Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals
An exploration of the fierce rivalry between NBA superstars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson during their decade of dominance.
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Main Cast
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale. Due to chronic back problems, he retired as a player in 1992. Bird was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. He served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, which he currently holds.
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Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time. Johnson played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association.
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Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the first three Scream horror films (1996-2000), Ransom (1996), The Hurricane (1999), Kate & Leopold (2001), The Sum of All Fears (2002), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), The Omen (2006), Defiance (2008), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Taking Woodstock (2009), Salt (2010), Pawn Sacrifice (2014), Spotlight (2015), The 5th Wave (2016), and The French Dispatch (2021). For his roles in television, he most notably portrayed the eponymous protagonist of the Showtime drama series Ray Donovan (2013–2020). The role has earned him five Golden Globe Award nominations and three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He reprised the role in the television film Ray Donovan: The Movie (2022). He has lent his voice to animated films such as My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), Isle of Dogs, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (both 2018). He also narrated the HBO series Hard Knocks, 24/7 and the HBO documentary Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, as well as various PBS programs. He has performed in several Broadway productions. In 2005, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the play Glengarry Glen Ross. That same year, he made his debut as a film director and writer with Everything Is Illuminated (2005), based on the 2002 novel of the same name.
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Steve Springer
Steve Springer is a former sportswriter who spent 25 years at the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of 11 books, including four on the Los Angeles Lakers, and the coauthor of the New York Time bestseller American Son with Oscar De La Hoya.
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Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's Today. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted HBO's acclaimed investigative series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, which has been rated as "flat out TV's best sports program" by the Los Angeles Times. It won a Peabody Award in 2012. Gumbel was hired by NBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of its National Football League pre-game show GrandStand with Jack Buck. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to do The Today Show), he hosted numerous sporting events for NBC including Major League Baseball, college basketball and the National Football League. He returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime time coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics from Seoul and the PGA Tour in 1990. NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor of Today beginning September 27, 1982, and broadcast from Vietnam, Vatican City, Europe, South America, and much of the United States followed between 1984 and 1989. Gumbel's work on Today earned him several Emmys and a large fanbase. He is the third longest serving co-host of Today, after former hosts Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. He stepped down from the show on January 3, 1997, after 15 years. Gumbel moved to CBS, where he hosted various shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning show The Early Show on November 1, 1999. Gumbel was hosting The Early Show on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was the first to announce the September 11 attacks to CBS viewers. Gumbel left CBS and The Early Show on May 17, 2002. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Rick Robey
Frederick Robert "Rick" Robey is an American former college and professional basketball player. At 6'11", he played the center position for the Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, and the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association.
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Detroit Pistons: 1988-1989 NBA Champions - Motor City Madness
1989
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights. Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the talk show Thicke of the Night.
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Pat Riley
Patrick James Riley is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association. He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also served as the team's head coach from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2008.
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Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player who played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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Isiah Thomas
Isiah Lord Thomas III, also known as "Zeke," is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for NBA TV. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Greatest Players, and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He played his entire professional career for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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Movie Details
Production Info
- Director:
- Ezra Edelman
- Writer:
- Aaron Cohen
- Production:
- HBO Sports
Key Crew
- Producer:
- Ezra Edelman
- Producer:
- Joe Lavine
- Executive Producer:
- Rick Bernstein
- Executive Producer:
- Ross Greenburg
- Editor:
- Charles Olivier
Locations and Languages
- Country:
- US
- Filming:
- US
- Languages:
- en