Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

		March 23, 1992 Senior writer Jack McCallum examined whether Bird's seemingly imminent retirement, along with Magic Johnson's premature departure from the game after he contracted the H.I.V. virus, would ruin the NBA. The pair, who spearheaded the rise of the league when they entered it together in 1979, would leave a huge void. photography by Heinz Kluetmeier