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What: “The Headlines: Larry Bird-Magic Johnson Rivalry.”

Where: ESPN, Tuesday, 5 p.m.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who together revitalized the NBA, will forever be linked. They came into the league at the same time after squaring off in the 1979 NCAA championship game. At first they were rivals, then they became friends.

ESPN, as part of its 25th anniversary celebration, has ranked the top headline stories of the last 25 years. The Bird-Johnson rivalry ranks No. 10, and it is the topic of this excellent one-hour show.

It will bring back memories of Bird’s Boston Celtic teams and Johnson’s Laker teams. And the many interviews put into perspective just what these two men meant not only to basketball but to sports in general.

Bill Walton, among those interviewed about the Bird-Johnson rivalry, says, “It was not about hype, it was not about self-promotion, it was about playing the game.”

Says Johnson: “It doesn’t matter if it is checkers or hopscotch, we want to beat each other.”

Bird is shown displaying his Indiana wit at the news conference after he signed with the Celtics in 1979. “I forgot to tell Mr. Auerbach I would have played for nothing,” he says.

Red Auerbach, then the president and general manager of the Celtics, is shown being asked of Bird, “Is he a great white hope?”

Auerbach’s answer: “He is a great hope.”

Included toward the end are segments from the recent interview Jim Gray did with Bird and Johnson, along with Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, in which Bird said more white superstars are needed in the NBA.

What viewers of this show are likely to conclude is that the NBA needs more players like Bird and Johnson.

-- Larry Stewart