When the Game Was Ours

Jun 08, 2011

Matt rated it

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Hook: How would it feel to look into the life of a superstar of the game of basketball?

Review: Jackie MacMullan’s "When the Game was Ours" is the story of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird. The story starts with Bird’s and Johnson’s appearance at the April 1978 World Invitational Tournament in Kentucky, an electrifying few seconds in which the two future superstars and Hall of Famers hit each other with a series of gorgeous passes before Johnson laid it in. The history ...more

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Mar 28, 2011

Kathy jenkins rated it

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i like basketball; i really like college basketball and i have always enjoyed hearing about Larry Bird. I bought this book for my son but it's sat around the house for a year so i thought i'd read it during march madness. it is heavy on the basketball strategy, most of which is beyond my knowledge but the stories about how the relationship between Bird and Johnson developed over the years was news to me and i enjoyed reading about it. Much attention was paid to their commitment to their baske...more

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Jul 25, 2010

Mickey rated it

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Reading this book really took me back to my college days. I was a freshman at Indiana University the year Bird and Johnson faced each other in the NCAA finals, and had been an IU basketball fan for years. I remember seeing Larry Bird on the IU campus for some kind of sports dinner just before he started his freshman year there, and I always wondered what the story was behind his departure before the season started. The unofficial word around campus was that the campus was just "too big"...more

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Mar 23, 2010

Resonance rated it

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Great, enjoyable read that takes me back to the glory days of the Bird vs. Magic rivalry. Some great anecdotes that I had never heard before. Nothing really earthshaking, although the insights into each man's psyche were pretty interesting. It's fun to see how each guy drove the other to be a better ballplayer.

The book touches on a few issues -- Magic's HIV, the whole debate about Bird being seen as great because he was white, the way the game has changed since those days -- that ar...more

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Jul 31, 2011

Dan Walker rated it

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Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of the Magic-Bird era, so it was great to hear what really happened.

The author has a very interesting style of starting with the ending before going back to the beginning and working back to the ending again. For example, starting with the Celtics winning the title one year and then going back to the beginning of the season and reviewing how both Larry and Magic got to the title game.

Equally interesting was hearing about the fierce, competitive drive tha...more

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Sep 18, 2010

Sher rated it

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I was really disappointed in this book. I don't know what I was expecting, but it didn't deliver for me. I did enjoy the first half which was about how they got their start, and many of the things that went on, but really, by the end of the book I was so sick of reading the phrase, "Magic and Larry" or "Larry and Magic". Really, let's use a modicum of creativity and originality. I started to wonder if the whole thing was made up.

I really liked both Larry Bir...more

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Mar 02, 2011

Paul Mcalexander rated it

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I would recommend the book “When the Game Was Ours” to teenagers and older. The book talks about Larry Bird’s and Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s life as a kid and in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They helped the NBA more then the NBA helped them.
Magic Johnson grew up in Everet Michigan, where he won the basketball state tournament at Everet High School. Larry Bird grew up in Springs Valley Indiana, where he also won the state basketball tournament at Springs Valley High School....more I would recommend the book “When the Game Was Ours” to teenagers and older. The book talks about Larry Bird’s and Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s life as a kid and in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They helped the NBA more then the NBA helped them.
Magic Johnson grew up in Everet Michigan, where he won the basketball state tournament at Everet High School. Larry Bird grew up in Springs Valley Indiana, where he also won the state basketball tournament at Springs Valley High School. They both grew up in small towns and little money with a large family. When they our in high school you could always find them at the part playing basketball in rain or sunshine.
Larry Bird went to college at Indiana University in 1976 to play basketball. He broke his foot in a pickup game of basketball. He decides to drop out of school work in his home town. A year late he decides to go back to college to play basketball at Indiana State University but couldn’t play his first year because he had to set a year because of National College Athletic Association (NCAA) rules on transferring. Everet Johnson went to Michigan State University in 1977 to play basketball. The year of 1978-79 they were both on the cover of Sports Illustrated and they played each other in the NCAA National Championship. Michigan State won the National Championship.
Bird was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1978 but didn’t sign with them till after the 1979 National Championship game. He won 3 NBA titles and retired in 1992 and played his whole career with the Celtics. Johnson was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. He won 5 NBA tilts with the Lakers, he retired in 1991 but came back in the 1995-96 season and retired after the season.
They did so much for the NBA, they helped create a rivalry that people had to see, and they also helped get the drugs out of the NBA. Bird and Johnson became good friends in the middle of their NBA career. With out those two men the NBA wouldn’t be as popular as it is now.
(less)

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Jan 23, 2010

Michael Scott rated it

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Shelves: bio, memoir, sports

When the Game Was Ours is your typical account of the lives of great sportsmen, in this case the basketballers Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry "Birdman" Bird. The couple dominated the American basketball from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. During this time, they earned cumulatively eight NBA championship rings with their respective teams Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics and six individual Most Valuable Player trophies. The book feeds on the remarkable relations...more

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Oct 28, 2009

Samantha rated it

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Very good book that tells both sides of pivotial events in Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's careers. It starts out when both are in high school and then moves to college when they first started hearing about the other. I loved the stories about their teammates and what they were thinking about their rivalry then later their friendship. Their interactions with Jordan during the Olympic Dream Team period was funny. I really enjoyed the inside thoughts from Larry Bird concerning Magic revealing that ...more

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Feb 15, 2010

RB Love rated it

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Shelves: books-read-2010

A little repetitive maybe. Repetitively great! Tons of anecdotes and going overs of the exploits of Bird and Magic. Makes you realize how significant they were and what a renaissance that was for basketball in general and the nba particularly.
One section was so significant, like an allegory beyond the book itself, about the differences in acumen between Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, I feel obliged to re-type it here;
"Thank God Kareem was my teammate, because I used to crin...moreA little repetitive maybe. Repetitively great! Tons of anecdotes and going overs of the exploits of Bird and Magic. Makes you realize how significant they were and what a renaissance that was for basketball in general and the nba particularly.
One section was so significant, like an allegory beyond the book itself, about the differences in acumen between Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, I feel obliged to re-type it here;
"Thank God Kareem was my teammate, because I used to cringe at the way he treated peopl," Magic said. "There was a way to say no if you didn't want to sign an autograph. You could say,'I'm Busy right now,' or, 'Sorry, not today.' But Kareem didn't do it in a very kind way. Sometimes he's have people in tears. It's hurt him now that he's done playing."
More than a decade after both men retired, Kareem approached Magic to learn more about Johnson's business acumen. Abdul-Jabbar had struggled to find his niche since he stopped playing, and he was looking to Magic, who had made millions off the court, for advice.
"I want to be like you," the center said.
Magic shook his head.
"No, you don't," Johnson answered. "To be like me, you've got to shake hands, hug people, attend luncheons. You've got to be nice to people all the time. You've got to make small talk. You've got to be on."
"Well, maybe I can do it another way," Abdul-Jabbar said.
"There is no other way," Magic explained. "You have to be cordial. You can't treat your teammates without any courtesy, or humiliate reporters, or blow off fans."
Magic shared a story with Abdul-Jabbar that happened in his second season in the pros and resonated with him for a decade. The Lakers were finishing up a pregame shoot-around when a man and his young son timidly approached Abdul-Jabbar and asked, "Kareem, can we please get a picture?"
"No," Abdul-Jabbar snapped without breaking stride.
Magic, standing nearby, could see the young boy was crushed. Johnson was not yet and All-Star, an MVP, or a household name, although he was well on his way to accomplishing all of that. He walked over to the father and said, "How about a picture with me?"
As the grateful father lined up the shot, Magic joked, "Maybe I'll be in the Hall of Fame someday too."
Twenty-two years later, Johnson sat in a boardroom representing Magic Johnson Enterprises with hopes of generating some new business. After he made his pitch, an older gentleman approached him.
"We met before, a long, long time ago," the gentleman said. "You posed for a picture with my son. Kareem blew us off, but you were very nice."
The son was a grown man, a successful attorney in Los Angeles. His father was the CEO of the company Magic was soliciting.
"My son is 29 years old now," the man said,"and he still has that picture on his wall."
As Magic walked out of the meeting with a new multimillion-dollar client in his portfolio, he thought to himself, "See, Kareem? It could have been you."(less)

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Dec 17, 2009

Tim rated it

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A reasonably insightful read into the life and times of the two basketball players that I most loved to love (Magic) and hate (Bird) when I was growing up. It was a great walk down memory lane, with some new insights. I wouldn't characterize it as anything resembling deep investigative reporting by MacMullan, but I suppose that wasn't the point. If I had to pick another nit, there were several times where I thought some of the background information (pop culture, etc.) just didn't quite measu...more

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Jan 15, 2010

Anne Broyles rated it

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Written by a BOSTON GLOBE writer and ESPN analyst, this book is a good example of its genre. Jackie McMullan took interviews with Johnson, Bird and countless others, and wove a non-linear narrative that captures both the highs and lows of college and professional basketball in the 1980s. Readers who are basketball fans, nostalgia buffs, or just want to hear details of the famous rivalry will enjoy these pages, which also detail the racial climate of 19802 NBA ball, and how Magic and Bird were us...more

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Dec 06, 2011

Eddie rated it

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This was a really good book. It didn't add a lot that the average basketball junkie wouldn't already know, especially if you've read books about Magic and Bird, but of course the insight by the individuals involved is what makes this worthwhile. For someone like me, who growing up had assumed they must hate each other, it was fascinating to hear the mutual respect they had for each other from the 1st time they played together on a College All-Star team.

This reminds me in a way about a ...more

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Jun 06, 2011

Josh rated it

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Some great memories, but ultimately, there wasn't much in the way of insight here. It's pretty soft. Love Jackie Mac, but I think this book would've been far better were it literally in Bird and Magic's words (and of all the characters involved in this historic time). I'm thinking an oral history, with commentary and framing by Jackie for each chapter or subject.
It felt a little disjointed. The subject of race didn't come up til sometime around the 2nd half, which I think is a little ...more

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Dec 09, 2009

Tony rated it

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I'm an basketball fan born in the late 70's and grew up with those magically Lakers - Celtics series. Watching Magic and Bird battle something I vividly remember from my youth, I mean I practiced Magic's running baby hook until I got it perfected. Hated Bird and the Celtics but was scared anytime Bird had a open or even unopened look. Still have an old Magic Jersey (though its 14 sizes too small now) and was devastated when he broke the knew he had HIV. Reading how these bitter rivals, battled, ...more

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Nov 18, 2010

Sandra Strange rated it

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Shelves: biography-autobiography-memoir, sports

Ok, so you really have to like basketball to enjoy this book. It's an engaging account of the rivalry between Larry Bird (playing for the Celtics, in the East) and Magic Johnson (playing for the Lakers in the West) that really MADE pro basketball into a spectator favorite rivaling pro baseball and football. This team met for the championship several times during the 80-'s, almost always to dramatic games with results unpredictable. Though these superstars' personalities contast strongly, they...more

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Jul 27, 2011

Marc rated it

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An amazing book that brought me back to my childhood and to when I was introduced to the game of basketball. This book allowed me to go into the mindset of two of the greatest competitors to play the game of basketball and see the evolution of their relationship from hated rivals/enemies to best of friends. It also delved into the growth of what we consider the modern NBA. They saved the game at a time when the NBA had drug problems and was non-existent among the fans and corporate America. The...more

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Jan 03, 2011

Justin Guardiani rated it

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A great look into a rival that for me made fall in love with Basketball. Growing up you were either a Larry or Magic fan. Now we get for the "horse's mouth" look at a rival that once had enough hate to fill a stadium to the eventual friendship that is today. I think one of the amazing items was how much they really hated each other. It was amazing to see how they would track their careers, stats, wins/losses to who had more MVP trophies. But on the flip side it was pretty remarkab...more

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Mar 15, 2010

Dave rated it

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Granted the NBA isnt that popular in Kansas. As a sports fan we are the poorer for it. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the Magic Johnson/LArry Bird rivalry. The last 1/3 of the book was new ground for me.
Reading how their relationship grew from a heated rivalry to a grudging respect, into a close friendship between the 2 men who epitomized basketball from the late 70's as college rivals thru the 80's as the two best players of the decade. I enjoyed the parts of the...more

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Sep 04, 2011

Michael rated it

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I started my love affair with basketball with this rivalry. While living in Asia, I would wake up at ungodly hours (at the time, usually 1AM or 3:30AM to catch afternoon games in the US) just to watch these two great players play.

It was a nostalgic trip for me to read about their lives, and catch all the behind the scenes stuff that went into creating the legends that they are. The book, I believe, did their legacies justice.

They do not make players like this anymore. I'm g...more

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Apr 06, 2010

Elaine rated it

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I grew up a laker fan & have always detested the celtics. I found myself reliving those days of glory, finding myself saying,"I hate you Larry bird, mchale, parish, insert Celtic player name here." there's a docu on magic & bird on hbo right now. This book is a good compliment to the docu, in fact I think one of the authors is interviewed throughout the film. The best part was learning that through all that competiton & strife there was a deep respect between the players. The book hig...more

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Feb 05, 2011

Todd rated it

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I was fortunate enough to catch the tail end of the Celtics/Lakers rivalry growing up. Irony at its finest, my two favorite players, Larry Bird & Magic Johnson. I liked Bird because my dad & Papaw constantly talked about how he "Played the game, the right way" and was a "model team mate". Being young and impressionable, Magic was Hollywood and what kid didnt like him. From the personality to the smile, to the no look passes and baby hook shot. Finally, this book puts tog...more

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Jan 23, 2011

Shaquille Bro'neal rated it

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When you think basketball most people will automatically think Michael Jordan. But when you talk about the best rivalry in basketball, Everyone knows its the Celtics and Lakers. Ervin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird were right in the middle of it. Both were from Indiana and both were all-state basketball players. During there illustrious basketball careers their paths crossed numerous times. whether it be a all-star game, the olympics or the NBA Finals, these two could not stay unlinked...more

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May 13, 2011

Rosenkavalier rated it

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Se per voi la parola "pandemonio" può essere pronunciata solo con l'accento di Chattanooga, Tennessee, leggete questo libro.

Se avete passato le domeniche mattina guardando "Il grande golf con Mario Camicia" per non rischiare di perdere l'inizio della partita, leggete questo libro.

Se, quelle stesse domeniche mattina, alla fine della partita correvate all'oratorio nonostante fosse ora di pranzo per provare la vostra versione (oratoriale) del Junior Junior Sky Hook, leggete ques...more

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Nov 18, 2010

Tony Whittum rated it

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My freshman year at Michigan State University in 1978/1979 I witnessed, via TV, one of the greatest sports spectacles, even if at the time, I didn't know it!

After MSU and Magic Johnson defeated Indiana State and Larry Bird to win the NCAA Basketball Championship in 1979 I also witnessed a chaos of celebration only a college student could appreciate: a long drunken procession of students and Spartan fans weaving down Grand River Avenue amid small bonfires made from the stools from var...more

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May 27, 2010

Patrick rated it

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Shelves: books-read-in-2010

I was born in 1982, or one year after Larry Bird won his first championship with the Boston Celtics. To say I was born into a dynasty might be overstating it--my father, while a big basketball fan, was a New England transplant who grew up the college basketball mecca of North Carolina. He was just planting the roots of a Boston sports obsession that would be a major part of my life, and bring the two of us closer together. So even though I wasn't really old enough to remember the glory days of t...moreI was born in 1982, or one year after Larry Bird won his first championship with the Boston Celtics. To say I was born into a dynasty might be overstating it--my father, while a big basketball fan, was a New England transplant who grew up the college basketball mecca of North Carolina. He was just planting the roots of a Boston sports obsession that would be a major part of my life, and bring the two of us closer together. So even though I wasn't really old enough to remember the glory days of the Bird era (my memories are mostly of Sunday afternoon playoff battles with the Chuck Person and the Indiana Pacers, with Larry Bird mostly a shell of his former self, and post-Bird first round exits to Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning of the Charlotte Hornets in the series where Reggie Lewis collapsed), I still felt like it was a part of who I was as a Boston sports fan. Larry Bird transcended time in Boston; you still regularly #33 jerseys at the new Garden on game nights.

It might have pained some of the old-timers to say it back in the day, but a big reason Bird is such a legend in Boston is Magic Johnson. As Jackie MacMullen's fantastic book points out again and again, Bird and Magic are forever intertwined by history. Neither can go out without being asked about the other. Their rivalry and sportsmanship elevated the NBA from a fringe sports league with tape-delayed championship games to a billion dollar industry with two of the most recognizable stars on the planet.

This great book tells the story of how that came to pass through the words of the people who lived it. For fans who lived through that time period, it is a great reminder of how the game used to be--a time both more innocent and more rugged--and it is refreshing to relive those old battles with the competitors who fought in them. For younger NBA fans, such as myself, it's good to get in touch with the patriarchs of the modern game and be reminded of why this league matters to us at all.

Jackie Mac does a great job of telling this story without getting in the way, presenting glimpses into the upbringing of Larry and Magic, their personal and professional triumphs and tragedies, and the way they brought the NBA to a national audience, all while keeping the momentum constantly moving forward. She also does a great job at taking a look at some of the more unsightly aspects of the rivalry, such as the not-so-subtle racial motivations some fans harbored behind their rooting interests, or Magic's battle with HIV, giving them serious thought and discussion without turning the book into a missive on racial harmony or sexual mores. It's all tackled in a serious, straight-forward manner, with no easy answers or bows put on top just for the sake of advancing the story.

One of the more surprising aspects of the book was how much I learned about Magic. I'd always liked Magic, but, being from Boston, I'd always sort of held him at arm's length. In my mind, Bird was always better than Magic and the Celtics were always better than the Lakers, and that was that. Given my age, most of my Magic memories were of his HIV announcement and subsequent retirement, his All-Star Game comeback, his multiple ill-fated comebacks both as a player and a coach, and his ill-fated late night talk show, The Magic Hour. With so much controversy and, let's face it, failure, Magic's image was a bit tarnished for me. While Bird went on to a successful career as a coach and (somewhat less successful) executive, Magic was getting picked on by Howard Stern while Sheila E hung around near the audience. But this book put Magic back into his proper context for me, both as a player and a person. He was a great competitor and one of the most unique players and personalities ever to play the game, and it's a shame that, in many ways, time has forgotten that.

Jackie MacMullen does a great job presenting these dynamic personalities in such a great light, while also treating us to a conversation of sorts with them. It's a great treat to have spent this time with them, and my only regret is that it couldn't have lasted longer.(less)

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Jan 18, 2010

William Johnson rated it

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Shelves: 2010, since-joining-goodreads

This review was reprinted from my website Secure Immaturity. Please check out the site and comment on this review and others.

When I first started reading When the Game Was Ours, by Earvin Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, I thought it was a bit silly. The Haiti earthquakes just happened and I kind of felt a ‘blood and guts’ story of hardwood glory was a bit excessive. And the fact that I was reading it in the comfort of my intact house with readily available drinking water made me feel e...moreThis review was reprinted from my website Secure Immaturity. Please check out the site and comment on this review and others.

When I first started reading When the Game Was Ours, by Earvin Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, I thought it was a bit silly. The Haiti earthquakes just happened and I kind of felt a ‘blood and guts’ story of hardwood glory was a bit excessive. And the fact that I was reading it in the comfort of my intact house with readily available drinking water made me feel even worse for it. But I realized that professional sports, as fun and distracting as they are to play and/or follow, can still be motivational, even if it is just to yourself.

The first mistake you can make when reading the book is expecting it to be about selfish, spoiled superstars who have bloated contracts and media-created personas. The book When the Game Was Ours exists to show that, at one time, the game of basketball, and many professional athletes in general of earlier times, played for the love of the game and not just the money (if they played for the money at all). In a truly compelling scene towards the end of the book, when Larry Bird decides to retire, the GM tries to get Larry to delay his retirement press conference by two weeks so Larry will received a guaranteed $5 or $10 million that is in his contract. Larry says that he didn’t deserve it and doesn’t want it. What? Can you imagine Mark Cuban purposefully paying a player for nothing or a Derrick Rose simply say, ‘no, I don’t need a few million. Thanks though’. Fuck no, that’s what!

And that example is a perfect indicator to why When the Game Was Ours is not simply a nostalgia trip for two superstars way past their prime. Yes, the book is ‘written’ by the two stars and subject to their viewpoints but the book is not only surprisingly candid but honest and the topics and situations seem to actually have consequences. What is displayed is not simply game situations and hardwood philosophy but the social aspects of being a white/black star in a racial confused America, the positives and negatives of celebrity and attitude, the effect of being a role model when mistakes are made and how a profession of respect, honor, and passion has been downgraded to merely a nightly transaction meant to pad wallets and keep mercs happy. The nostalgia exists, sure, but its not just for a simpler game but a more pure life.

The book isn’t actually written by Magic and Larry in the sense that they put pen to paper and wrote the words. Instead, Around the Horn contestant/writer Jackie MacMullan wrote as a neutral observer with constant input from the two basketball stars. But to further enhance the credibility of the potentially dubious sources (not because we don’t trust them but because they are simply writing about sometimes controversial, he said, she said situations) the narrator interviews almost all involved parties save Isiah Thomas who, not surprisingly, is missing since he is pretty much dragged through the mud in the book. What you get is the two NBA superstars take on almost every important aspect of their lives (not just NBA careers) and how they lived: call it history/biography since there are some fantastic nuggets of behind the scenes drama and what was going on in the heads of two of the greatest NBA stars of all time.

If I had to find a weakness in the book it is that as Larry Bird’s NBA career ended, Magic’s story in the book takes precedence and overshadows Bird. Larry Bird was always quiet and his attitude is the more interesting aspects of his side of the events then things that actually happened to him: Bird blew off parties, stayed home, slept early, rose early and worked out a lot. Magic, on a different coast, had more interesting scenarios off the court, both good and bad, so when Bird started to fade, his story does too. This is too bad since Bird comes out as the most likable. Nothing wrong with Magic at all. . .but Bird’s simplicity is compelling next to Magic’s wild ride through Hollywood.

And I hate to downplay something that was, at the time, such a massive deal but Magic’s HIV situation takes up too much of the book’s final third. This is when perhaps the narrator is swayed into pushing Magic’s causes rather then telling a compelling story. However, Magic didn’t pull any punches nor makes apologies. He admits to cheating on his wife with many women and isn’t afraid to show that he, though perhaps not too intentionally, made sure everyone knew, as if it were a bad thing, that he wasn’t gay on Arsenio Hall. Magic’s candid behavior is effective in making this book a success.

The most successful parts of the book are the ‘movie’ like story branching showing Magic and Bird’s seemingly single-minded pursuit of outdoing the other. There are ups and downs for both stories and, like a good story should, the proceedings make it impossible for you to cheer a side. Magic had the first advantage by beating Bird head to head in 1979 in the NCAA Title Game. But Bird got the next punch by beating Magic head to head in the 1984 NBA Finals. Back it went with Magic beating Bird in 1985 and so on and so on. The end is the most satisfying: while Bird and Magic started out as enemies and slowly became friends, they ended their careers together as teammates on the Dream Team as seemingly the best of friends.

The odd approach to the writing, though somewhat chronological, is distracting and kind of kills suspense. Example: during the sequence describing the 1984 Finals (and the first time since 1979 Bird and Magic would meet head to head) the chapter starts with Magic lamenting losing to Bird in Boston. Then it proceeds to start all the way at the beginning of the 1983/84 season and describe how Magic’s Lakers and Bird’s Celtics ended up meeting. And while those stories are filled with some good info seeds, the outcome is known already and therefore any suspense in the game by game breakdowns of the Finals games is kind of pointless. I assume, though, that if you are reading the book you already know all this stuff anyways BUT for new readers it might make the end result seem anticlimactic.

But back to the subject of motivation: the book made me look at myself and motivated me to play basketball. Yes, it isn’t donating to charity or helping out at a food bank, decidedly more important things, but it made me want to better myself. It made me bust out the dusty basketball shoes, pump up the ball in the garage that was flat, and get up in the morning to move my fat ass and work on my jumper. You do have to look out for yourself and Magic/Bird’s passion made me realize my passion for the game can once again go towards playing, and not just reading/watching, the sport and I think that’s how Magic/Bird would have wanted it.

This was the fifth book I read in my own personal Quest for 100 challenge (read 100 books in 2010).(less)

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Dec 14, 2009

Seth rated it

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Recommends it for: Basketball fans, Bostonians, Californians

Recommended to Seth by: Amazon Vine

Despite my Boston fandom, When The Game Was Ours is the best book about basketball I've ever read. I was too young to truly appreciate the play of the man often referred to as Larry Legend, but I've been well aware of his influence on the sport, not to mention the Celtics pride he exemplified. In his time, Bird was the Celtics. Magic Johnson was the Lakers, and this book shows just how alike - yet different - they were.

An excess of stats and game notes can be dragging, but When The G...more

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Apr 25, 2011

Ian Nadeau rated it

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If you were one of the many turned off by Lebron James, ESPN and the "The Decision" special, this is a nice trip down memory lane to a different era of basketball -- a time when "greatness" meant making your teammates better, not vice versa. A great peek into the lives of two of the all-time best (two of the top 5 ever by any estimation). Jackie MacMullan is the perfect writer to take on this behind-the-scenes tale of competition, perseverance, and the quest for greatness. Mu...more

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Apr 02, 2010

Chris rated it

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A fun, breezy read.

The story is simple: "At first I didn't know Magic/Larry, but I kept track of him as a rival and respected him as a competitor. Then I got to know him and realized that we had a lot in common. We remained competitors and friends, and pushed each other to new heights along the way." This story repeats every chapter.

Anecdotes confirmed what I already thought, that pro-athletes are by and large hypercompetitive jerks. But it was still fun to...more

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Other Editions (12)