Springfield, MA (My Sportsbook) - Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson was among those inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Friday.

Fittingly, Boston Celtics legend and Hall of Famer Larry Bird introduced Johnson.

"I was going to write up a big speech because I wanted to talk from my heart, but I said, 'damn, he broke my heart so many times, do I have anything left?'" said Bird.

The Bird-Magic rivalry began in 1979, when Johnson's Michigan State team beat Bird's Indiana State squad for the NCAA championship. The two then revitalized the NBA in the 1980's, battling against each other in the NBA Finals three times, with Johnson and the Lakers prevailing in two of those matchups.

"The biggest reason that I'm here is because of you," Johnson said of Bird. "It was tremendous playing against you and I'm just happy that I got to know you not just as Larry Bird the basketball player, but as Larry Bird the man."

A three-time league MVP, Johnson revolutionized the point guard position at 6-foot-9. He led the Lakers to five NBA championships during his 13-year career in nine trips to the Finals.

"I tried to go out an be the best player I can be, tried to win games and to also turn the fans on. Hopefully they had just as good a time as I had," said Johnson.

Chosen for induction in his first year of eligibility, Johnson became the first rookie to be named MVP of the Finals after the Lakers defeated Philadelphia in 1980.

Johnson exited the NBA following the 1990-91 season after announcing to the world that he had HIV. "Eleven years ago I didn't know if I'd be here to accept this award. It's truly a blessing," said Johnson.

Johnson went on to help the United States win Olympic gold in 1992 and returned briefly to the NBA in the 1995-96 season.

Magic is second on the NBA's all-time assist list with 10,141, behind only Utah's John Stockton. He played in 906 regular season games and averaged 19.5 points and 11.2 assists per contest.

Johnson is currently the vice president of the Lakers.

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Larry Brown and Arizona head man Lute Olson were also enshrined on Friday.

The 62-year-old Brown, who joined the Sixers in 1997-98 as coach and vice president of basketball operations, was introduced by his former coach at North Carolina, Dean Smith.

"So many good things have happened to me because of this sport," said Brown. "I hope that what happened this summer with our team in Indianapolis (in the World Championships) will make us all wake up and realize the world is better because the game has improved. Our league is better because of all the foreign players, but I think we got to get back to understanding this is the greatest team sport if it's played the right way."

Brown has been a successful college and professional coach for the last 30 years. He has won over 1,000 professional games in the ABA and the NBA and is the only coach in NBA history to lead six different teams to the playoffs. In 2000-01 he guided the Sixers to the NBA Finals before losing to the Lakers.

Brown is 831-651 as an NBA coach. In the NBA, he has coached the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers and 76ers. He also has enjoyed success at the collegiate level, having led the UCLA Bruins to the NCAA Championship game in 1980 and the University of Kansas Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA Championship.

Olson has been a college head coach the last 29 years. He has compiled a 767-255 record coaching at Long Beach City College, Long Beach State, University of Iowa and the University of Arizona. In 1997, Olson led Arizona to the NCAA championship and engineered the Wildcats to the Final Four in 1988 and 1994, 1997 and 2001. He is the seventh winningest active Division I coach.

Others inducted into the Hall of Fame were the late Croatian star Drazen Petrovic and North Carolina State women's coach Kay Yow.

Petrovic, who once scored 112 points in a Croatian League game, played briefly in the NBA before his life was cut short by a 1993 tragic car accident in Germany. He was just 28.

In his four-year NBA career with Portland and the New Jersey Nets, he averaged 15.4 ppg on 50.6 percent shooting, including 43.7 percent from three-point range.

Yow has 625 career victories at Elon College and North Carolina State, fifth best in women's basketball history. She is 625-249 overall and 568-249 at NC State. Yow, who led the Wolfpack to the 1998 Final Four, has led NC State into the NCAA Tournament 15 times in the last 19 years, a mark that includes nine Sweet 16 appearances.

The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters were also inducted.

The Harlem Globetrotters, who have had such names on their teams as Geese Ausbie, Goose Tatum, 1998 Hall of Famer Marques Haynes, Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon, have become known as a specialty performance act to millions. The team has played over 20,000 games in more than 100 countries around the world.

The six new inductees represented the 44th group to enter the Hall of Fame since the institution began the process in 1959.

The Hall of Fame will christen its brand new $103 million Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday.