Tuesday 25 June 2019 09:06, UK
As Larry Bird and Magic Johnson received Lifetime Achievement honours at the NBA Awards, the league imagined the impact the pair would have had were they playing today.
The longtime rivals (and close friends) were honoured for their contributions to basketball at the NBA Awards ceremony in Santa Monica, California, on Monday night.
Bird and Johnson were the headline acts in the 1980s Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers rivalry that reinvigorated the NBA and propelled the league to global prominence.
Bird's Celtics won three titles in the decade including a seven-game series win in the 1984 Finals. Johnson powered the 'Showtime' Lakers to five championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) including two Finals wins over Boston.
Before the pair received their trophies at the ceremony, host Shaquille O'Neal introduced a video vignette imagining the impact Bird and Johnson would have were they playing in their primes today.
The iconic duo then took turns holding their trophies while each other spoke.
Bird said the NBA is in good hands with today's talented athletes and he urged them to keep the game the same so it continues on for future generations. Johnson paid tribute to the late Lakers owner Dr Jerry Buss who drafted him in 1979.
Click the video at the top of the page to see how today's NBA landscape would look if Bird and Magic were playing in their primes.
