/r/OldSchoolCool **History's cool kids, looking fantastic!** A pictorial and video celebration of history's coolest kids, everything from beatniks to bikers, mods to rude boys, hippies to ravers. And everything in between. If you've found a photo, or a photo essay, of people from the past looking fantastic, here's the place to share it.
1990s
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Jackets are slick as hell
All players present at the 50 Greatest Players of All Time ceremony had them with the color representing the team they were best associated with. It sucks that the 75th Anniversary only had the players in suits with the diamond logo stitched in.
Fire even
Literally
The three that would make the NBA a global phenomenon
I think by that time they had already done that.
By 96 sure... but by 87-89 when they were playing together at the highest level it wasn't global.
What is this some sort of dream team?
If I had but one wish, it'd be to see the greatest game nobody saw
Mine would be unlimited money but do you
I want a pony that can fly and talk to me
for real. This dude used his wish to watch a basketball game lmao
Peak fashion.
Charles Barkley shows up with an orange jersey: Hey guys, can I be in the picture?
Magic, Mike, Bird: no!
Is that Doctor J on the far left
Yep, Julius “The Doctor” EEEEEErving!
icons for sure. Were/are they friends irl?
Magic and Bird were fierce rivals but became best friends off the court and for the rest of their lives. In fact, Larry showed immense support during Magic's HIV diagnosis at a time where having it was still considered taboo. As for MJ he's cool with both of em, but initially felt competitive because he was the "next in line" after these two were nearing past their primes. All mutual respect from 3 legends.
Correct, but even though they were fierce competitors on the court, they became friends DURING their careers. One of my favorite images of the two of them came after one of many highlight plays during the playoffs when the camera captured a fist bump between them.
MJ fiercely defended Bird when Isiah Thomas claimed that if Bird were black, he'd be just another good ballplayer. Johnson called Thomas and forced Thomas to issue a public apology, because Bird WAS better than everyone, race notwithstanding... but Bird and Johnson both deferred to the as to which of them was the better player.
That said, MJ, as good as he was, only rode their coattails. Bird and Johnson revived the league and made the rest possible. They were quintessential team players who shared the unique ability to take over a game as needed AND made everyone around them great... thus the starters on those Boston and LA squads are HoF material, but the same isn't true for MJs teams.
This was such a nice breakdown until the last paragraph. Saying Jordon rode their coattails is insane. Did Magic and Bird pave the way for Jordan? Absolutely. But MJ in his prime was bigger than both of these guys combined.
Yeah I don’t think a lot of people who weren’t around back then can really comprehend how big MJ was in the 90s.
Combine like Taylor Swift and Ronaldo and you can start to approach the level of fame and popularity MJ had in the 90s.
Nike, Gatorade, Wheaties, McDonald’s and God knows what else can trace probably billions of dollars of sales directly back to MJ. I think there’s a fair to decent chance Nike is significantly smaller and less popular or maybe even doesn’t survive if they don’t sign MJ.
Wheaties was and is a garbage fucking cereal, but everybody was begging their parents to buy it because MJ endorsed it and you got free posters of him with a lot of boxes.
People were selling out AA baseball stadiums to watch him play baseball, mostly poorly.
Bird and Magic were nowhere near any of that.
Noone who played during their era will agree. Was Jordan good? Very good, indeed... no question about that. But they were his superiors in court vision and raising the standard of play of EVERYONE around them, on BOTH sides of the ball. They didn’t simply outperform their opponents--even each other--they outsmarted them. Pat Riley once quipped that “if I had to pick one player to take a shot to save a game, I’d pick Michael Jordan. If I had to pick one player to take a shot to save my life... I’d pick Larry Bird.”
Thus, MJ rode their coattails.
I dont know if you are referring to the US alone in the last paragraph. But as someone who is not American i would it was Micjeal jordan and the bulls who made the NBA the global phenomenon that it is. I remember in the early 90s almost every kid in my developing country which is in the so called third world had Jordans posters and basketball as sport really took off. Courts were built in many govt and private schools. lol of course fake nikes jordans with lakers bulls knicks piston kits everywhere and pot bellied coaches who dint have any idea how to play basketball. At school if anyone asked what did you want to be when you grew up, it was three choices Doctor Engineer or Micheal Jordan in the NBA lol.
Bird and Magic with the Celtics and Lakers made way for the kingdom. But Jordan and the Bulls created a global empire.
Edit: some errors
Larry and Magic became really close throughout their careers. Michael had a mutal respect for both guys but I don't know if they were friends.
Anyone else?
Oh, the legends of the game gathering to celebrate the NBA's 50th Anniversary event in 1996. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird coming together, that must have been one epic reunion of basketball greatness.
Mount Rushmore vibes