It happened when another rivalry that began in the NCAA tournament between Celtics legend Larry Bird and Lakers icon Magic Johnson continued into the context of the NBA in the early 1980s.

If Larry Johnson were in Cooper Flagg's giant Blue Devil sneakers, he tells TMZ Sports he'd forgo the NBA for one more year ... and stay put in Durham. Flagg, of course, is the prohibitive ...

Johnson was the only member of the CBS panel who never played or coached basketball at a high level. At one point, Barkley told his longtime “Inside the NBA” colleague that he would ask ...