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."
He got his nickname as the star of Everett High School. A local sportswriter, who had watch the amazing 15-year-old play and scoring 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists, felt no other word would describe Earvin other than "Magic!" After excelling at Everett High School, Magic wanted to stay close to home for college, so Michigan State was the obvious choice. Even as a freshman, he was impressive with numbers like 17 points per game and led his college teammates, The Spartans, to a 25.5 record and The Big Ten Conference title. As a sophomore, Johnson and his teammates won the national title in 1979 and beat out Larry Birds' Indiana State in what is thought of as one of the most watched NCAA Championship Game-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.
As fans and sportswriters everywhere will tell you, in 1980, the NBA finals that featured the Lakers and Philly's 76ers showed a legend in the making when Johnson performance clinched the win in the sixth game of the series. In that game, he scored 42 points, 15, boards, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Again, he was the first and only rookie to ever win the Finals MVP Award. As Magic put it, "I just wanted to do whatever the (Lakers) needed to do to win. I was having fun." The following year, pro sports hit Johnson, when he missed 45 games with a torn knee cartilage.
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.
In 1984, Magic signed a $25 million dollar contract with the Lakers and they won three NBA titles in the following four years. In the 1986-87 season, he scored an astounding 38 points against Houston and 46 points against the Sacramento Kings-a career high. During this season, he also achieved a career-high average of 23.9 points per game- and Johnson was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player of the Year. He would win this award again 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.
In his 13 season NBA career, Magic Johnson achieved an astounding 17,707 points ( a 19.5 point per game average), 6,559 rebounds and 10,141 assists. This is in addition to his 1,724 steals (Johnson holds the record for ninth most steals in an NBA career). Johnson was also invited to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time team in 1997 and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Johnson remains as modest as ever and continues to focus on his philanthropic work, but he is indisputably a living legend in the game of basket ball. As one of his fiercest rivals and greatest admirers, Larry Bird says of Johnson: Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I've never seen anybody as good as him.
He got his nickname as the star of Everett High School. A local sportswriter, who had watch the amazing 15-year-old play and scoring 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists, felt no other word would describe Earvin other than "Magic!" After excelling at Everett High School, Magic wanted to stay close to home for college, so Michigan State was the obvious choice. Even as a freshman, he was impressive with numbers like 17 points per game and led his college teammates, The Spartans, to a 25.5 record and The Big Ten Conference title. As a sophomore, Johnson and his teammates won the national title in 1979 and beat out Larry Birds' Indiana State in what is thought of as one of the most watched NCAA Championship Game-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.
As fans and sportswriters everywhere will tell you, in 1980, the NBA finals that featured the Lakers and Philly's 76ers showed a legend in the making when Johnson performance clinched the win in the sixth game of the series. In that game, he scored 42 points, 15, boards, 7 assists, and 3 steals. Again, he was the first and only rookie to ever win the Finals MVP Award. As Magic put it, "I just wanted to do whatever the (Lakers) needed to do to win. I was having fun." The following year, pro sports hit Johnson, when he missed 45 games with a torn knee cartilage.
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.
In 1984, Magic signed a $25 million dollar contract with the Lakers and they won three NBA titles in the following four years. In the 1986-87 season, he scored an astounding 38 points against Houston and 46 points against the Sacramento Kings-a career high. During this season, he also achieved a career-high average of 23.9 points per game- and Johnson was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player of the Year. He would win this award again 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.
In his 13 season NBA career, Magic Johnson achieved an astounding 17,707 points ( a 19.5 point per game average), 6,559 rebounds and 10,141 assists. This is in addition to his 1,724 steals (Johnson holds the record for ninth most steals in an NBA career). Johnson was also invited to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time team in 1997 and entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Johnson remains as modest as ever and continues to focus on his philanthropic work, but he is indisputably a living legend in the game of basket ball. As one of his fiercest rivals and greatest admirers, Larry Bird says of Johnson: Magic is head-and-shoulders above everybody else. I've never seen anybody as good as him.
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