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Magic Johnson
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Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball point guard who played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning a championship at both the high school and college level, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (his first of three) in his rookie season, and the Lakers won five championships during the 1980s.
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Encyclopedia
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball point guard who played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning a championship at both the high school and college level, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (his first of three) in his rookie season, and the Lakers won five championships during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had HIV, but returned to win the MVP of the 1992 All-Star Game. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996 to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
Johnson's career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, 12 All-Star games, and 10 All-NBA First and Second Teams nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA's all-time leader in assists per game with an average of 11.2. Johnson was also a member of the "Dream Team", the U.S. basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1992.
Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. He was also rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by ESPN in 2007. His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, based on regular games at championship level between the Lakers and Celtics, were well-documented. Since his retirement he has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as a philanthropist.
Amateur career
Early years
Earvin Johnson Jr. was the sixth of ten children born to Earvin Sr., a General Motors assembly worker, and Christine, a school custodian. Johnson grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and came to love basketball as a youngster, idolizing players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes. "I practiced all day," he later said. "I dribbled to the store with my right hand and back with my left. Then I slept with my basketball."
Johnson was first nicknamed "Magic" as a 15-year-old sophomore playing for Lansing's Everett High School, when he recorded a triple-double of 36 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists. After the game, Fred Stabley Jr., a sports writer for the Lansing State Journal, gave him the moniker, despite Johnson's Christian mother thinking that the name was sacrilegious. During his final high school season, Johnson led Lansing Everett to a 271 win-loss record while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game, and took his team to the state title by winning the championship game in overtime.
Michigan State University
Although Johnson was recruited by several top-ranked colleges such as Indiana and UCLA, he decided to play close to home. He initially wanted to go to the University of Michigan, but he eventually decided on Division I Michigan State University in East Lansing, after their basketball coach Jud Heathcote promised Johnson that he would play point guard.
Johnson did not initially aspire to play professionally, and instead focused on his major of communication studies, and his desire to become a television commentator. However, playing with future NBA players Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent, Johnson averaged 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game as a freshman, and led the Spartans to a 255 record, the Big Ten Conference title, and a berth in the 1978 NCAA tournament. The Spartans reached the Elite Eight, but they lost narrowly to eventual national champion Kentucky.
During the 197879 season, Michigan State again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game, and faced Indiana State University, which was led by senior Larry Bird. In what is still the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 7564, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. After two years in college, Johnson declared himself eligible for the 1979 NBA Draft, and finished his career at Michigan State with averages of 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game.
Professional biography
Rookie season in the NBA (197980)
The Los Angeles Lakers drafted Johnson with the first pick 1979 NBA Draft, and Johnson said that the "most amazing" part about being with the Lakers was to play alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center who would become the leading scorer in NBA history. But despite Abdul-Jabbar's dominance, he had failed to win a championship with the Lakers, and Johnson was expected to help the Lakers achieve their goal of a championship. Johnson's averages of 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game for the season ensured that he was named both an All-Rookie selection and an NBA All-Star Game starter, although the NBA Rookie of the Year Award went to his rival Bird, who had been drafted by the Boston Celtics.
The Lakers compiled a 6022 record in the regular season and reached the 1980 NBA Finals, where they faced the Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by forward Julius Erving. The Lakers took a 32 lead, but Abdul-Jabbar, who averaged 33 points a game in the series, sprained his ankle in Game 5, and was unable to play in Game 6. Paul Westhead, who had replaced Jack McKinney as head coach earlier in the season, decided to put Johnson at center. In Game 6, Johnson recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, played guard, forward and center at different points in the game, and lifted the Lakers to a 123107 win. Johnson became the only rookie to win the NBA Finals MVP award, and his clutch performance is still regarded as one of the finest ever in the NBA. He also became one of only four players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years.
Ups and downs (198083)
Early in the 198081 season, Johnson was sidelined after he suffered torn cartilage in his left knee. Johnson missed a total of 45 games, and he said that the time of his rehabilitation was the "most down" he had ever been. Johnson made his return before the start of the playoffs, but the Lakers' current assistant and future head coach Pat Riley later said that Johnson's much-anticipated return made the Lakers a "divided team". The Lakers faced the Houston Rockets, who finished only 40–42 in the regular season; in the first round, the Rockets upset the Lakers 21, after Johnson airballed a last-second shot in Game 3. During the off-season, Johnson signed a 25-year, $25 million contract to the Lakers, which was the highest-paying contract in sports history up to that point.
At the beginning of the 198182 NBA season, Johnson had a heated dispute with Westhead, who Johnson said made the Lakers "slow" and "predictable". After Johnson demanded to be traded, Buss fired Westhead, and replaced him with Riley. Although Johnson denied responsibility for Westhead's firing, he was booed across the league, even by the Lakers' fans. Despite his off-court troubles, Johnson averaged 18.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and a league-high 2.7 steals per game, and was voted a member of the All-NBA Second Team. He also joined Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only NBA players to tally at least 700 points, 700 rebounds and 700 assists in the same season. The Lakers advanced through the playoffs and faced Philadelphia for the second time in three years in the 1982 NBA Finals. After a triple-double from Johnson in Game 6, the Lakers defeated the Sixers 42, as Johnson won his second NBA Finals MVP award. During the championship series against the Sixers, Johnson averaged 16.2 points on .533 shooting, 10.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Johnson later said that his third season was when the Lakers first became a great team, and he credited their success to Riley.
During the 198283 NBA season, Johnson averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game and earned his first All-NBA First Team nomination. The Lakers again reached the Finals, and for a third time faced the Sixers, who featured center Moses Malone as well as Erving. With Johnson's teammates Norm Nixon, James Worthy and Bob McAdoo all hobbled by injuries, the Lakers were swept by the Sixers, and Malone was crowned the Finals MVP. In a losing effort against Philadelphia, Johnson averaged 19.0 points on .403 shooting, 12.5 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Battles with the Celtics (198387)
In Johnson's fifth year, he had another strong season of 17.6 points, 13.1 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Lakers reached the Finals for the third year in a row, where Johnson's Lakers and Bird's Celtics met for the first time in the post-season. After winning the first game, the Lakers led by two points in Game 2 with only 18 seconds to go, but James Worthy threw an errant pass to Celtic Gerald Henderson, who hit the game-tying layup. On the ensuing possession, Johnson failed to get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded, and the Lakers lost 124121 in overtime. In Game 3, Johnson responded with 21 assists in a 137104 win, but in Game 4, Johnson again made several crucial errors late in the game. In the final minute of the game, Johnson had the ball stolen from him by Celtics center Robert Parish, and then missed two free throws that could have won the game. The Celtics won Game 4 in overtime, and the teams split the next two games. In the decisive Game 7 in Boston, trailing by three points in the final minute, opposing point guard Dennis Johnson stole the ball from Johnson, which effectively ended the series. During the Finals, Johnson averaged 18.0 points on .560 shooting, 13.6 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game. Johnson later termed the series as "the one championship we should have had but didn't get".
In the 198485 NBA season, Johnson returned to form and averaged 18.3 points, 12.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game in the regular season. He led the Lakers into the 1985 NBA Finals, where they again played against the Celtics. The series started poorly for the Lakers, when they allowed an NBA Finals record 148 points to the Celtics in a 34-point loss in Game 1. However, Abdul-Jabbar, who was now 38 years old, scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Game 2, and his 36 points in the Game 5 win were instrumental in establishing a 32 lead for Los Angeles. After the Lakers defeated the Celtics in six games, both Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson, who averaged 18.3 points on .494 shooting, 14.0 assists and 6.8 rebounds per game in the championship series, said the Finals win was the highlight of their careers.
Johnson again averaged a double-double in the 198586 NBA season, with 18.8 points, 12.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game. After advancing to the Western Conference Finals, however, the Lakers were unable to defeat Houston, who advanced to the Finals in five games. However, in the next season, Johnson averaged a career-high of 23.9 points, as well as 12.2 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game, and earned his first regular season MVP award. The Lakers met the Celtics again in the 1987 NBA Finals, and in Game 4, Johnson hit a last-second hook shot over the outstretched arms of Celtics big men Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to win the game 107106. The game-winning shot, which Johnson dubbed his "junior, junior, junior sky-hook", put the Lakers up three games to one, and Los Angeles went on to win in six games. For his feats, Johnson was awarded his third Finals MVP title. During the six-game victory against the Celtics, Johnson averaged 26.2 points on .541 shooting, 13.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds and 2.33 steals per game.
Repeat and falling short (198791)
Before the 198788 NBA season, Lakers coach Pat Riley publicly promised the media that they would defend the NBA title, although the last team to successfully repeat their title was the Boston Celtics, who won the 1968 and 1969 Finals. Johnson had another productive season with averages of 19.6 points, 11.9 assists and 6.2 rebounds per game. In the 1988 playoffs, the Lakers survived two narrow 43 series against the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks to reach the Finals and face the Detroit Pistons, who were nicknamed the "Bad Boys" because of their physical style of play. After splitting the first six games 33, Laker forward and Finals MVP James Worthy had his first career triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, and he led his team to a 108105 win. Despite not being named MVP, Johnson had a strong championship series, averaging 21.1 points on .550 shooting, 13.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.
In the 198889 NBA season, Johnson's 22.5 points, 12.8 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game earned him his second MVP award, and the Lakers reached the 1989 NBA Finals, where they again faced the Pistons. However, after Johnson went down with a hamstring injury in Game 2, the Lakers were no match for the Pistons, who swept them 40.
With Abdul-Jabbar's retirement the previous year, Johnson won his third MVP award, after a strong regular season with averages of 22.3 points, 11.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game. However, the Lakers bowed out in the second playoff round to the Phoenix Suns, which was the Lakers' earliest elimination in the playoffs in nine years. Johnson performed well during the 199091 NBA season, with averages of 19.4 points, 12.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game, and the Lakers reached the 1991 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls, who were led by shooting guard Michael Jordan, a five-time scoring champion regarded as the finest player of his era. Although the series was portrayed as a matchup between Johnson and Jordan, the Laker's leading scorer James Worthy and starting shooting guard Byron Scott were both injured, and Bulls defensive stalwart Scottie Pippen defended well against Johnson. Despite two triple-doubles from Johnson during the series, Finals MVP Jordan led his team to a 41 win. In his last championship series appearance, Johnson averaged 18.6 points on .431 shooting, 12.4 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game.
HIV announcement and Olympics (199192)
During a physical before the 199192 NBA season, it was discovered that Johnson had tested positive for HIV. In a press conference held on November 7, 1991, Johnson made a public announcement that he would retire immediately. He stated that his wife Cookie and their unborn child did not have HIV, and that he would dedicate his life to "battle this deadly disease". Johnson initially said that he did not know how he contracted the disease, but later admitted that it was through having multiple sexual partners during his playing career. At the time, AIDS was commonly associated with homosexuality, and only a small percentage of HIV-positive people had contracted it from heterosexual sex. Although it was rumored that Johnson was gay or bisexual, he denied that he was either. Johnson's announcement became a major news story around the country, and was later named as ESPN's seventh most memorable moment of the past 25 years. Many articles praised Johnson as a hero, and U.S. President George H. W. Bush said: "For me, Magic is a hero, a hero for anyone who loves sports."
Despite his retirement, Johnson was voted by fans as a starter for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, although his former teammates Byron Scott and A.C. Green said that Johnson should not play, and several NBA players, including Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, argued that they would be at risk of contamination if Johnson suffered an open wound while on court. However, Johnson led the West to a 153113 win and was crowned All-Star MVP after recording 25 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. The game ended after he made a last-minute three-pointer, and players from both teams ran onto the court to congratulate Johnson.
Johnson was chosen to compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics for the US basketball team, which was dubbed the "Dream Team" because of the numerous NBA stars on the roster. During the tournament, which the USA won easily, Johnson played infrequently due to knee problems, but he received standing ovations from the crowd, and he used the opportunity to attempt to inspire HIV-positive people.
Post-Olympics and later life
Before the 199293 NBA season Johnson publicly announced his intentions to stage a comeback to the NBA. However, after practicing and playing in several pre-season games, he decided to return to retirement before the start of the regular season, citing controversy over his return from several active players. In his retirement, Johnson engaged himself in several activities, including writing a book on safer sex, running several businesses, working for NBC as a commentator, building a chain of Magic Johnson Movie Theatres in minority areas of Los Angeles and touring Asia and Australia with a basketball team comprising former college and NBA players.
He returned to the NBA as coach of the Lakers for the 199394 NBA season, replacing Randy Pfund, but after losing the next six games, Johnson announced the end of his coaching career, choosing instead to purchase a 5% share of the team in June 1994.
The following year, at the age of 36, Johnson attempted another comeback as a player. Playing power forward, he averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game in the last 32 games of the season. But after the Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, Johnson retired permanently, saying: "I am going out on my terms, something I couldn't say when I aborted a comeback in 1992."
Off the court
Johnson first fathered a son in 1981, when Andre Johnson was born to Melissa Mitchell. In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly, with whom he had one son, Earvin III; he also adopted a daughter, Elisa.
In 1998, Johnson hosted a late night talk show on Fox called The Magic Hour, but the show was cancelled after two months due to low ratings. Today, he runs Magic Johnson Enterprises, a company that has a net worth of 700 million dollars, and owns several subsidiaries, including Magic Johnson Productions, a promotional company; Magic Johnson Theaters, a nationwide chain of movie theaters; and Magic Johnson Entertainment, a movie studio. He is a supporter of the Democratic Party, and publicly endorsed Phil Angelides for Governor of California and Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. Johnson was hired as an NBA analyst for Turner Network Television in 2001, before becoming a studio analyst for ESPN's GMC NBA Countdown in 2008.
HIV activism
After announcing his infection, Johnson set up the Magic Johnson Foundation to help combat HIV, although he later diversified the foundation to include other charitable goals. In 1992, he joined the National Commission on AIDS, but left after only eight months, saying that the commission was not doing enough to combat the disease. He was also the main speaker for the United Nations (UN) World AIDS Day Conference in 1999, and he has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Previously, HIV had been associated with drug addicts and homosexuals, but Johnson's admission and subsequent campaigns publicized a risk of infection that included everyone. Johnson stated that his aim was to "help educate all people about what [HIV] is about" and teach others not to "discriminate against people who have HIV and AIDS." However, in recent years, he has also been criticized by the AIDS community for his decreasing involvement in halting and publicizing the spread of the disease.
To prevent his HIV infection from becoming AIDS, Johnson takes a daily combination of drugs from GlaxoSmithKline and Abbott Laboratories. He has advertised for drugs from GlaxoSmithKline, and partnered with Abbott Laboratories to reduce AIDS infections among the African-American community.
Career achievements
Johnson is considered one of the most successful players in the history of the game. In 905 NBA games, he scored 17,707 points, 6,559 rebounds and 10,141 assists, translating to career averages of 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 11.2 assists per game. Johnson shares the single-game playoff record for assists (24), holds the Finals record for assists in a game (21), and has the most playoff assists (2,346). He holds the All-Star Game single-game record for assists (22), and the All-Star Game record for career assists (127).
Johnson introduced a fast-paced style of basketball that became known as "Showtime", described as a mix of "no-look passes off the fastbreak, pin-point alley-oops from halfcourt, spinning feeds and overhand bullets under the basket through triple teams." Fellow Lakers guard Michael Cooper stated that: "There have been times when he [Johnson] has thrown passes and I wasn't sure where he was going. Then one of our guys catches the ball and scores, and I run back up the floor convinced that he must've thrown it through somebody." Johnson was also unique because he played point guard despite being 69, a size reserved normally for frontcourt players. Johnson combined the size of a power forward, the one-on-one skills of a swingman and the ball handling talent of a guard, making him one of the most dangerous triple-double threats of all time; his 138 triple-double-games are second only to Oscar Robertson's 181.
For his feats, Johnson was voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time by the NBA in 1996, and he was introduced into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2006, ESPN.com rated Johnson the greatest point guard of all time, and stated: "It could be argued that he's the one player in NBA history who was better than Michael Jordan." Several of his achievements in individual games have also been named one of the top moments in the NBA.
Rivalry with Larry Bird
Ever since the 1979 NCAA Finals, in which Johnson's Michigan State squad defeated Larry Bird's Indiana State team, Johnson and Bird were linked as rivals. From 1980 to 1988, their respective Lakers and Celtics teams won eight of nine NBA titles. The rivalry reached its climax in the mid-'80s, when their teams met in three NBA Finals (1984, 1985, 1987). Johnson appreciated the rivalry greatly, asserting that for him, the 82 game regular season was composed of 80 normal games and "the two", i.e. the Lakers-Celtics games. Similarly, Bird admitted that Johnson's box score was the first thing he looked at after every game day, stating everything else was unimportant.
Several journalists hypothesised that the Johnson-Bird rivalry was so appealing because it represented many other rivalries, such as the clash between the Lakers and Celtics, between Hollywood flashiness ("Showtime") and Boston/Indiana blue collar grit ("Celtic Pride"), and between blacks and whites. Apart from the on-court differences, the rivalry proved significant because it drew national attention to the faltering NBA. Prior to Johnson and Bird's arrival, the NBA had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings. With the two future Hall-of-Famers, the league won a whole generation of new fans, drawing both traditionalist adherents of Bird's dirt court Indiana game and those appreciative of Johnson's public park flair. Sports journalist Larry Schwartz of ESPN even went as far as to assert that Johnson and Bird saved the NBA from bankruptcy.
Despite their on-court rivalry Johnson and Bird became good friends privately, ironically during the filming of a joint 1984 Converse shoe ad which was meant to depict them as enemies. When Bird retired in 1992, Johnson appeared at his retirement ceremony and described Bird as a "friend forever", and during Johnson's induction into the Hall of Fame, Bird formally inducted Johnson in the ceremony.
Books
Biographies
Johnson's autobiography is Other biographies include:*****
Instructional
External links
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- , NBA Encyclopedia, Playoff Edition
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