Reminiscing

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of Magic Johnson's magical game-6 performance in the 1980 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. I'm old.

I watched that game as a 14-year old in awe, as I had done all season long, of Magic's talent and intensity. It started with his opening-night dish to Kareem for the winning sky-hook against the-then San Diego Clippers which resulted in the now-famous clip of Magic jumping into Kareem's arms to celebrate, and culminated in the 42-point, 15-rebound, 7-assist game-6 masterpiece.

When discussed relative to some of what we've seen in the years since, it begins to seem somewhat less fantastic. Afterall, later in the 80's we saw a baby-faced Michael Jordan score 63 against the Celtics, Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird score at will in the Eastern Conference Semi's, and Isiah's 25-pt 4th quarter against the Lakers in another game-6 dandy.

In the 90's, it was all-Jordan, all-the-time; six three-pointers in one-half against Portland in game-1 of the 92 finals, the flu-game against the Jazz, and his game-6 winner in 98.

Magic did it first. Not that there weren't great playoff performances before 1980, because there were. But in the 1980's and 90's, these things became more common, nay even expected.

But the enchanted Golden Age that culminated with Michael Jordan's 6th NBA title started with the rookie sensations of '79; Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (I still wonder how Bird won Rookie of the Year over Magic that season). Magic's game-6 tour-de-force was the first of many, many amazing playoff performances that elevated the game to new heights of excellence and popularity both.

This old sports fan remembers it like it was just last week.