“Okay, ain’t going to be none of this bulls—t calls today” – Reggie Miller on the day Bird showed up to play pickup games at UCLA originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Indiana Pacers Hall of Famer Reggie Miller once detailed how Magic Johnson blatantly “lied and cheated” to stay unbeaten in pick-up games during the fabled UCLA runs in the 80s.
Advertisement
Reggie said that Magic never lost a single pick-up game in UCLA because he ensured that his team always won by making phantom calls. However, there was one particular night when Johnson did not make fraudulent calls, and that was the day when Larry Bird was in town.
“The only time this didn’t happen, it was one magical…It was the first year of Magic’s Mid-Summer Nights game, the very first year. And it was in Pauley Pavilion before it moved to the Forum. And he had everyone because it was the first year, and Larry came out,” recalled Reggie during his recent appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast.
Larry walked into Pauley Pavilion
Magic not only started the UCLA pick-up games during the 1980s but was also in charge of them. That’s why, no matter what he did during the games, no one could do anything. Reggie played for UCLA from 1983 to 1987 and was there during some of the best years of the pick-up games.
Advertisement
In 1985, Johnson also started an annual charity game called “A Midsummer Night’s Magic.” While Miller might have forgotten about the year, it was in 1986 when Bird came to help his college rival raise funds for the United Negro College Fund. The event was also held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion during the summer.
According to Reggie, Larry arrived a couple of days ahead of the event. One night, he was probably bored, so the Boston Celtics legend went to check out the UCLA runs and decided to play.
“Larry walks in. So you have the Lakers, the selection of pro players, UCLA A and B teams, so of course Larry says, ‘I want to be on that,’ you know, the selection of pros team. And everyone was like, ‘Oh my god, Larry and Magic,'” added Reggie. “That was the first time I saw Buck like, ‘Okay, ain’t going to be none of this bull—t calls today’ because Larry wasn’t having it. And it was like…There’s no footage. No one knows…Oh my God. Some of the passes.”
Magic explained why he “cheated” in pick-up games
While Johnson did not cheat that one 1986 night because Bird was there, Miller and former NBA All-Star Baron Davis agreed that one has never played in the UCLA runs unless Earvin cheated them.
Advertisement
To his credit, Magic admitted to “cheating” to win games but told Paul Pierce on the same podcast two years ago that he did it for a “bigger purpose.”
“These were all my little brothers. So Paul, Reggie Miller, all the guys playing up there, Baron Davis, my main man. And so I always told them I’m gonna teach them one thing, and that’s to understand that everything’s not going to go their way in the league,” said Magic.
Meanwhile, Miller admitted in another interview that Johnson’s antics taught him to become a ruthless competitor who wanted to win at all costs. However, Magic had nothing to teach Larry Legend. While they were fierce rivals on the court, they treated each other with the highest respect.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.