Earlier tonight (12/19), two of the biggest names in the state of Michigan’s basketball history, Isiah Thomas and Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, sat down for a one on one discussion about how their relationship grew, deteriorated and then was rebuilt.
NBATV aired a one-hour, sit-down between the once inseparable pair tonight, and it did not disappoint.
The show is the first in an extension of the Players Only franchise first debuted last season on TNT, where former NBA players-turned-analysts lead the coverage for one night a week.
“We’ve been on the public stage since we were 18, 19 years old,” Thomas said. “People got to see our journey, our ups, and downs, our competitiveness. The break-up, the get back together … And for the Chris Webber and Jalen Rose, for the Kevin Durant and (Russell) Westbrook right now, what Magic and I have to show for all people in terms of relationships is that you can have some bad times, you can have some good times, and the love that you have for each other, as men, as human beings, in the relationship, that can sustain and that can come back together.”
“I have loved and admired you for a long time, brother,” Johnson said after answering a question about the rebuild in L.A. “We’re gonna always support each other. I miss our friendship and it’s coming back, brother.”
[Video trailer of interview, plus reaction from Thomas]
http://www.instagram.com/p/Bc6WxRKgrBh/?taken-by=bleacherreport
One example of how the friendship splintered was Isiah‘s reaction to Magic’s claims in the book he co-authored with Larry Bird and frequent ESPN contributor Jackie MacMullan “[amazon_textlink asin=’B00YDK9ESW’ text=’When the Game Was Ours,’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’fandriven-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’0fade5ae-e548-11e7-8c9f-d7f744a3ba86′]”
Isiah reacted to the claims in the book with the following:
“I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive. “I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn’t know he felt this way.”
In the book, Johnson admits he helped keep Thomas off the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team because he believed that, in the wake of Johnson’s announcement in 1991 that he had HIV, his once-dear friend spread a rumor he was gay or bisexual.
BONUS CONTENT – WATCH SOME MEMORABLE HIGHLIGHTS OF ISIAH AND MAGIC
NBA Greatest Duels: Magic Johnson vs Isiah Thomas (1985)
Magic Johnson hits Isiah Thomas Playoffs
