20 Second Timeout

Roland Lazenby Details Magic Johnson's Triumphs and Tribulations

Magic Johnson starred at Michigan State, leading the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA title in a famous showdown with Larry Bird's Indiana State Seminoles. Johnson then won five NBA titles (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987-88) with the L.A. Lakers while earning three regular season MVPs (1987, 1989-90) and three NBA Finals MVPs (1980, 1982, 1987). Johnson broke Oscar Robertson's NBA record for career regular season assists, and Johnson currently ranks seventh on the all-time regular season assists list in addition to holding the record for career playoff assists. Johnson led the NBA in regular season assists four times (1983-84, 1986-87) while also leading the league in steals twice (1981-82) and free throw percentage once (1989).

Johnson suddenly retired from the NBA in November 1991 after being diagnosed as HIV positive, but Commissioner David Stern permitted Johnson to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, and Johnson won the 1992 All-Star Game MVP. Johnson coached the Lakers for the final 16 games of the 1994 season, but did not return to the bench after the Lakers went 5-11 with him at the helm. Johnson came back to the NBA as a player for 32 regular season games and four playoff games in 1996 before retiring for the final time. Johnson's lucrative endorsements and savvy business deals enabled him to amass a net worth of more than $1 billion.

Roland Lazenby's Magic: The Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Celadon Books, 813 pages, $40.00) provides a detailed, engaging account of Johnson's ascension from high school phenomenon to NCAA champion to all-time NBA great. Lazenby has written biographies of several all-time great basketball players, including Jerry West, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant. Lazenby's Magic Johnson biography is divided into three parts: Part I is titled "Lansing," Part II is titled "Hollywood," and Part III is titled "Across The Great Divide." 

Lansing

Part I is the longest section of the book (338 pages), and some reviewers have criticized Lazenby for focusing so much attention not only on Johnson's early days but also on Johnson's family history dating back to the 1800s. Lazenby has stated that his intention was to not just tell the story of Johnson's basketball life but to place Johnson's entire life in the larger context of American history. Lazenby may not have written the book that some other people think that he should have written, but it is only fair to evaluate Lazenby's book based on what he wrote and what he tried to accomplish--not on what other people think that he should have written or tried to accomplish. 

It is interesting to learn about Johnson's family history, and it is also interesting to consider the different ways that family history can be interpreted and understood. Some of Johnson's ancestors were slaves, so should we focus on the persecution they suffered, or should we focus on how in America it is possible for a descendant of slaves to become a world-famous sports legend who earned generational wealth? Acknowledging the opportunities that America provides does not in any way diminish the horrors of slavery and racism. Reading about Johnson's family history reminds us that America is a flawed country with a troubling past but also a great country that, in the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is striving to live up to its great, foundational principles: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

Johnson grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and Lazenby describes in great detail the critically important mentoring that Johnson received not only from his parents Earvin Sr. and Christine but also from members of the Lansing community, including Dr. Charles Tucker. Johnson worked hard to develop his unique skill set that enabled him to take advantage of his size to attack the paint while also running the show on the perimeter with his deft ballhandling and passing. During Johnson's first two high school varsity seasons, he was very disappointed by his failure to lead Everett High School to the Michigan state high school championship. Johnson set individual records and received a lot of acclaim--including the "Magic" nickname that has stuck with him ever since--but Johnson always focused more on team success than individual recognition. As a senior, Johnson led Everett High School to the state title, though his squad had to survive overtime after an opposing player hit a long shot at the end of regulation--a shot that today would be worth three points and thus would have ended the game on the spot!

After graduating from high school, Johnson played for Michigan State, and his freshman season ended with a 52-49 NCAA Tournament loss to Kentucky, the eventual national champion. Johnson--who became renowned for his triple double prowess--only managed a "triple single" versus Kentucky: six points on 2-10 field goal shooting, plus five assists and four rebounds. Johnson averaged 11 ppg on .278 field goal shooting in three games in the 1978 NCAA Tournament. Johnson later spoke about what he called "Winning Time," but up to that point in his young career he had won one championship while experiencing several frustrating postseason losses during which he did not perform up to his standards. 

The narrative arc of Johnson's career changed in 1979. Michigan State posted a 21-6 regular season record during Johnson's sophomore campaign, and the Spartans' 13-5 Big 10 record was good enough to share the Big 10 title with Iowa and Purdue. Johnson logged two triple doubles in Michigan State's first four NCAA Tournament games as the Spartans defeated Lamar, Louisiana State, Notre Dame, and Pennsylvania to reach the NCAA Championship Game, where they faced the number one ranked 33-0 Indiana State Sycamores led by Larry Bird. Johnson scored a game-high 24 points on 8-15 field goal shooting as his Spartans defeated Bird's Sycamores, 75-64. Johnson also had seven rebounds and five assists, though his teammate Greg Kelser led the Spartans in both categories with eight and nine respectively. Bird paced Indiana State with 19 points and he grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, but he shot just 7-21 from the field and only dished for two assists. Johnson earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. The Bird-Johnson title showdown was a big story at the time, and it is viewed as a watershed moment not just in college basketball history but in basketball history overall, because Bird and Johnson became the faces of the NBA during the 1980s.

Hollywood

Part II of Lazenby's book focuses on Johnson's Lakers career, including Johnson's rivalry with Bird that transformed the NBA (although Lazenby astutely points out that Michael Jordan ultimately proved to be Johnson's biggest rival, particularly in terms of endorsements).

It is important to look at the Bird-Johnson rivalry dispassionately, and then compare the facts with the hype. Johnson's team beat Bird's team for the 1979 NCAA title, Johnson won an NBA title and the NBA Finals MVP as a rookie, Johnson won two NBA titles in his first three NBA seasons, and Johnson's L.A. Lakers won five NBA titles while making nine NBA Finals appearances. Johnson's Lakers beat Bird's Boston Celtics two out of three times in the NBA Finals. Bird won an NBA title in his second season in 1981, but his teammate Cedric Maxwell won the 1981 NBA Finals MVP. Bird won three NBA titles and two NBA Finals MVPs while making five NBA Finals appearances.

Basketball is a team game, and thus individual basketball greatness is generally measured in connection with team success--but despite the fact that Johnson consistently enjoyed greater team success than Bird, media members bestowed more honors on Bird: Bird won the 1979 Naismith Award honoring him as the college basketball player of the year, Bird won the 1980 NBA Rookie of the Year award, and Bird won three straight NBA regular season MVP awards before Johnson won his first NBA regular season MVP (Johnson finished his career with three NBA regular season MVP awards). By the mid-1980s, many media members declared Bird to be the greatest basketball player of all-time without explaining how Bird had surpassed not only Johnson but also Bill Russell (who won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons), Wilt Chamberlain (who won two NBA titles and is still the most dominant individual force in the sport's history), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who won six NBA titles and a record six NBA regular season MVP awards while setting a career scoring record that stood for almost 40 years). For that matter, an intelligent case could be made that Bird did not surpass Julius Erving, whose Philadelphia 76ers beat Bird's Celtics two of the first three times they faced each other in the Eastern Conference Finals before prime Bird triumphed over 35 year old Erving in the 1985 Eastern Conference Finals. Erving won four regular season MVPs, three championships, and two Playoff MVPs.

There is no doubt that Bird was a great player. He easily secured a place in my pro basketball Pantheon. It is just difficult to understand objectively why he was ever ranked ahead of Magic Johnson, let alone elevated above Russell, Chamberlain, and Abdul-Jabbar. After Johnson led the Lakers to back to back championships in 1987-88--something no team had accomplished since Russell's Celtics won championships in 1968-69--and then took the Lakers to the 1991 NBA Finals while Bird and the Celtics faded from championship contention, the chatter about Bird being the greatest player of all-time quieted down. Michael Jordan's emergence as a six-time champion in the 1990s ended talk of Bird being the greatest basketball player of all-time for everyone except the most dedicated Celtics fans.

The much anticipated NBA Finals version of the 1979 Johnson-Bird NCAA championship showdown did not happen until five years later; in three of Johnson's first four seasons, his Lakers squared off versus Erving's 76ers in the NBA Finals. In 1980, Erving's 76ers humbled Bird's Celtics in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals, while Johnson's Lakers defeated the defending NBA champion Seattle SuperSonics by the same margin in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers reached the NBA Finals despite being forced to change coaches after starting the season with a 10-4 record. Jack McKinney suffered serious head injuries in a bicycle accident, so the Lakers elevated assistant coach Paul Westhead, and Westhead hired Pat Riley--a former Lakers player turned broadcaster--to be his assistant (during that era, teams did not have a whole crew of assistant coaches).

The Lakers enjoyed homecourt advantage in the 1980 NBA Finals because they went 60-22 in the regular season while the 76ers finished 59-23. Abdul-Jabbar won his sixth and final regular season MVP award, with Erving finishing second and George Gervin placing third.

The Lakers won game one 109-102, but the 76ers seized homecourt advantage with a 107-104 game two victory. The Lakers countered by splitting the next two games in Philadelphia, setting up a pivotal game five. Abdul-Jabbar (40 points, 15 rebounds) and Erving (36 points, nine rebounds, six assists, four steals) had a sensational duel as the Lakers prevailed, 108-103. Johnson had an unusual stat line: 14 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 turnovers, 4-13 field goal shooting. The victory came at a high price for the Lakers: Abdul-Jabbar sprained his ankle late in the contest, and although he was able to return to finish the game he did not make the trip to Philadelphia for game six. 

Game six featured one of the most legendary performances in sports history: Johnson jumped center in place of Abdul-Jabbar and he played center, forward, and guard while tallying 42 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists as the Lakers blew open a close game to win 123-107. It should be emphasized that before Johnson's heroics the Lakers already enjoyed a 3-2 series lead as Abdul-Jabbar paced both teams in scoring (33.4 ppg) and rebounding (13.6 rpg), so even if the Lakers had lost game six they had game seven at home thanks to Abdul-Jabbar's dominance. A case could be made that Abdul-Jabbar should have won the Finals MVP, but it is understandable why the NBA (and CBS) preferred that the award go to Johnson, who had played so well in game six and was on site to receive the honor. In a three year span, Johnson won the Michigan high school championship, the NCAA title, and the NBA title. 

During an era when championship teams always had at least one Hall of Fame big man--including Abdul-Jabbar, Portland's Bill Walton, Washington's Elvin Hayes/Wes Unseld duo, Seattle's Jack Sikma, and Boston's Robert Parish/Kevin McHale duo--Erving led the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, and 1982 playing alongside big men Darryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones, neither of whom was ever selected as an NBA All-Star (Jones earned one ABA All-Star selection). Erving could only do so much to overcome his team's lack of a dominant big man; as Pat Riley famously noted, "No rebounds, no rings": in the 1980 NBA Finals, the Lakers outrebounded the 76ers 51.3 rpg to 37.2 rpg. Jones led the 76ers with 8.3 rpg and small forward Erving ranked second on the team with 7.0 rpg, but four Lakers averaged at least 7.0 rpg, with Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson (11.2 rpg) leading the way. 

Lazenby recounts all these events in an engaging style, with many quotes from a variety of players, coaches, and media members with firsthand knowledge of Johnson's spectacular rookie season success. After discussing Johnson's incredible NBA debut, Lazenby contrasts the endorsement opportunities available to Johnson in 1979-80 with the much more lucrative endorsement opportunities presented to Michael Jordan just five years later, and asserts that this has long been a source of consternation for Johnson. 

Lazenby quotes long-time NBA executive Pat Williams--the 76ers General Manager from 1974-86--regarding how the NBA's popularity soared during the 1980s. Williams declared that even with a star as big as Erving the 76ers struggled to attract fans to games in the 1970s. While it is no doubt true that the NBA's in person attendance and worldwide popularity is much greater now than it was in the 1970s, it is important to give Erving credit for how much he contributed to the NBA in the 1970s. It is not an exaggeration to say that for several years Erving carried the league, laying the groundwork for the NBA's tremendous growth in the 1980s and beyond. The 76ers acquired Erving from the New York Nets in the wake of the 1976 ABA-NBA merger, and Erving made an immediate box office impact across the league: in the 1976-77 season, the Philadelphia 76ers set franchise records for both home attendance (15,438 per game) and road attendance (15,438 per game). The 76ers set an NBA record with 33 road sellouts, and the overall league attendance per game increased by 682 to a record 10,973. The 76ers sold out seven of their 10 home playoff games, second only to the Portland Trail Blazers (10/10). A league record 27,383 fans packed the Superdome in New Orleans to see Erving's first NBA regular season game versus the New Orleans Jazz. The next night, 15,676 Houston fans watched Erving's debut against the Rockets, setting a record for the largest attendance at an NBA game in Texas. Chuck Daly--a 76ers assistant coach from 1978-81, and later the head coach of two Detroit championship teams--described the 76ers' road following in that era by declaring, "This is like traveling with the Rolling Stones."

A Pat Williams quote from several years ago best summarizes Erving's overall impact on pro basketball: "You'd have to use words like electrifying, revolutionary. There's never been anybody quite like him, including Michael (Jordan). If Julius was in his prime now, in this era of intense electronic media, he would be beyond comprehension. He would blow everybody away."

Erving--who had already won three ABA regular season MVP awards--won the 1981 NBA regular season MVP, becoming the first non-center to capture that honor since Oscar Robertson in 1964. Bird finished second, and Abdul-Jabbar was third. Magic Johnson was only 11th because a knee injury limited him to just 37 games; he led the league in steals (career-high 3.4 spg) while averaging 21.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, and 8.6 apg. The Lakers posted a 26-11 record with Johnson, and a 28-17 record without him, ranking second in the Western Conference with a 54-28 record. Johnson was out of action from late November 1980 through late February 1981 but he returned for the stretch run and he closed the season with two sensational performances: 41 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists versus the Utah Jazz, and 33 points, 15 rebounds, and 17 assists versus the Denver Nuggets--but the Lakers narrowly lost both games, foreshadowing what would happen in the playoffs.

At that time, the four division winners each received a first round bye while the remaining four playoff teams in each conference played a best out of three first round mini-series. The Lakers faced the 40-42 Houston Rockets, a team that featured 1979 regular season MVP Moses Malone surrounded by a mixture of past their prime All-Stars and young role players; on paper, it looked like a mismatch in favor of the Lakers but--as Kenny Mayne used to say--games are not played on paper, they are played inside your television set. Malone had a monster game one performance (38 points, 23 rebounds) as the Rockets stole game one in L.A. The Lakers returned the favor in Houston despite Malone racking up 33 points and 15 rebounds, setting the stage for a winner take all game in L.A. In game three, both teams shot worse than .400 from the field, but even though Abdul-Jabbar outplayed Moses Malone with 32 points and 18 rebounds compared to 23 points and 15 rebounds, Johnson shot just 2-14 from the field as the Rockets prevailed, 89-86. One of Johnson's many misses was an air ball in the paint with a chance to tie the score late in the game. 

The Rockets reached the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Meanwhile, Bird's Celtics overcame a 3-1 Eastern Conference Finals deficit versus Erving's 76ers, winning the last three games by a combined five points. Bird shot just .419 from the field versus the Rockets, and his teammate Cedric Maxwell earned the NBA Finals MVP as Boston prevailed in six games.

Lazenby notes that the Lakers' good regular season record and Johnson's gaudy statistics masked the team's underlying internal turmoil. Abdul-Jabbar favored a slower paced game so that he could set up shop in the paint and launch his deadly skyhook, but Johnson and many of the team's younger players wanted to push the pace. Meanwhile, Lakers' owner Jerry Buss signed Johnson to a "lifetime" contract worth $25 million--a princely sum for a basketball player in those days, and a number sure to ruffle the feathers of Johnson's teammates, most notably Abdul-Jabber, who was still nursing feelings of being unappreciated in general as well as specifically regarding the 1980 Finals MVP award. 

Coach Westhead became known as the "Guru of Go" because he loved for his teams to push the pace, but in 1981 he attempted to install some halfcourt sets for Abdul-Jabbar as an option for when opposing teams stopped the Lakers' fast break. Johnson, who had more power in the organization than anyone other than Buss, felt miserable and made no secret about it; as a result, Buss fired Westhead even though the Lakers started the 1981-82 season with a 7-4 record and were riding a five game winning streak. It should be noted that Westhead does not accept the prevailing narrative about why he was fired. Lazenby quotes Westhead (p. 494): "The only thing I will say that I want to attempt to clarify, was the explanation that the team was not running as much. I said, 'Well, you can fire me for a million things. Take your pick. You didn't relate to the team. All the classic things. You weren't tough enough. You were too tough.' But every practice of my coaching career has been running. So, if that was the reason, that's not a reason, not an accurate reason. Fire me for other things then. That's the only clarification that I requested. Not that it mattered. If you're relieved, then you're relieved. Ultimately, history will look back and see me as the mad scientist who ran more than any other coach, maybe in the history of the game. He might have lost a lot of games. He might have been fired more than anybody in the history of the game, but nobody ran more."

Buss wanted to hire Jerry West to replace Westhead, but West had zero interest in being a head coach again (he had coached the Lakers from 1976-79), so Riley completed an implausible rise from role player to commentator to assistant coach to head coach of a championship caliber team. The Lakers made a key midseason acquistion, trading a second round pick for Bob McAdoo, the 1975 NBA regular season MVP and three-time NBA scoring champion (1974-76).

The Lakers went 50-21 with Riley at the helm, finishing with the best record in the Western Conference. They went 10-2 to close out the season--including victories in the final three games--and after receiving a first round bye they swept Phoenix and San Antonio to reach the NBA Finals. The Lakers had not lost a game in six weeks by the time they faced the 76ers in a rematch of the 1980 NBA Finals--and after beating the 76ers 124-117 in game one the Lakers set a record with their ninth straight playoff win, breaking the mark previously held by the 1950 Minneapolis Lakers. The 76ers bounced back to salvage a split of their home games (they enjoyed homecourt advantage based on their 58-24 regular season record), but the Lakers took control of the series with double digit wins in games three and four. Andrew Toney (31 points, eight assists) and Erving (23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists) led the way for the 76ers in a 135-108 game five rout, but the Lakers took game six 114-104 to win the championship despite fine performances from Erving (game-high 30 points, eight rebounds, five steals, three assists) and Toney (29 points, six assists). The Lakers dominated the boards 49-35 in game six, and they outrebounded the 76ers by nearly 6 rpg during the series. Johnson won his second Finals MVP after posting a 13-13-13 stat line in game six, topping both teams in rebounds and assists; he averaged 16.2 ppg, 10.8 rpg, and 8.0 apg in the series. The 76ers had the top two scorers in the series (Toney averaged 26.0 ppg and Erving averaged 25.0 ppg), but that was not enough to overcome a balanced Lakers' attack featuring six players who averaged between 13.3 ppg and 19.7 ppg; the 1982 Lakers may be the most underrated great team in pro basketball history.

Moses Malone won the 1982 regular season MVP, with Larry Bird and Julius Erving rounding out the top three. Johnson finished eighth; suffice it to say that during the playoffs Johnson looked better than the eighth best player in the league as he averaged 17.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg, and 9.3 apg while shooting .529 from the field and .828 from the free throw line.

Prior to the start of the 1982-83 season, the 76ers traded Caldwell Jones and a first round draft pick for Moses Malone. For the first time in his career, Erving played with a Hall of Fame center who could match up with Abdul-Jabbar and the league's other Hall of Fame centers--and the 76ers dominated the league, racing to a 50-7 start before cruising to a league-best 65-17 record. Malone won the regular season MVP, with Bird, Johnson, Sidney Moncrief and Erving rounding out the top five in MVP voting. This marked the first of Johnson's nine straight top three finishes in regular season MVP voting. Lazenby suggests that top three MVP finishes are an important measure of sustained greatness, and he notes that LeBron James holds the record with 11, while Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had nine each, and Larry Bird had eight. Notable players not mentioned by Lazenby include Michael Jordan (10), Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving (seven each), and Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West (five each).

The Lakers posted the best record in the Western Conference (58-24), and an NBA Finals rematch seemed inevitable. The 76ers romped through the Eastern Conference playoffs with an 8-1 record, while the Lakers went 8-3 in the Western Conference playoffs. Malone dominated Abdul-Jabbar as the 76ers swept the Lakers 4-0 to claim the franchise's first NBA title since 1967. Injuries to McAdoo and rookie James Worthy slowed the Lakers, but even at full strength the Lakers were no match for the Philadelphia juggernaut in 1983. Malone won the 1983 NBA Finals MVP, and Erving had an NBA championship ring to go along with the pair of ABA championship rings that he won.

The 76ers did not sustain their 1983 dominance. They suffered a shocking first round loss to the New Jersey Nets in the 1984 playoffs, lost 4-1 to the Celtics in the 1985 Eastern Conference Finals, and did not reemerge as championship contenders until Allen Iverson led the team to the 2001 NBA Finals.

During the power vacuum between the decline of the 76ers and the rise of the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls, Johnson and Bird faced each other in three NBA Finals over a four year period, with Bird's Celtics winning in 1984 before Johnson's Lakers won in 1985 and 1987. Johnson has said that clinching the 1985 NBA title in game six in Boston is his favorite moment from his NBA career. The Celtics won the 1986 championship by defeating the Houston Rockets, who had upset the Lakers 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals. In 1987, after Johnson led the Lakers to a 4-2 NBA Finals victory over Bird's Celtics and claimed his third NBA Finals MVP, it was clear--if there had ever been any doubt--that he was better than Bird, a fact acknowledged by veteran Sports Illustrated basketball writer Jack McCallum; just one year earlier, he had written an article asserting that Bird was the greatest basketball player of all-time, but after the 1987 NBA Finals McCallum conceded that Johnson was better than Bird.

Bird's Celtics did not reach the NBA Finals again, but Johnson led the Lakers back to the NBA Finals in 1988 and 1989; on both occasions, they faced the Detroit Pistons, led by Johnson's friend Isiah Thomas. The upstart Pistons were poised to knock off the Lakers in 1988 before Thomas was hobbled by an ankle injury; the Lakers survived in seven games. In the 1989 NBA Finals, both Johnson and his backcourt mate Byron Scott suffered hamstring injuries, and the Pistons swept the Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar retired after the 1989 NBA Finals. The Lakers failed to reach the 1990 NBA Finals, and the Pistons matched the Lakers by winning a repeat title after beating Portland, 4-1.

It should be noted that when Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson were the starting point guards for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Stars respectively, those All-Star Games were fantastic, in marked contrast to the travesty that the All-Star Game is now. As Johnson told me during the 2005 All-Star Weekend, it is the players' responsibility to make the All-Star Game competitive and great: "They have to understand that there is a fine line. We wanted to put on a show for the fans--let Dr. J be Dr. J, let Dominique be Dominique, Michael Jordan be Michael Jordan, so there were some pretty dunks and pretty moves that they created. But I'm going to tell you something: at the end of the day, both teams were serious about winning. That's what we're all about, especially when that second half started--we were at each other's throats. Shots were being blocked and both teams were trying to win the game."

Johnson and Thomas maintained their friendship when they only battled during the regular season and the All-Star Games, but those back to back Finals clashes put a strain on their relationship that lasted for decades. Johnson and Thomas eventually reconciled, with Johnson saying to Thomas, "You are my brother. Let my apologize to you if I hurt you, that we haven't been together. And God is good to bring us back together." 

The Lakers fired Pat Riley after the 1990 season, and he spent one year as an NBC commentator before returning to the coaching ranks with the New York Knicks. Riley later coached the Miami Heat to the 2006 NBA title, and as an executive he built Miami teams that won championships in 2012 and 2013.

Across The Great Divide

Lazenby begins Part III of the book with the Lakers adjusting to life in the post-Riley era. The Lakers hired Mike Dunleavy to replace Riley. Vlade Divac was now in his second season and had become the starting center. The Lakers posted the Western Conference's second best record (58-24) before defeating the 63-19 Portland Trail Blazers 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals. At last, NBA fans would witness the long-awaited Magic Johnson-Michael Jordan NBA Finals showdown. Jordan won the 1991 regular season MVP after Johnson had won three of the four previous MVP awards (1987, 1989-90) sandwiched around Jordan's first MVP award in 1988. With Abdul-Jabbar and Erving retired and Bird and Malone no longer elite players, Johnson and Jordan stood above everyone else. The 61-21 Bulls enjoyed homecourt advantage versus the Lakers, but Sam Perkins' game-winning three pointer in game one seemed to put the Lakers in the driver's seat--until the Bulls reeled off four straight wins. 

We will never know if Johnson would have led the Lakers to the 1992 NBA Finals for a rematch with the Bulls, because on November 7, 1991 Johnson announced his immediate retirement due to his HIV positive status. It may be difficult for members of younger generations to understand how shocking and saddening Johnson's revelation was at that time; this was worldwide news in a pre-social media era, and at that time it was reasonable to assume that Johnson did not have much time left to live. Fortunately for Johnson, it appears that he never developed full-blown AIDS, and his body responded well to the treatment protocols that were subsequently developed. Living with HIV for over 30 years did not seem to be a likely--or even possible--outcome in 1991, so those of us who are old enough to remember Johnson's press conference will never forget how devastated and concerned we felt.

Johnson's pregnant wife Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly and their unborn child tested negative. What we don't know--and Lazenby briefly alludes to--is how many women Johnson may have infected. One woman sued Johnson for allegedly infecting her with HIV, and Johnson reached a private out of court settlement with her. 

Even though Johnson retired, his name remained on the All-Star ballot, and NBA Commissioner David Stern approved Johnson's participation in the 1992 All-Star Game. Johnson tallied game-high totals in points (25) and assists (nine) while leading the West to a 153-113 win and earning his second All-Star Game MVP. Then, in the summer of 1992 Johnson ranked second on the Dream Team in assists (5.5 apg) as Team USA rolled to the gold medal in the first Olympics during which American pro basketball players participated.

Johnson's Dream Team success whetted his appetite to return to the NBA as a player to end his career on his terms. He played in the 1992 preseason, but decided that his HIV positive status and the incessant questions about his HIV positive status were too much of a distraction. Johnson did not play in the NBA from 1991-95, but he did organize--and play for--a barnstorming team that traveled the world and won the vast majority of its games. Johnson returned to the Lakers as their head coach for the final 16 games of the 1993-94 season, guiding the team to a 5-11 record before deciding that coaching a younger generation of players was not his cup of tea.

He returned to the Lakers as a player for the second half of the 1995-96 season, playing in 32 out of 40 regular season games. The Lakers went 22-10 when Johnson played, a .688 winning percentage that was higher than their overall winning percentage (53-29, .646) that season. Johnson averaged 14.6 ppg, 6.9 apg, and 5.7 rpg during the regular season, and 15.3 ppg, 6.5 apg, and 8.5 rpg during a 3-1 first round loss to the Houston Rockets. He was bigger, stronger, and slower than he had been during his prime. Johnson retired after the 1996 season. He may not have ended his career on his terms--he could have only accomplished that by winning a championship--but he ended his career on his time, as opposed to feeling compelled to retire in 1991.

Nearly 30 years after the last time that he played in an NBA game, Magic Johnson has remained visible, powerful, and relevant as a businessman, philanthropist, sports executive, and TV commentator. 

Errata

1) On page 343 there is a reference to the ABA's "New Jersey Nets." The team was founded in the ABA in 1967 as the New Jersey Americans and was then known as the New York Nets from 1968-1977, a time span that includes the franchise's final eight ABA seasons plus the team's first NBA season. The team was called the New Jersey Nets from 1977-2012. The franchise relocated in 2012 and assumed its current name, Brooklyn Nets.

2) On page 501, Bob McAdoo is referred to as a two-time scoring champion. McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three times (1974-76).

3) On page 657, there is a reference to Johnson approaching Oscar Robertson's career steals record during the 1990-91 season. Robertson never held the career steals record; steals did not even become an official NBA statistic until 1973-74, Robertson's final season. After the 1990-91 season, Johnson ranked a distant second on the NBA's career steals list with 1698, trailing Maurice Cheeks, who had 2194 steals at that time. Including ABA statistics (the ABA officially started recording steals in the 1972-73 season), Johnson ranked fourth all-time in 1991 behind Julius Erving (2272), Maurice Cheeks, and Don Buse (1818).

4) On page 662, the Chicago Bulls' field goal percentage for game two of the 1991 NBA Finals is listed as "better than 73 percent." The Bulls shot .617 from the field in that game.

Magic Johnson's Legacy

Lazenby has written the definitive Magic Johnson biography, and anyone who reads the book will understand why Lazenby believes that Johnson is not just an important sports figure but a significant historical figure.

The dynamic, enthusiastic way that Magic Johnson played basketball brought a lot of happiness to a large number of people. He provided the template for players who are 6-6 and taller to be primary playmakers on championship teams, inspiring a host of legends, including Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic.

Magic Johnson is not only a member of pro basketball's Pantheon, but he has had a significant impact as a businessman, and as a spokesman regarding HIV/AIDS specifically and the needs of underserved communities in general.  

Labels: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 10:53 PM

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