Magic & Bird: A Courtship Of Rivals (Part 2)

[SneakyClam]

A Larry Bird movie would be rated R.

[oscarseymour]

Still dominated... Hahaha

[RayMagic12192]

larry bird grew up playing basketball with blacks that helped him some

[lasoogneypubes]

@RayMagic12192 I REALLY doubt that's true.. The poorest rural town in Indiana in the 70's and you think he was playing basketball with black people? 

[Nateisthe1827]

@lasoogneypubes it was and still is

[syntonik]

@lasoogneypubes

Actually, yes. The schools (paoli, valley springs) would employ black men and women to assist with construction projects, cafeteria staff, janitorial/facility staff, and so on. Though the modern-day KKK was founded there, there was still a minute black population. Key thing is that they enjoyed his presence because Larry didn't see black or white, he simply saw people enjoying the game of basketball.

[knightschwartz]

did child support payments kill his dad?

[BentonStansel]

7:53 mark is priceless:

"which is fine, (cough)... still dominated."

[knightschwartz]

child support killed his dad. thats terrible.

[knightschwartz]

there are so few american white bball players cause bball in america is so dominated by blacks. Thats why you have euro whites in the game. playing bball in america u have to be in that ghetto world which few whites like.

[09fredo]

@knightschwartz Ridiculously untrue. 

[reh629]

i was a die hard knicks fan as a kid. i hated larry bird. but i respected him.

[nibblebunny]

"...which is fine..*cough* i still dominated" lol

[Pigosaurus]

7:45 *Clears his throat* Which is fine...still dominated.

A bit cocky? No, he earned it.

[oscarseymour]

Two truly amazing players

[zGunShiiii]

"If I could get my brother in a fight with somebody his age I was happy as hell cause I liked to see him get beat up and thats just the way it was.." lol Bird is the man

[lasoogneypubes]

Born on the same day of Pearl Harbor. That's how you know he's so great.

[enm97]

Don't be too hard on Gumbel. Even Sports Illustrated talked about the fact that the NBA was really interested in Bird, because here was a white guy who could bring white fans to a sport that had become "too black" for many white fans.

[ry3304]

bird is the fuckin tuffest sob to ever play the damn game man seriousli.

im a lil drunk but cmon dude.

dude was tough as fuckin nails, thts what made him frekkin great lols ;.

[2010CAS]

never realized larry bird had such a G upbring

[syntonik]

@2010CAS

I've talked with Mark, his brother, who lives in my hometown, and he mirrored everything this was about. Larry never was much of a talker; he was awkward at times, but get him a basketball in his hands, and he was Superman. Mark and Larry are almost identical in their mannerisms.

[yellowman88]

@2010CAS you could tell by his accent.

[rickys162]

lmao its crazy he went from being this shy kid to being one of the biggest and best trash talkers of all time

[ryanspanger]

fuck you gumbel

[sera7ares]

haha larry's too funny

[sillypinoy]

young larry bird looks like fr3d haha

[mcgurkryans]

9:36... Bryant Gumbel is as ignorant today as he was back then. He sounds like every Bird doubter you've ever met: "he's a only big deal b/c he's white." Fool. This coming from the same guy who said Ali was more of a "black" guy than Joe Frazier. He calls Frazier, who worked on a South Carolina plantation picking cotton, an Uncle Tom.

[masterrinks]

@mcgurkryans hes jus sayin that is why it is a big rival

[enm97]

@mcgurkryans Don't be too hard on Bryant . The SI edition that Bird was on the cover of even made a big deal about Bird being white. At that time the NBA didn't have a single white player that the white fan (and the vast majority were at that time) could identify with. Bird was seen as the guy who could change that, and whether you made race a big deal or not, Bird did change that.

[masanf]

@mcgurkryans

Amen. Gumbel was, is and always will be a piece of shit. He is fucking obsessed with race. I can't stand him.

[bushbaumf]

@mcgurkryans

he didnt say that bird was a big deal only because he's white he said it made it that much more of an attraction.

[natedaug1]

@bushbaumf Yeah, he was being critical of Bird because he is white, he was just saying the fact that Bird is white made the match-up more interesting. Race is a big deal in America, still, that is all he was saying.

[philo420]

@mcgurkryans um just because he mentioned their race doesn't make him a racist. what he said is 100% true. if larry bird was black, people wouldn't have made a big of deal as they did. but because they were opposites in every way possible, it was very special. it's true man

[causticsoda89]

@mcgurkryans I don't have any opinion on Gumbel, but you have completely misunderstood his reference to Larry Bird in this context. He said "it" was only a big deal because Larry was white, and than he clarified his statement by saying "they" (Magic and Larry) were polar opposites. Clearly Gumbel was referring to the rivalry between Larry and Magic, and the ISU v MSU championship, and was suggesting that the "rivalry" was accentuated because Larry was a white star, and Magic was a black star

[natedaug1]

@causticsoda89 Yeah, that fact that Bird was white and Magic was black definitely played into the dichotomy between the two players. Race is an easy way to sort of create juxtaposition between two people. I don't think Gumbel was being racist at all, he was talking about the dichotomy between the two players.

[Melizuhhh]

@mcgurkryans He is kinda right man. The difference between them related to everyone and thats why the rivalry got as big as it got.

[Melizuhhh]

@mcgurkryans Lol and how does picking cotton save you from being a uncle tom. Thats one of the most racist things ive ever heard.

[lasoogneypubes]

@mcgurkryans Noo... He was saying that the rivalry was bigger because there was a race element. He didn't say that Bird was over rated and recognized because he's white.

[ajwonderboy]

@mcgurkryans I think you need to watch the whole thing. Not sure why you're hating on Gumbel. He's the biggest supporter of Bird in the whole documentary. He even said he helped save the NBA at the end of the show. You may be taking him out of context.

[arlichar11]

@mcgurkryans gumbel is the whitest black guy i ever seen..

[marzilyas]

@mcgurkryans BG didn't say "bird is only a big deal cuz he's white." He's saying that his whiteness played into the allure of the match up with magic, hence the highest rated NCAA finals game in history.

[natedaug1]

@mcgurkryans I don't think he was saying Bird was overrated here. He was just Bird was white and Magic was black and that played into the dichotomy between the two players. I think that is true. I don't think he was being racist.

[acarrizo82]

@mcgurkryans I don't think Gumbel was commenting on Bird's playing ability, I think he was commenting on Larry and Magic's races as an added factor that made the story bigger and that drew more people than if it had been two really good black guys or two really good white guys playing each other.

[TheShnag]

@mcgurkryans Don't take it the wrong way. He was only saying that Larry being white and Magic being black was just another polarizing factor about the rivalry. He wasn't saying that Larry was overrated because he was white.

[peteor27]

@mcgurkryans Gumbel said the college final wouldn't have been as big of a deal if Bird was black, which was true in 1979 America. He said nothing about Bird or Magic as players, just that their difference in race made a more compelling story.

[CoolerKing37]

@mcgurkryans Hey idiot. He was speaking on what people thought in the context of back then, not now. The racial dynamic WAS huge in their rivalry.

[D3Lir10uS]

PART 3 NOOOOOOOOOOW

[GlenDanzig]

part 3!

[knighthood8]

please upload to whole part before youtube tear this apart!

[GlenDanzig]

part 3?



[Corbo905]

part 3 comin



[24jamestown]

put up part 3 motherfucker

[braemarsucks]

part 3 please

[malz92]

this is awesome. Thank you so much. Can't wait to watch the rest.