Johnson, Magic

Magic Johnson, byname of Earvin Johnson, Jr., (born August 14, 1959, Lansing, Michigan, U.S.), American basketball player who led the National Basketball Association (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers to five championships.

The son of an autoworker, Johnson earned his nickname “Magic” in high school for his creative and entertaining ballhandling. He was an intense competitor who led his high school team to a state championship in 1977 and led Michigan State University to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 1979—handing Larry Bird and Indiana State its only defeat of that season. Johnson left Michigan State after his sophomore season and was selected by the Lakers with the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft.

Johnson achieved his greatest success in the professional ranks, where he guided the Lakers to NBA championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. His first championship came in his rookie season, and in the sixth and title-clinching game of the 1979–80 NBA finals Johnson remarkably played all five positions to secure the Lakers’ championship, helping him become the first rookie to win the NBA finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He was also named the league MVP in 1987, 1989, and 1990. He played point guard and brought new versatility to that position. At 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 metres), he was a dangerous scorer from anywhere on the court and a capable rebounder, averaging 19.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game over his 13-year career. However, he was best known for innovative no-look and bounce passes and a knack for making big plays in the clutch. The battles for league supremacy between Johnson’s Lakers and Bird’s Boston Celtics spurred a new era of fan interest and NBA prosperity.

On November 7, 1991, Johnson shocked the basketball world—and made headlines around the globe—when he announced that he was HIV-positive and was immediately retiring from the sport. At the time of his initial retirement, Johnson was the NBA’s all-time leader in assists (9,921; broken in 1995 by John Stockton). He returned to basketball to participate in the 1992 All-Star Game (of which he was the MVP) and in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, where he helped the NBA-superstar-laden “Dream Team” capture the men’s basketball gold medal. Later he served briefly as head coach of the Lakers (1994), and he also played with the team for a portion of the 1995–96 season. He was a minority owner of the franchise from 1994 to 2010.

After his retirement from basketball, Johnson became an extremely successful entrepreneur—his investment firm had estimated holdings of approximately $1 billion as of 2020—and a prominent HIV/AIDS activist. In 2012 he was part of an ownership group that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers. He rejoined the Lakers franchise as an adviser to Jeanie Buss, the team’s owner, in 2017. After spending just weeks in that role, he was promoted to president of basketball operations, giving Johnson control of the Lakers’ front office. After a short and lacklustre tenure, he surprisingly resigned at the end of the 2018–19 season, stating that he would rather spend his time as an ambassador of the sport. Johnson was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. They Call Me Magic, a docuseries about Johnson’s life and career, aired in 2022.