Updated: July 20, 2010, 6:53 PM ET

Magic: 'That's not what we were about'

ESPN.com news services

Add Magic Johnson's voice to fellow Hall of Famer Michael Jordan's: Neither ever thought of combining forces the way LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did earlier this month with the Miami Heat.

“ We didn't think about it 'cause that's not what we were about. From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird. ” -- Magic Johnson --

"We didn't think about it 'cause that's not what we were about," Johnson said at Baruch College in New York, according to Bloomberg News. "From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird."

This past weekend, Jordan said at a celebrity golf event that he never would have played with Johnson or Bird, his two main rivals during his playing days.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. The interview aired on the NBC telecast of the event. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Johnson added on Tuesday: "It was never a question in our mind because nobody has ever done that."

Wade re-signed with Miami, while James and Bosh joined the Heat via free agency earlier this month.