They faced each other in an NCAA championship game and three NBA Finals. They transformed pro basketball in the 1980s into high-profile entertainment. Their names are linked in the history of the game.

But not on the list of Hall of Fame inductees.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson both could have been named to the Hall today, since they retired after the 1992 Olympics. That would have met the requirement that a player be retired five seasons to be eligible, but Johnson played in 1995-96 after sitting out four years and must wait until 2002.

So today's announcement of the newest members, with Bird as a shoo-in, won't include Johnson.

"It would have been wonderful to have both Bird and Magic in the same class," Hall spokesman Robin Deutsch said, "but we also savor the opportunity to have two wonderful enshrinements, with two of the greatest players to ever play the game."

Johnson left the NBA after the 1990-91 season after saying he had the HIV virus. Bird ended his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics the next year because of back problems. Both played in the Olympics in 1992, the year the Hall of Fame considered their official retirement.

That meant both would be eligible this year to enter the shrine in Springfield, Mass.

But Johnson, just a half-season shy of the five-year requirement, was activated by the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 29, 1996. And last year the Hall's Board of Trustees decided the 32 games he played in the regular season plus four in the playoffs had ended his retirement.

The board's decision followed a request from Lon Rosen, Johnson's agent, to clarify the issue.

"We didn't really push it. We just wanted to ask, but Magic really wanted to go in with Larry Bird," Rosen said. "I thought it would be poetic justice to have them go in together and it would have made for a real nice ceremony.

"We fully understand. They can't change the rules for one guy."

"Everything was done very amicably," Deutsch said. "The Hall of Fame has always been important to Magic. We know that. But his returning for that length of time really made the decision for the board a little easier."

So instead of Johnson, the 10 nominees other than Bird in the regular category include Larry Costello, Adrian Dantley, Artis Gilmore, Marques Haynes, Gus Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, Chet Walker and coaches Alex Hannum, John Thompson and Tex Winter.

Jody Conradt, coach at Texas the past 22 seasons, and Harley Redin, who coached at Wayland Baptist, were nominated in the women's category. Grady Lewis, a shoe company executive, and Arnie Risen, who ended his 13-year NBA career in 1958 with Boston, were nominated in the veterans' category. The nominees in the international category are Yugoslavian coach Aleksandar Nikolic and Ubiratan Pereira Maciel of Brazil.

Lenny Wilkens joined John Wooden last Monday as the only two-time inductees. Already in as a player, Wilkens was named as a coach.

Bird, the NBA coach of the year in his first season with the Indiana Pacers, led Indiana State into the 1979 NCAA title game, but lost to Johnson's Michigan State team. In their teams' NBA Finals meetings, the Celtics won in 1984, and the Lakers won in 1985 and 1987.

Rosen said Johnson didn't consider the impact his return to the NBA would have on his Hall of Fame eligibility.