English: Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson and Boston Celtics Larry Bird in Game two of the 1985 NBA Finals at Boston Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks loved the Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird rivalry in the NBA Finals. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra smiled while reminiscing about his beloved Clyde Drexler facing Michael Jordan while growing up a Trail Blazers fan in Portland. And Bill Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain first came to mind for Hall of Famer Charles Barkley when he pondered elite stars meeting in the Finals.
Another rare NBA superstar showdown in the Finals is upon us with LeBron James and the Heat versus Kevin Durant and the Thunder starting Tuesday night. James is averaging 30.8 points per game in the playoffs while Durant is at 27.8. The two are now considered the world's best basketball players. Adding to the fascination is neither has won an NBA title.
Let the stargazing begin.
"Our star players drive the business. They put the people in the building," said the Thunder's Derek Fisher, a five-time NBA champion. "They sell the jerseys. They sell the T-shirts. Those are the guys whose stories are followed the most. People will have their opinions about which guy is their favorite for whatever reason."
There isn't a more star driven league in American pro sports than the NBA. So when the biggest collide, which isn't often, the Finals hype is immense. The first megastar battle in Finals history was in 1964 when Russell and Chamberlain jumped center against each other.
Russell and Chamberlain played against each other 142 times over a 10-year span with the former winning 85, but faced each other in the Finals just twice. Russell's Celtics defeated Chamberlain with the San Francisco Warriors in 1964 and with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969. Russell won 11 championships to Chamberlain's two. But Chamberlain did knock off the Celtics en route to an NBA title in 1967 as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.
"It was just an awesome thing with Wilt with his scoring, size and presence," said Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, now a Heat assistant coach. "Russell with his defense, always making the right play, always blocking a shot at the right time or making the right passes for a streaking Celtic on a fast break. It was just fantastic basketball."
Former Celtic Tom "Satch" Sanders said Russell-Chamberlain should be considered the greatest Finals matchup between stars of all time since it is revered without the help of big-time television or Internet.
"None of the other rivalries were game-changing," Sanders said. "Those were just important rivalries of skilled players."
Most would beg to differ, lobbying for Johnson-Bird, whose rivalry dated back to 1979 when Magic's Michigan State Spartans defeated Bird's Indiana State Sycamores in the NCAA championship game. Johnson had two titles and Bird one when they first battled in the Finals in 1984. They met each other three times with the Lakers winning twice.
"The greatest Finals rivalry was Magic-Bird because they played so many times and in college," said the Heat's Chris Bosh. "They had a history. To play the same team over and over again in the Finals, that's amazing."
The intense Johnson-Bird rivalry sparked a Converse shoe commercial, a video game, documentaries, books, a recent Broadway play and even racism.
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