Boston.com has an excerpt from Jackie MacMullen's new book about Magic and Larry - When the Game Was Ours. It picks up right after the Celtics beat the Lakers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals:
Love it. I didn't know "Fakers" had roots back to '84. And "Tragic" may be one of the best slams of all-time.
How did Bird and Quinn Buckner get through all that traffic after the game?
The MVP of the ’84 Finals leapt out the van, crossed over by foot to the other side of Storrow Drive, and began hoofing it back downtown. A bemused Buckner followed, chuckling at the absurdity of their actions. It was only a matter of seconds before they were recognized. A car with three fans driving inbound stopped in amazement when they spotted their franchise forward striding along the curb.
“Larry Bird?!!!” the driver asked.
“Shhh,” Bird answered. “Listen, you got any room in there for Quinn and me?”
The young man opened the door and motioned for his companions, resplendent in their Bird team jerseys, to move over for two of the city’s newly crowned champions. As Buckner and Bird crammed their oversize basketball frames into the back of the economy car, the passengers howled with delight and astonishment.
Can you imagine that? I got excited the other night just pulling beside the team's bus on the highway on the way to the open practice in Lowell.
The following morning, after partying all night, Buckner went to Bird's house to continue the celebration.
Larry’s wife, Dinah, informed Buckner that Larry wasn’t there.
“He was out running,” Buckner said later. “When he got back, I said to him, ‘Man, what are you doing?’ ”
Bird looked at him quizzically before he answered: “I’m getting ready for next year.”
Reading these stories brings back all of my man-love feelings for Larry Legend. He's the reason I fell in love with the game of basketball. And without that love, there would be no Red's Army. I gotta stop typing and take a moment. This is getting too emotional...
