Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson were two of the foundations for the NBA's revival in the 80s and 90s. Johnson's slick passing abilities for the Los Angeles Lakers and Jordan's scoring prowess for the Chicago Bulls invigorated a seemingly dying league. It's fair to say that without these two, the NBA wouldn't be the same titan it is today.

Both NBA legends share a pretty close relationship today as close friends (unlike some of MJ's former teammates). However, if you were to ask Jordan, that wasn't always the case. In an interview with The Ringer, the Bulls legend talks about how he thinks Magic felt about him initially.

“Well, I understood it to be jealousy,” Jordan says. “And you know, I think a lot of it came from—Magic Johnson should have been Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan. He had the smile. He had everything. He had the marketability. He had championships.”

Jordan's rookie year in the league coincided with Johnson's prime, making the two of them rivals. While MJ's Bulls were consistently overshadowed by Magic's Lakers, fans could tell that Jordan was something special. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Magic (as well as other NBA stars in that era) would be intimidated by His Airness.

This is also Jordan's roundabout way of praising Magic and his accomplishments. The Bulls star recognizes that had he had played in a different era, he would've been compared to him instead of being the standard. Still… it would have been nice to see these two legends of the game go at it in a seven-game Finals series during their primes.