Jersey Boys

Magic/Bird, about the iconic basketball rivals, opens April 11 on Broadway. The show's stars, Kevin Daniels (left, as Magic Johnson) and Tug Coker (as Larry Bird), are each 6' 5"—roughly four inches shorter than their NBA counterparts. But SI wanted to take the measure of the duo in a less literal sense.

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ON WEARING SHORT SHORTS

"I had to get naked for a 2005 play called

Take Me Out.

My whole family came; my high school English and art teachers, my football coach. Wearing short shorts is a blessing compared to that." "Wearing that gold Lakers jersey. I have lived in L.A. for 10 years."

BIGGEST JOB PERK

Says the lifelong Celtics fan, "The fact that Larry Bird even knows I'm alive. He knows I'm an actual

human being.

" "I'm a lover not a fighter."

FAVORITE NON-NBA RIVALRY

Roger Federer--Rafael Nadal "You've got your team. You've got your ensemble. You've got a goal that you have to train and prepare for ..."

WHERE THEATER MEETS SPORTS

" ... And it's a live event. You've got to be there to pick each other up when a cellphone goes off or someone in the audience has a whooping cough."

THEY SAID IT

"I know he's my father, but he's annoying me."

BERNARD TOMIC

Nineteen-year-old Australian tennis prodigy, asking a chair umpire to remove his father from the stands during a match at the Sony Ericsson Open last week. The official issued a warning for illegal coaching.

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PAUL CROCK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (TOMIC)

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JOAN MARCUS (MAGIC)

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HAIK KATSIKIAN/APPLES AND ORANGES (BIRD)

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BOKI/FOTOLIA.COM (TROPHY)

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ANDY HAYT (SHORTS)

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IVAR TEUNISSEN/VETTA/GETTY IMAGES (MUSTACHE)

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JESSICA KLUETMEIER (FEDERER)

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JESSICA KLUETMEIER (NADAL)