Larry Bird was once trolled by his own mom after she revealed that her favorite player was his rival Magic Johnson

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s heated rivalry in the early ‘80s took a surprising turn in the summer of 1986. That was the year Converse filmed its commercial involving the two basketball superstars in Bird’s hometown in French Lick, Indiana.

Years later, Johnson revealed that meeting the Celtics’ forward’s mom for lunch changed his view of his rival and vice versa. The “Magic Man” also offered a hilarious tale that has aged like fine wine:

“He said, ‘Magic, I’d like you to have lunch with me up at the house. My mom has prepared lunch. He threw the mom, you know, mom. You know I can’t say ‘No!’ So I go to the house and she’s bringing out all the dishes and she brought that last one and set it down.

"She hit him [Bird] and said, ‘Did you tell him, yet?’ Larry said, ‘No, Mom, you tell him.’ She turned and said, ‘Magic, you’re my favorite basketball player. And I just said, ‘Oh, man!’”

Converse’s timing could not have been better. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were fresh off back-to-back championship wars in 1984 and ‘85. Bird won the first one before Johnson got his revenge the following year.

The 1986 commercial had the makings of a disaster but Bird’s devotion to his mother and Johnson’s affability started to turn their relationship for good. They both realized that as great as their rivalry was on the basketball court, they were cut from the same cloth.

In 1987, the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers met again in the NBA Finals, the last time they battled in the championship round. Bird lost again to Johnson, giving Magic the edge in their finals head-to-head match 2-1.

Despite their blooming friendship, the two never lost their competitive fire. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird authored a book with Jackie MacMullan called “When the Game Was Ours.”

In the book, the Lakers legend had this to say about his rivalry with Bird:

“We're so competitive anyway that there was a dislike there. I even hated him more because I knew he could beat me.”

Larry Bird added:

“We did it in a way where we caught the imagination of everyone in America. People wanted to see us play against one another. … If you like competition you want to play against the best, and that's what we wanted to do.”

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were in the middle and the biggest factors of a rivalry that has never been replicated again in the NBA. They also eventually became incredibly close friends to this day.

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Larry Bird and Magic Johnson built a made-for-Hollywood story

In 1993, Magic Johnson shocked LA Nation and Boston Celtics fans when he donned the Green Machine’s iconic green jersey. Johnson had this to say to Bird:

(5:15)

“It was tough times in the beginning for both of us. Being the competitors that we are, we very rarely spoke or said, ‘Hi.’ But I think after that one commercial, we finally had a conversation for the first time.

"We found out that we were much alike. … We just started laughing and giggling like two little boys and started a friendship that would last forever."

Larry Bird was also one of the first few people Magic Johnson approached before revealing to the world that he had HIV. Bird recalled that he choked when his rival told him the news.

Johnson, after all these years, has been so grateful for Bird’s support and encouragement.

The trolling Bird’s mom did eventually result in a friendship that one can rarely find in life.