A Pastoral Tribute to Magic & Bird
March Madness has begun for both the men and women’s game. Are you watching? Excited? This time of year is simply amazing. Basketball everywhere. And Baseball in the wings.
This morning I’d like to do something a little different. It’s been a tough week. We’ve hosted a few memorials the past couple weeks, and the grief heavy to bear. I’d like to do something lighter, related to March Madness. Call it an ode to basketball using the vehicle of two iconic players. This is a Christian tribute to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
You might ask, how could a tribute to Magic and Bird be Christian? Are the two Christian exemplars and we didn’t know it?
Not exactly. But I strongly feel that there are Christian lessons to learn all around us, if you look close enough. This includes sports. In fact, sports are a great place to look. Sports is a human endeavor, after all. And Paul himself pointed to athletics as indicative of the human life. I Corinthians 9:24 - "Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win the race of life."
Anyway, we begin our story March 26, 1979, Salt Lake City, the NCAA men’s basketball championship. The teams: Indiana State vs. Michigan State. Though Indiana State was ranked #1 and were on a 33 game winning streak, many still questioned how good they were because of the conference they played in, the lowly Missouri Valley Conference. Number 4 Michigan State, on the other hand, played in the mighty Big Ten, making them for many the favorites going in.
But maybe more interesting than the game’s logistics was the matchup of the teams’ two stars both wearing #33, Michigan State’s Magic Johnson and Indiana State’s Larry Bird. This would be their first time facing one another, but not the last. In the game that followed, still the most watched basketball game in American history, and in the many games in the decade that followed, Magic and Bird would transform the NBA, professional sports, and American culture.
Despite their obvious racial difference, and despite Magic’s undeniable extroversion and Bird’s intense introversion, they shared much in common. Both were Midwestern kids from working class families. Both experienced struggle and knew poverty. Both played the game at the highest of levels, though neither was that athletic. Both were basketball savants who saw the game in 4-D, able to control a game simply with their prowess as passers, as leaders, and through the force of their wills. And both possessed a relentless drive to win.
It also must be said that externally, Larry Bird was as white as could be. But internally he felt a kinship with Black people. He credits learning and developing his game as a boy by playing pickup games with a group of young Black men who worked at an area hotel. The guys would get out of work and play on a court across the street. Ten-eleven year-old Larry Bird would join them, hone his skills, and get to know these Black men who befriended him. He learned not only his game but the art of trash-talking.
Magic would say, while we went at it like nobody’s business and seemed as different as can be, “we knew we were mirrors of each other.” Magic and Bird’s connection and kinship, even before they became friends, transcended their differences. They simply needed to come to see and embrace this mirroring, this kinship.
A Christian lesson is this – look deeper than skin level. Look beyond personality differences. When you do, you’ll sometimes see the beautiful symmetries in life.
Fast forward some 6 years to August 1985. After years of battling on the court, Magic with the LA Lakers, Bird with the Boston Celtics, as archrivals, archenemies even, both agreed to do a commercial for Converse, the sneaker brand they both wore. The commercial was to be filmed at Larry Bird’s home in French Lick, Indiana. At this point, Magic and Larry weren’t friends. They admired each other’s games and will to win, but that was it. They maintained their distance. On the court, they despised one another. They had to. Competition at that level, the highest of levels, demanded, so they thought. But something changed that summer in the filming of that commercial. I’ll let a clip from the documentary Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals explain.
A Christian lesson: Breaking bread together works wonders. The spiritual practice of hospitality works wonders. It melts the ice, builds bridges, and creates friendships like rain and sun grow a garden. Having a matriarch involved helps too.
It is now early November 1991, and the NBA world and the culture surrounding it is about to be jolted with some shocking news. Magic has been diagnosed with HIV. Then considered a death sentence, it is hard to describe how devastating the news was for this NBA fan and so many around the world. It would bring out the worst in people, but also the best, glimmers of compassion, connection, and kinship. Again, an audio clip from the HBO documentary:
A Christian lesson – offering your nonjudgmental presence to someone hurting means realizing Christ in that moment. That gesture of connecting with someone when life seems in the balance, it can make all the difference.
Thank the Lord, Magic would survive. That pass Larry gave in that 1991 game against Atlanta turned out not to be a goodbye. Magic and Bird had more things to do.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played on the same team a few times in their lives, informal charity scrimmage games among them. But in official, competitive games, they played on the same team twice.
The first time came at the 1978 World Invitational Tournament. They both represented the USA against teams from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Yugoslavia. They didn’t start, but when they played together, they took over, showing an amazing camaraderie on the court.
Fourteen years later, Magic and Bird would end their careers on the 1992 Dream Team, again representing the U.S.A. Bird’s back was bad, and so he played sparingly. Still, he’d start the games with Magic, and there’d be glimmers of that amazing camaraderie on the court.
Some 14 years later, the camaraderie between Magic and Bird extended beyond the court. Through years of intense rivalry with its many ups and downs, they had become true, lasting, sincere friends.
I’ll end by saying this. Both Bird and Magic have said they needed each other to be the best they could be. Our contexts are different, for sure. But the truth applies for us as well. We need each other to be the best we can be. As followers of Christ, we need a community of followers and friends to be the best we can be. That’s why we’re here. To run the race of life together.
Amen?
Amen.
This morning I’d like to do something a little different. It’s been a tough week. We’ve hosted a few memorials the past couple weeks, and the grief heavy to bear. I’d like to do something lighter, related to March Madness. Call it an ode to basketball using the vehicle of two iconic players. This is a Christian tribute to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
You might ask, how could a tribute to Magic and Bird be Christian? Are the two Christian exemplars and we didn’t know it?
Not exactly. But I strongly feel that there are Christian lessons to learn all around us, if you look close enough. This includes sports. In fact, sports are a great place to look. Sports is a human endeavor, after all. And Paul himself pointed to athletics as indicative of the human life. I Corinthians 9:24 - "Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win the race of life."
Anyway, we begin our story March 26, 1979, Salt Lake City, the NCAA men’s basketball championship. The teams: Indiana State vs. Michigan State. Though Indiana State was ranked #1 and were on a 33 game winning streak, many still questioned how good they were because of the conference they played in, the lowly Missouri Valley Conference. Number 4 Michigan State, on the other hand, played in the mighty Big Ten, making them for many the favorites going in.
But maybe more interesting than the game’s logistics was the matchup of the teams’ two stars both wearing #33, Michigan State’s Magic Johnson and Indiana State’s Larry Bird. This would be their first time facing one another, but not the last. In the game that followed, still the most watched basketball game in American history, and in the many games in the decade that followed, Magic and Bird would transform the NBA, professional sports, and American culture.
Despite their obvious racial difference, and despite Magic’s undeniable extroversion and Bird’s intense introversion, they shared much in common. Both were Midwestern kids from working class families. Both experienced struggle and knew poverty. Both played the game at the highest of levels, though neither was that athletic. Both were basketball savants who saw the game in 4-D, able to control a game simply with their prowess as passers, as leaders, and through the force of their wills. And both possessed a relentless drive to win.
It also must be said that externally, Larry Bird was as white as could be. But internally he felt a kinship with Black people. He credits learning and developing his game as a boy by playing pickup games with a group of young Black men who worked at an area hotel. The guys would get out of work and play on a court across the street. Ten-eleven year-old Larry Bird would join them, hone his skills, and get to know these Black men who befriended him. He learned not only his game but the art of trash-talking.
Magic would say, while we went at it like nobody’s business and seemed as different as can be, “we knew we were mirrors of each other.” Magic and Bird’s connection and kinship, even before they became friends, transcended their differences. They simply needed to come to see and embrace this mirroring, this kinship.
A Christian lesson is this – look deeper than skin level. Look beyond personality differences. When you do, you’ll sometimes see the beautiful symmetries in life.
Fast forward some 6 years to August 1985. After years of battling on the court, Magic with the LA Lakers, Bird with the Boston Celtics, as archrivals, archenemies even, both agreed to do a commercial for Converse, the sneaker brand they both wore. The commercial was to be filmed at Larry Bird’s home in French Lick, Indiana. At this point, Magic and Larry weren’t friends. They admired each other’s games and will to win, but that was it. They maintained their distance. On the court, they despised one another. They had to. Competition at that level, the highest of levels, demanded, so they thought. But something changed that summer in the filming of that commercial. I’ll let a clip from the documentary Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals explain.
A Christian lesson: Breaking bread together works wonders. The spiritual practice of hospitality works wonders. It melts the ice, builds bridges, and creates friendships like rain and sun grow a garden. Having a matriarch involved helps too.
It is now early November 1991, and the NBA world and the culture surrounding it is about to be jolted with some shocking news. Magic has been diagnosed with HIV. Then considered a death sentence, it is hard to describe how devastating the news was for this NBA fan and so many around the world. It would bring out the worst in people, but also the best, glimmers of compassion, connection, and kinship. Again, an audio clip from the HBO documentary:
A Christian lesson – offering your nonjudgmental presence to someone hurting means realizing Christ in that moment. That gesture of connecting with someone when life seems in the balance, it can make all the difference.
Thank the Lord, Magic would survive. That pass Larry gave in that 1991 game against Atlanta turned out not to be a goodbye. Magic and Bird had more things to do.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played on the same team a few times in their lives, informal charity scrimmage games among them. But in official, competitive games, they played on the same team twice.
The first time came at the 1978 World Invitational Tournament. They both represented the USA against teams from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Yugoslavia. They didn’t start, but when they played together, they took over, showing an amazing camaraderie on the court.
Fourteen years later, Magic and Bird would end their careers on the 1992 Dream Team, again representing the U.S.A. Bird’s back was bad, and so he played sparingly. Still, he’d start the games with Magic, and there’d be glimmers of that amazing camaraderie on the court.
Some 14 years later, the camaraderie between Magic and Bird extended beyond the court. Through years of intense rivalry with its many ups and downs, they had become true, lasting, sincere friends.
I’ll end by saying this. Both Bird and Magic have said they needed each other to be the best they could be. Our contexts are different, for sure. But the truth applies for us as well. We need each other to be the best we can be. As followers of Christ, we need a community of followers and friends to be the best we can be. That’s why we’re here. To run the race of life together.
Amen?
Amen.
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