This doc was, shockingly, even better than I thought it would be. Incredibly insightful, footage I had never seen, and the genuine feeling the two have for each other is caught amazingly well on-screen.
Also, while pointing out the juxtapositions of their styles (flashy exuberant Showtime black dude vs. grim Lunch pail white dude), it hammers home again and again how similar they actually were (ridiculous work ethics, seething competitiveness and making their teammates better via actual team play, all while not being terribly athletic.)
But I for one had never really known how Bird had originally hurt his back in 1985, and now that I do I can't help but feel like the juxtaposition of how Magic was forced to retire (disease presumably caught from years of a wild LA night-life) and how Bird was forced to retire (injuring back while laying a new driveway for his mother's house) somehow makes the whole thing sad and odd at the same time.
UPDATE: the two funniest moments are Bird, while talking about his hurt back, wondering if he'll ever be able to go to the beach again (!) and then Arsenio Hall trying to make us believe that whenever Magic called, he wouldn't pop a hamstring sprinting to answer it. Camon.
2 comments:
I've seen it twice already and like most HBO sports docs, you're sure to enjoy it even if the sport or team at hand is not a fave of yours.
The two main things I got from Magic & Bird are about the latter:
a) The whole hurting his back from shoveling gravel for his mom's driveway was a clear case of taking the down-to-earth-guy thing a bit too far. I mean, c'mon; this is your livelihood you're messing with. (If I made a living playing gtr, there's no way I'd be doing anything extracurricular that could directly hinder that.)
and
b) Larry Bird is a class act: his handling of the "Great White Hope" mantle thrust upon him by an assortment of people and entities was commendable (its origins stemming from growing up in a Klan-heavy area, yet having no qualms about playing ball with the black dudes as a kid); and showing his true colors as Magic's friend when the latter got HIV, when other supposed friends shunned him--I'm looking at you Isiah Thomas--are both a testament to his stature as a man.
he might (begrudgingly) agree that it was a stupid thing to do, but it doesnt seem out of character (here's Larry cutting grass, here's Larry on the tractor etc etc.) Im sure the Celtics wished they had stuck a "dont do any of that shit" in his contract before.
the true warmth and friendship between them shine through every time I watch it. Larry not telling Magic about the "side door" in Spain, waterworks every time!!! :)
just watched the whole thing AGAIN :)
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