Most younger fans of the NBA do not recall the time when the league was perpetually in financial danger and struggling to carve out a sports broadcasting niche compared to football and baseball, which dominated the sports scene in the United States until the Association began to find a firmer footing in the mid-1980s.
It was the storied rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers re-emerging in the 80s that was the engine driving the stability of the league, specifically the star power of Larry Joe Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson for the Celtics and the Lakers, respectively.
The folks over at the Old Skool Basketball YouTube channel put together a clip discussing this revitalization at the hands of two longtime friends off of the court and rivals on the parquet, with Bird and Magic as the starting point of the league we love today.
Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear it in full!
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
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