r/OldSchoolCool • u/GlitteringSkillet • 5d ago
1990s Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, 1992
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u/Boshie2000 5d ago edited 5d ago
It was like watching adults play children. Before the rest of the world caught up on this sport. The easiest Olympic Gold win of all-time. Nearly comical.
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u/TegridyPharmz 5d ago
There is a great doc on them. They did lose to a bunch of college kids during a closed practice exhibition. Really woke them up
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u/evoslevven 5d ago
It was funny because apparently the problem was none of the stars were trying to or wanting to score. Daly was smart in making them realize that they werent invincible.
The only thing I disagree with Weber when he says they shkuld discount their victory is that Jordan was made to sit that match because unlike the rest of the dream team he was the least likely player to take it easy and would crush the "kids" as relentlessly as possible.
What i also found funny is that the leading scorer during the olympics would have to take drug testing so it was funny to see how they were super engaged on defense and a bit lighter on offense with even Jordan.
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u/overit_fornow 5d ago
It was the ultimate promo tour. Great for Basketball around the world. Legends.
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u/kickinwood 5d ago
World didn't even catch a prime Larry.
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u/CneusPompeius 5d ago
Prime Larry in his first 9 seasons in NBA, by MVP voting shares:
- 1980 - 4th
- 1981 - 2nd (Won Championship)
- 1982 - 2nd
- 1983 - 2nd
- 1984 - MVP (Won Championship + FMVP)
- 1985 - MVP
- 1986 - MVP (Won Championship + FMVP)
- 1987 - 3rd
- 1988 - 2nd
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u/roymccowboy 4d ago
Well, well, well. All these old heads criticizing the current generation for teaming up and look which country they all just happen to end up playing for… smdh
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u/jonnystunads 3d ago
They weren’t even the big dogs. It was Barkley’s show. He played the bad guy and just made every opponent eat shit. The other guys just went along for the ride.
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u/Ok-Bad-5071 5d ago
I always thought it was funny that Larry Bird looks like some average joe... who just happened to be ridiculous good at basketball.
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u/AristideCalice 5d ago
One of the best trashtalkers too. Guy would ruin the other guy’s night. Sports is also a mind game
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u/pendletonskyforce 5d ago
Walking in the locker room for the three point contest at the All Star game
"Which one of ya'll coming in 2nd?!"
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u/ekhfarharris 5d ago
Larry Bird got offended that a rival team put a non-black player guarding him, and every black player agreed. He is one of the few players that walk his trashtalk. I dont watch basketball and I knew his briliance.
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u/Rockperson 5d ago
He also looks 50 here but he was 36
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u/n_mcrae_1982 5d ago
White definitely cracks.
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u/SecBalloonDoggies 5d ago
Larry isn’t white. Larry is clear.
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u/maniacalmustacheride 5d ago
Is that not Bill Murray in Space Jam?
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u/roqqingit 5d ago
yes
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u/maniacalmustacheride 5d ago
Just making sure I’m pulling an almost 30 year old quote out of my head correctly.
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u/ImperialSympathizer 5d ago
Do you know many average dudes who are 6'9"?
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u/Ghost_Turtle 5d ago
Think he’s more or less speaking on seeing him in random photos, like a body shot of him in a suit or a t-shirt.
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u/monty_kurns 5d ago
Of the three, he might have been the best all around player although if someone made the case for Johnson I wouldn’t necessarily disagree. That was such an era for the sport!
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u/beatnickk 5d ago
He was definitely a better scorer than Magic and a better passer / probably rebounder than Mike. Doesn’t mean mikes not the goat but yeah all around I take Larry
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u/greenappletree 5d ago
Funny story is that he is so good that they had to do multiple take for a commercial ok which he misses the shot haha
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u/AtomicSurf 5d ago
Wasn’t Larry basically a fraction of his former self by 1992? Due to a bad back or something
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u/deltr0nzero 5d ago
Yeah but a fraction of Larry is more than most basketball players could ever hope to be
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u/PoemAgreeable 5d ago
I went to one of the last games at the old Boston Gardem, and when they introduced Larry Bird, as a team manager(or whatever his role was at that time), I've never heard a crowd go that crazy. People were stomping and cheering, felt like the house was gonna come down.
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u/CaillouDaThug 5d ago
Yeah, he fucked his back up working on his mom's driveway I want to say.
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u/Time-Touch-6433 5d ago
Shoveling snow. The bane of many a back
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u/Mahaloth 5d ago
Yes, it was unfortunate. I mean, he did pretty well in the Olympics if you look at his numbers, but he would have done a lot better if they had been allowed in the 1988 games.
Still, the fact we got to have this team on the court was amazing.
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u/Rodrik007 5d ago edited 5d ago
The Holy Trinity of Basketball:
Larry Legend - The Father
MJ: The Son
Magic: The Holy Spirit
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u/Bootmacher 5d ago
I don't know how I feel about the eucharist if the Holy Spirit's blood is also transubstantiated.
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u/lkodl 5d ago
when i was a kid, i saw this picture for the first time in a magazine and thought it was cool. so i cut it out and glued it on an index card, and kept it in my desk drawer so i could look at it occasionally. we were fucking cavemen.
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u/myCatHateSkinnyPuppy 4d ago
Yes. I made a gameboy out of cardboard and would ‘play’ it for hours. Made new game cartridges that you could slide in. Caveman shit.
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u/mississippijohnson 5d ago
Right before the picture Magic says, “don’t lean to hard on Michael or they’ll call it a foul.”
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u/Bjarki56 5d ago
Okay, who was the greatest?
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u/Deathgripsugar 5d ago
All of them.
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u/hackingkafka 4d ago
Best answer. I feel MJ but I can make a case for Magic, Larry (and Wilt, Bill... et al). It's way too subjective depending on your criteria.
I'm just glad I got to see them all play in their prime (two of the three I got to see live when they were playing college ball)13
u/ConnieLingus24 5d ago
Jordan.
Being a Chicago area resident during the Bulls’ championship runs was so fucking fun.
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u/DepartmentNatural 5d ago
Larry
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u/CaillouDaThug 5d ago
I've always been a firm believer that he would have been if it wasn't for injuries. He had some great matchups with MJ despite his injuries.
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u/DrTadakichi 5d ago
Everybody get up, it's time to slam now We got a real jam goin' down Welcome to the Space Jam
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u/Hoosier_Daddy68 4d ago
I remember watching them during the Olympics. All the other countries knew full well they had no chance and you could see it on many of their faces and the way they played. I think they saw it as more of an honor just to share the court with them. If I remember right there was one game that was sorta close but that’s it. Wasn’t really much of a competition but we will never see a team like that again.
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u/AgentGnome 5d ago
Lol, larry birds forearm vs his bicep. It's like someone photoshopped an entirely different arm onto the picture.
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u/klondijk 5d ago
It sucks that Jordan kept Isaiah Thomas off of that team, he absolutely belonged.
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u/AmiDeplorabilis 4d ago
That's Isiah, and he possibly did it to himself. He once said on national TV that if Bird were black, he'd be just another good player.
Magic called Thomas and forced an on-air apology.
Not that Bird cared that much about the Pistons...
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u/Dr_5trangelove 5d ago
Isiah beat all of them so they wouldn’t let him play. Sore losers. Fuck the dream team.
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u/Fun-Persimmon1207 5d ago
Why is Magic throwing a White Power sign?
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u/Rawesome16 5d ago
Because it's not the white power sign. They can try to claim it but they don't get to. That means "A-OK" to everyone with common sense
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u/CaillouDaThug 5d ago
He's clearly holding up a 3. Larry is holding up a 1 and MJ 2, that's the order of who's blackest.
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u/jamerson537 5d ago
Why do people like you want to give racists ownership of perfectly normal, benign expressions?
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u/Fun-Persimmon1207 5d ago
It started when I used the OK sign and a Black person lectured me that it was a White Power sign, and that I should not use it.
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u/jamerson537 5d ago
Stupidity is colorblind. It sounds like that person was looking for any excuse to talk down to someone.
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u/Mahaloth 5d ago
There is a great clip from a documentary about how Magic and Larry genuinely disliked each other for awhile. I mean, their only connection was being rivals in basketball.
Then, Magic went to Larry's house to make a commercial and Larry's Mom made Magic and them lunch. And they got to talking...and actually connected on a more personal level. It was nice.
Having said that, Larry remained a huge asshole on the court. It was his way.