Larry Bird's legacy with the Boston Celtics will always be felt within the NBA. The league has now commemorated his legendary rivalry with Magic Johnson and the Boston Celtics with new trophies that reward playoff excellence.

The NBA is instituting Conference Finals MVP Awards, with the East's being named after Bird and the West's being named after Johnson. After he heard the news, Bird joked that winning a Magic Johnson trophy would be the highlight of his career.

The Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award being named after Bird is appropriate. He led the Celtics to the finals eight times in a nine-year span, winning them five times and taking home three league championships. Using both of the newly instituted conference finals trophies to honor one of the league's best rivalries helps keep the history of the game alive.

The Larry Bird-Magic Johnson rivalry rejuvenized the Celtics' rivalry with the Lakers and gave the NBA a new start after struggling to draw fans for decades. Although the teams were rivals before and after they played, they brought it to new heights and played with physicality that defined the era.

Bird won three regular-season MVPs and two Finals MVPs with the Celtics on top of being named to 12 All-Star nominations. Johnson, meanwhile, won five championships, three regular-season MVPs and three Finals MVPs.

Now, Bird's Celtics are looking to stay alive in the playoffs against the reigning-champion Milwaukee Bucks. Johnson's Lakers, meanwhile, are entering an offseason with a lot of questions to answer about themselves.