The Legend of Young Larry Bird

Staged as a sun-drenched, folk-song-scored inspirational sports drama, the sketch follows a teenage Larry Bird on his parents' farm. When his mother tells him the bank is foreclosing on their house, Larry produces a flyer for a two-point shooting contest, even though his father insists that shooting is for show-offs. At the gym he refuses to stretch and faces a flashy young Magic Johnson, who racks up points with ease, while Larry, nursing a bad back, plugs away with plain, workmanlike shots as his parents watch from the crowd. He narrowly loses and with it the prize money, but his father declares that his fundamentals matter more than any house, the family accepts that they will now live in their car, and Larry promises Magic Johnson that he will someday end him.