NBA Legend Magic Johnson Makes Brutally Honest Celtics Larry Bird Statement

Magic Johnson spoke about Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.

Oct 8, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; President of Basketball Operations of the Los Angeles Lakers Earvin Magic Johnson speaks about the tragedy in Las Vegas before the start of a preseason game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers once had an epic rivalry with Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.

They faced off in the NBA Finals three times (and the Lakers won twice).

Recently, Johnson did an interview with FS1's Speak.

He briefly spoke about his rivalary with the Celtics.

Paul Pierce: "What's happened to the rivalries in today's game?"

Johnson: "They don't hate each other. I hated Larry and every Celtic. I really don't like you, but you my little brother. Now I love you because you're out of that green and white... That's what it was. The Celtics-Lakers hate each other. Disliked each other, so it made for great TV and people tuning in."

.@MagicJohnson breaks down why we no longer have rivalries in the NBA today

"They don't hate each other. I hated Larry [Bird] and every Celtic. I really don't like you [Paul Pierce] but you my little brother. Now I love you because you're out of that green & white." 😂 pic.twitter.com/yJyum6dxGH

— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) December 19, 2024

While Johnson and Bird were one of the best rivalries in all of sports history, they became friends.

Johnson wrote on Instagram (on October 17): "Today was special, as I got to share the stage with my great friend, Dream Team teammate, and 3x NBA Champion Larry Bird for our 3rd speaking engagement together post-retirement! We spoke at the Global CEO Summit in New York on how you can utilize learning about your rivals to beat your competition, both in basketball and in the boardroom. After our session, we were able to catch up with David Letterman, which was a full circle moment from when Larry and I went on his show back in 2012!

I want to send a huge thank you to Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO of Service Now for bringing Larry and I together and for putting on an incredible event!"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Earvin "Magic" Johnson (@magicjohnson)

In total, Johnson and Bird faced off 37 times in the NBA.

Johnson went 22-15 in those matchups.