Johnson
One of the greatest players to ever walk onto the court, "Magic" Johnson was born Earvin Johnson in Lansing, MI in 1959. Born into a large family of a GM worker, a school custodian and nine other children, Johnson discovered basketball early. Johnson has said that he used to walk to the store dribbling with one hand and dribbling with the other as he walked back.
One of the greatest players to ever walk onto the court, "Magic" Johnson was born Earvin Johnson in Lansing, MI in 1959. Born into a large family of a GM worker, a school custodian and nine other children, Johnson discovered basketball early. Johnson has said that he used to walk to the store dribbling with one hand and dribbling with the other as he walked back.
Johnson became known as "Magic" while still playing on his high school basketball team. A reporter covering a game could find no other way to convey the skill with which Johnson played. After graduating from high school, Johnson chose to attend Michigan State in East Lansing, MI in order to stay close to home. While in college, Johnson played on the school team, the well known Spartans. While a Spartan, Johnson led the team to a 25-5 record and a Big Ten conference title in his first year! His record the following year was no less impressive; the Spartans defeated Larry Bird's Indiana State team to capture the national title in one of the most closely watched NCAA games ever.
Johnson made the decision to go professional and entered into the 1979 draft. Johnson was quickly drafted by the LA Lakers. LA fans were eager to see this famed college player wear the Lakers uniform and he didn't disappoint them. While the NBA's Rookie if the year award went to Larry Bird that year, Magic Johnson did help the Lakers to win the NBA championship in his first season, achieving an impressive 60-22 record. The Lakers were unstoppable the next season as well, with Johnson becoming the first rookie to start in an All Star game since the late sixties.
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.
Johnson recovered from his injury and the Lakers came back in a big way for the 1981-1982 season. The Lakers handily won their division title and again took on the 76ers in the finals, with another win for the Lakers and another MVP award for Johnson. While Johnson took some heat for the comments he made about Lakers coach Paul Westhead (who was replaced by the now legendary Pat Riley and left himself for the Chicago Bulls), he never let the criticism get to him and his performance in the game was never less than astounding.
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.
Prior to the 1991-92 season, Magic made the announcement that he had tested positive for the HIV virus and would be retiring. He did play at the All-Star game that year and won the game's MVP Award, but at this point in his career, Magic turned to outreach-for HIV and AIDS and received the leagues J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. Not one to be kept down, Magic played for the 1992 US Olympic "Dream Team, wrote a book on safe sexual practices, and ran several businesses. He worked for NBC as a sports commentator and with only sixteen games left in the 1993-94 season, he took the offer of replacing Randy Pfund as the Lakers head coach.
Magic Johnson, in his thirteen NBA seasons came away with 17,707 points, 19.5 points per game average, 6,559 rebounds, and 10,141 assists. He also had an impressive 1,724 steals placing him at ninth place on the all-time list. In 1996-97, he was invited to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and in 2002, he entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Magic was a star in basketball and perhaps a former NBA player who knew him best, said it best-"Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I've never seen anybody as good as him,"-Larry Bird.
One of the greatest players to ever walk onto the court, "Magic" Johnson was born Earvin Johnson in Lansing, MI in 1959. Born into a large family of a GM worker, a school custodian and nine other children, Johnson discovered basketball early. Johnson has said that he used to walk to the store dribbling with one hand and dribbling with the other as he walked back.
Johnson became known as "Magic" while still playing on his high school basketball team. A reporter covering a game could find no other way to convey the skill with which Johnson played. After graduating from high school, Johnson chose to attend Michigan State in East Lansing, MI in order to stay close to home. While in college, Johnson played on the school team, the well known Spartans. While a Spartan, Johnson led the team to a 25-5 record and a Big Ten conference title in his first year! His record the following year was no less impressive; the Spartans defeated Larry Bird's Indiana State team to capture the national title in one of the most closely watched NCAA games ever.
Johnson made the decision to go professional and entered into the 1979 draft. Johnson was quickly drafted by the LA Lakers. LA fans were eager to see this famed college player wear the Lakers uniform and he didn't disappoint them. While the NBA's Rookie if the year award went to Larry Bird that year, Magic Johnson did help the Lakers to win the NBA championship in his first season, achieving an impressive 60-22 record. The Lakers were unstoppable the next season as well, with Johnson becoming the first rookie to start in an All Star game since the late sixties.
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.
Johnson recovered from his injury and the Lakers came back in a big way for the 1981-1982 season. The Lakers handily won their division title and again took on the 76ers in the finals, with another win for the Lakers and another MVP award for Johnson. While Johnson took some heat for the comments he made about Lakers coach Paul Westhead (who was replaced by the now legendary Pat Riley and left himself for the Chicago Bulls), he never let the criticism get to him and his performance in the game was never less than astounding.
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.
Prior to the 1991-92 season, Magic made the announcement that he had tested positive for the HIV virus and would be retiring. He did play at the All-Star game that year and won the game's MVP Award, but at this point in his career, Magic turned to outreach-for HIV and AIDS and received the leagues J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. Not one to be kept down, Magic played for the 1992 US Olympic "Dream Team, wrote a book on safe sexual practices, and ran several businesses. He worked for NBC as a sports commentator and with only sixteen games left in the 1993-94 season, he took the offer of replacing Randy Pfund as the Lakers head coach.
Magic Johnson, in his thirteen NBA seasons came away with 17,707 points, 19.5 points per game average, 6,559 rebounds, and 10,141 assists. He also had an impressive 1,724 steals placing him at ninth place on the all-time list. In 1996-97, he was invited to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and in 2002, he entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Magic was a star in basketball and perhaps a former NBA player who knew him best, said it best-"Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I've never seen anybody as good as him,"-Larry Bird.
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