On Monday there was a national conference call with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Johnson and Bird were on the phone at two different locations and they spoke to dozens of writers from all over the country.

They were promoting a book they co-wrote with Jackie MacMullan, "When the Game Was Ours." I participated in the call because I wanted to hear Bird and Johnson after all these years. I thought I might get a column out of it. I didn't, but one thing stayed with me.

It's how Johnson acted. He joined the call before Bird and waited with the rest of us for Bird. It's not that Bird was late. It's that Johnson was early. When we got talking it was clear how much admiration and affection these two great players have for each other. Many times Johnson would praise Bird and sometimes he would defer answering a question and say, "Larry, why don't you go first?"

Finally, after an hour Magic said two more questions and he had to go. In other words although there was a moderator he had, very politely, taken over the call. Here's what I think. Magic is still a point guard, the best ever. He distributed the questions, involved his teammate Bird and ended the call when appropriate. He was very impressive and it was a pleasure to hear both of them speak.