re: Will we ever see anything close to Bird & Magic again?

No because the culture isn't the same. Their rivalry transcended just sports. It polarized large portions of the country.

It was the 1980's and the NBA was coming off it's worst decade ever in the 1970's...where white fans weren't going to the games.

The rivalry pushed all the buttons at that time and place.

Nobody believed that white players could dominate black players.

"I would have to say at that time, most black people were racists...we didn't believe a white player could play as good or better than us." - Cedric Maxwell

"I'm going through Logan Airport and there's this black baggage handler and he says to me, I hope you kill the Celtics tonight and I say, oh where you from? And he says, I'm from Boston. I said, I thought everyone from Boston was a Celtics fan and he says...'now why would I root for them white boys.'" - Magic Johnson

"You have a lot of white fans that don't enjoy going to the games...ya know...the game is too black." - Anonymous fan in Bird and Magic doc in the 1970's.

"Here you have a guy who's white, can't run and can't jump and yet he's the best player in the world." - Anonymous fan in Bird and Magic doc.

"I always felt like the press was biased in favor of Larry Bird, like they were always trying to make him the hero...you know you'd see some guy score and you'd see Larry Bird in a cast and suit on the sideline and they'd say...'Larry Bird made that possible, couple of weeks ago when he told that guy he could do it and he did it.'" - Arsenio Hall

"Magic and Larry saved the NBA. Magic and Larry. Not Michael, Magic and Larry." - Greg Gumbel