The rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics hit its peak in the 1980s with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird leading their respective franchises against each other in three different NBA Finals. The last of those meetings in 1987 provided one of the greatest and most replayed moments in NBA history.
In the always pivotal Game 4 and with the Lakers trailing by one point with just seven seconds left, Magic took the inbounds pass from Michael Cooper and would drive into the paint and put up the famous baby sky hook over Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to give the Lakers the lead and ultimately the victory and a 3-1 series lead.
Johnson had so many amazing moments and memories throughout his storied career, but when asked about this one in his appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up,” he put it at the top of the list:
“It’s the greatest moment because it’s on the road in the Boston Garden against my archrival Larry Bird. And that shot sealed the victory for us, but also it put us up 3-1 and so that helped us to win that series. But anytime you beat the Celtics and anytime I could beat Larry Bird, it was a special moment.”
As Magic said, the fact that it came in Boston against the hated Celtics and helped the Lakers to their fourth championship of the decade adds to the lore and makes it stand out that much more. And when reminiscing on that moment, Johnson recalled thinking that he had to attack once he realized McHale had switched on to him:
“Well you know what, [Kevin McHale] switched out J-Will and I just had to take him. I said uh-oh big man on me? Oh no, that can’t happen. So I took him to the middle and scored.”
The baby sky hook is a moment that will live on forever, not just in Lakers history, but in NBA history as Magic completely silenced the Celtics faithful and put a stamp on that era of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry.
Magic Johnson discusses offseason needs for Lakers
Magic Johnson also has some thoughts on what he hopes to see the Lakers do this offseason to return to championship contention and hopefully bring an 18th title back to L.A.
The Lakers legend praised Luka Doncic for working on his conditioning and expressed his desire to see the team add an athletic center this offseason while also getting faster overall and improving the team’s defense.
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