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    When the Game Was Ours
    When the Game Was Ours
    When the Game Was Ours
    Audiobook13 hours

    When the Game Was Ours

    Written by Larry Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Jackie MacMullan

    Narrated by Dick Hill

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From the moment these two legendary players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. In Celtic green was Larry Bird, the hick from French Lick with laser-beam focus, relentless determination, and a deadly jump shot, a player who demanded excellence from everyone around him. Magic Johnson was Mr. Showtime, a magnetic personality with all the right moves. Young, indomitable, he was a pied piper in purple and gold.

    Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most thrilling rivalry in the NBA—East vs. West, physical vs. finesse, old school vs. Showtime, even white vs. black. Each pushed the other to greatness, and together Bird and Johnson collected eight NBA Championships and six MVP awards, helping to save a floundering NBA. At the start they were bitter rivals, but along the way they became lifelong friends.

    With intimate detail, When the Game Was Ours reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players dead set on besting each other. From the heady days of trading championships to the darker days of injury and illness, we come to understand Larry’s obsessive devotion to winning and how his demons drove him on the court. We hear him talk with candor about playing through chronic pain. In Magic we see a star struggle with the sting of defeat, not just as a player but as a team leader. When he learns he has contracted HIV we hear in his own words how that devastating news affected his relationships in basketball and beyond. But always, we see both these men prevail.

    Editor's Note

    Competitive obsession…

    “When The Game Was Ours” delves into the trajectory and collision course of the careers of two of the greatest players in basketball history, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. You can’t mention one without the other; Larry and Magic changed basketball forever. Their rivalry saved the NBA.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateNov 20, 2009
    ISBN9781441836427
    When the Game Was Ours
    Author

    Larry Bird

    LARRY BIRD played thirteen seasons with the Boston Celtics and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. He was a three-time NBA Champion, a three-time NBA MVP, and a twelve-time NBA All-Star, among other honors. He was head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000 and served as their President of Basketball Operations from 2003 to 2017. His famed rivalry with Magic Johnson was chronicled in their New York Times bestseller, When the Game Was Ours.

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    Reviews for When the Game Was Ours

    4/5

    116 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      There's a great documentary out there on these two (A Courtship of Rivals) and one book that focuses specifically on the 1979 NCAA title game (When March Went Mad, which I own but haven't yet read). I loved the documentary, so I figured that this might be a natural extension of that. Unfortunately, this didn't really grab me as much as I thought it would - there's a lot of issues I have with it. For one, there's no new insights - if you're already familiar with their story, you don't learn anything that you already know. I would say that it works well for the neophyte, but the writing style kills that. MacMullan has a habit of telling you what happened at the end of a season at the start of a chapter (the Celtics winning it all in 1984, Magic's "junior, junior" hook in '87) and telling the story of the season afterwards. What's the point of writing this way? You lost the chance to build up any suspense. Lastly, the other big issue that I have is that the highlights that don't involve Magic and Larry facing off against each other get the short end of the stick - while there are some, to be sure, there's a lot that gets left out. There's no mention at all of the great Bird/Wilkins playoff duel in 1988, and nothing about the "passing of the torch" between the Lakers and the Bulls in the 1991 Finals, to name two glaring omissions. It's certainly not a terrible book, but I'd suggest watching the HBO documentary instead. That too focused more on Magic and Larry specifically as opposed to being an overview of their careers, but the participation of both men and the visuals make it a better experience, in my opinion.
    • 3/5
      Engaging and fun read though the best material is from the first 1/2 of the book.
    • 3/5
      I’m have many interests, this is a passing one. It sounds like these guys need a hobby.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It provides a unique insight into Bird, Johnson, their relationship and the NBA of the 1980s. If you are a basketball fan over the age of 40, you will probably enjoy this as much as I did. If you are younger, I recommend trying to watch some of those finals games between the Lakers and Celtics in the 80s first, then read the book.

    • 4/5
      This is a well-researched look at the two NBA icons who practically saved the league in the 1980's - Larry Bird, the self-professed "Hick from French Lick" and the effervescent play maker from Lansing, Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Author Jackie MacMullen lets Bird and Magic tell the story with very little other than their first person voice present. The story begins shortly before the dramatic 1979 NCAA final between Bird's undefeated Indiana State team and Magic's Big Ten champion, Michigan State Spartans. Truly it was a battle royale between the two best collegiate teams from that season. As he often did, Magic's team had the last laugh on Bird's squad, but Bird dominated the stat sheet. Each man's professional life from that moment on was dedicated to besting his rival, but without ever losing the huge amount of respect that was always present.As the story continues through each rival's NBA career, the cool professional relationship develops into a friendship that continues to this day. The story chronicles that relationship well and is the most endearing part of the book. MacMullen also details the painful conclusions of each man's career - Bird with a debilitating back injury, and Magic, when diagnosed with the HIV virus.Fans of the two basketball giants will definitely want to add "When the Game Was Ours" to their To Be Read list. Ever non-basketball fans interested in a good story about loyalty and friendship should find something to like in the book.
    • 4/5
      Great book even for non-sports people like me. Two very interesting biographies (Larry Bird and Magic Johnson) interwoven to create a fascinating story.
    • 3/5
      This is a cool idea for a book, and there are parts where it feels like there is a story to be told, but for the most part it’s a repackaging of stories that have been told and retold. There are hints that the Bird-Magic relationship is something more than just mutual respect of professional opponents, but in the end that’s about what it is. If it had gone deeper into the individual psyches there might have been something more compellingly readable, but this book stayed pretty much on the level of sports fandom. The residual benefits—other than the obvious opportunity to once again relish Larry’s game—are an increased interest in, and regard for, Magic, who after all may be the more closed up character of the two; and the insight on Larry’s approach to coaching. Above all is the message that time is short, opportunities are fleeting, and that despite all of the talent, will, and drive any individual can muster, there is always the randomness of fate.