When The Game Was Ours is the history of the rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and, by extension, the continuing rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s.

It chronicles the whole history of the Magic versus Bird rivalry. It starts during both of their childhoods, touches on their high school careers, and then really dives into their college careers culminating in the Michigan St. versus Indiana St. championship game in which the Bird and Magic rivalry officially started. From there, it goes into how they were drafted and their NBA careers, including the state of the NBA as a league at the time, how Larry and Magic turned the NBA around almost single-handedly, and how fierce the Lakers and Celtics rivalry became as a result.

Magic’s HIV diagnosis and retirement is talked about at length, as is them playing together on the Dream Team in the Olympics and what the whole dynamic of that team was like.

There wasn’t a lot in When The Game Was Ours that I didn’t know since I remembered most of it following the NBA when I was growing up. I watched the playoffs pretty regularly, especially the NBA Finals, and although I wasn’t a fan of the Lakers or the Celtics, it was hard not to be fascinated by their rivalry. Later, the Pistons entered the picture who both teams had to deal with. Jordan’s Bulls weren’t quite there yet.

The inner politics of the two teams was also interesting to learn about: why Bill Fitch and Paul Westhead were fired which paved the way for K.C. Jones to coach the Celtics and Pat Riley to coach the Lakers. What the real cause of Larry Bird’s back problems were. How the injuries of the players and the inner politics of the teams played a role in what happened on the court. It’s not something you were privy to as a fan in an era of no internet, and when ESPN and 24-hour sports news and commentary was only in its infancy.

I miss this era of the NBA, and if the league was still this compelling and competitive, I would still be watching. NBA games have deteriorated into glorified three-point shootouts disguised as basketball. It’s incredibly one-dimensional and boring and almost unwatchable. So it was fun to revisit this golden age of the NBA when the league was tougher, real rivalries existed, there was no “load management”, and the superstars cared about winning above everything. That era has passed, at least for now.

If you were a fan of the NBA in the 1980s, When The Game Was Ours is almost a must-read. It’s very thorough and well-written and is a great trip down memory lane for those of us who were fans back then.