Magic Johnson
February 22nd, 2009 | by Denise Smithson |Magic “Earvin” Johnson, Jr. was born on August 14, 1959 in Landing, Michigan. His career began at Everett High School in Lansing and he went on to Michigan State before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. Magic had nine brothers and sisters and his father worked for General Motors while his mother was a school custodian. In his own words, Magic would say as a kid, “I practiced all day and I dribbled to the store with my right hand and back with my left-I even slept with my basketball.”
It was while still in high school that Johnson acquired his famous nickname. A sportswriter covering a high school game felt that no other word could adequately describe Johnson’s skill with the ball. Johnson wanted to stay near his family after high school, so he attended Michigan State also in East Lansing. Even on the Michigan State Spartans, he achieved some notoriety, with scores of up to 17 in a single game. With Johnson, the Spartans took a Big Ten conference title and racked up a 25-5 record! In his second year on the team, the Spartans took on Indiana State (then featuring Larry Bird) to won the national title in what was one of the most highly followed NCAA games of all time.
Opting the pro route, Johnson joined the 1979 draft, where the Lakers picked him up. With a new coach in hand in Jack McKinney and a new owner (Dr. Jerry Buss), the fans couldn’t wait to see one of the best college players in their Lakers uniform. Players from all teams saw the Magic of Johnson and although the NBA rookie of the year went to Larry Bird, the Lakers won the NBA Championship in 1979 with a 60-22 record. When coach McKinney was replaced by Paul Westhead the following year, Magic’s numbers matched his college efforts at 18 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 73 apg. Proudly, he was the first rookie to start in an NBA All-Star Game-something that hadn’t been done in eleven years!
The 1980 NBA finals saw another amazing performance from Johnson against the Philadelphia 76ers. Johnson scored 42 points, 15 boards, 7 assists and 3 steals in the series. Magic became the first rookie ever to win the MVP award in the finals. Magic was modest as usual about his achievement: “I just wanted to do whatever the (Lakers) needed to do to win. I was having fun.” However, the next year would see Johnson sidelined for 45 games due to torn cartilage in his knee.
Upon his recovery, the Lakers lost no time in regaining their glory, destroying all opposition to take the division title and once again defeated Philadelphia in the NBA finals; and Johnson won his second NBA finals MVP award.
Johnson signed another contract with the Lakers in 1984 - this time for $25 million and led the team to three NBA titles in the next four years. Johnson even scored 38 points in one game (against Houston) and 46 points (against Sacramento) in the 86-87 season. Johnson also achieved a career high scoring average - 23.9 points per game! Johnson would be named the NBA’s MVP for this season, an award he would also win in 1989 and 1990.
Johnson announced before the start of the 1991-1992 season that he had HIV and would be retiring. However, he didn’t simply bow out. Johnson played in the 1991 All-Star game, where he received the MVP award. Johnson has kept extremely busy ever since both in and out of the sports world. He authored a book on safe sex, started companies and foundations, worked as a NBC sports commentator and even spent part of a season filling in as head coach for the Lakers! Johnson also played on the US Olympic Basketball “Dream Team” in 1992. Johnson also returned to the Lakers for part of a season in 1996; a fitting victory lap for this basketball legend.
Magic Johnson made some incredible achievements in his 13 season career in the NBA. He scored 17, 707 points, 6.559 rebounds, 10,141 assists and 1,724 steals. Johnson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hal of Fame in 2002. He remains focused on his charitable work and his own companies; but even after years off the court he is still one of the biggest names in basketball. As his longtime rival and admirer Larry Byrd says of him: : Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I’ve never seen anybody as good as him.