Turner Sports and the NBA have announced that legends Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson will be honored as part of the NBA Awards at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, June 24 on TNT from Santa Monica, California.
Both former players will be co-recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Only two other former players have received the honor, Bill Russell in 2017 and Oscar Robertson in 2018. Both Bird and Johnson played a total of 13 full NBA seasons with the Celtics and Lakers respectively, earning a total of three MVP Awards, nine All-NBA first team selections, and 12 NBA All-Star game appearances. They are also part of the NBA 50 greatest players list, and were teammates and co-captains of the gold medal winning 1992 USA Dream Team at the Summer Olympics. Both are inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame twice, once as players for their respective teams and also as part of the team that brought home gold in those Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
The two began a rivalry in college in 1979 when Johnson and his Michigan State Spartans beat Bird and his previously undefeated Indiana State Sycamores in the NCAA title game. It is still the highest tv rated collegiate basketball game of all time. In their first season in the league Johnson led the Lakers to the NBA title, while Bird won the Rookie of the Year with the Celtics. Johnson went on to win five titles with the Lakers, leading LA to nine Finals appearances. He averaged 19.5 points per game, 11.5 assists, and 7.2 rebounds in his career. He is still fifth on the list in assists in the history of the league. In 1991, Johnson had to retire from the NBA after announcing he was HIV positive and would become advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. He came out of retirement in the 1995-96 season to join back up the Lakers. He was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Johnson is now the Chairman/CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises and co-owner of the LA Sparks, LA Dodgers, LA Football Club, and E-Sports franchise Team Liquid. Johnson owned shares in the Lakers when they won five championships between 1994-2010. He was the Lakers Head Coach in the 93-94 season, and then Director of Basketball Operations from 2017-2019. He also had a stint in broadcasting with Turner Sports.
Bird led the Celtics to three NBA championships, and was twice named the Finals MVP. He averaged 24.3 points per game, 10 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in his 13 year run with Boston. He was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998. After his playing career, Bird flourished as a Head Coach of the Indiana Pacers. He won Coach of the Year in the 1997-1998 season which was his first year as coach. He guided the Pacers to three straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances in each of those first three seasons, and then led the team to their first ever NBA Finals appearance in 1999-2000. Larry had two stints as the Pacers President of Basketball Operations, and won the 2011-2012 Executive of the Year. He is still the only former player to win an MVP Award, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year awards. He is currently serving in an advisory role with the Pacers.
