to starring roles with the Lakers and Celtics, who already hated each other and would meet in three NBA Finals in the ‘80s, the Lakers winning in 1985 and ‘87, the Celtics in ’84.

They became friends, after shooting a sneaker commercial together and discovering they were different versions of the same guy.

“He played the game like I always wanted to play the game,” Bird said. “To be able to control the ball and make plays. That’s how I always envisioned a basketball player.”

Said Johnson: “We couldn’t run. We could only jump that high [holding his fingers an inch apart]. But, you know what? Fundamentals, knowing how to really play and playing with our heads, that was us.

“I mean, to see him pump fake, pump fake ... and he makes you come up. And he says, ‘Magic, you know you shouldn’t have come up out of your stance.’

“I used to hate him talking. There he is, right there and nobody can rotate to him. So I’m running out there to [guard] him. So he’s standing over here like this--’I don’t know why you’re running out here.’ I used to be so mad at him.”

Their friendship was an added gift for the NBA, turning the Laker-Celtic rivalry, which was already glamorous and bitter, into one built on mutual respect.

Celtic boss Red Auerbach might still have chased the referees to their dressing room after a loss and Laker Coach Pat Riley might have thrown out the drinking water in Boston, fearing Auerbach had poisoned it, but for a change, graciousness entered the equation.

Now when Johnson and Bird meet, it’s as much a reminder of how much things have changed, with the league in transition from the era of great players to the age of their young successors.

“Larry and I take a personal pride in everything regarding the game today, the salaries, everything,” Johnson said. “Because if we don’t do what we do, the TV contracts wouldn’t be what they are and the salaries wouldn’t be what they are....

“But when you look at us, you look at us as winners. Guys don’t understand, they want to be a star in this league but a lot of them have never won. And to be a star in this league, and then to be a superstar, you have to win. And all of us cared about winning. We didn’t care about commercials, we didn’t care about shoe deals, all that. We wanted to win.

“Even today, I saw Larry, he saw me, I saw the look in his eye, he could see the look in my eye--if these people weren’t in here, we’d probably be playing horse right now....

“He looks good. I’m up here looking good--that’s guys who care about their bodies. Two crazy, possessed guys, even at our age.”

Now they’re two Hall of Famers, finally together in this museum, forever.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.