Magic Johnson

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan) is a 6' 9" former American professional basketball star who played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1980s and early 1990s. Playing point guard, he led the Lakers to five NBA championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988), as well as four other NBA Finals appearances. He also led Michigan State University to the NCAA title in 1979 against arch-rival Larry Bird's Indiana State University. Johnson is also the only NBA rookie to win the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (1980). He is one of only four players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years. This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Capitol Building Lansing is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan, located mostly in Ingham County; a small portion extends into adjacent Eaton County. ... Basketball is very popular in U.S. colleges. ... The Los Angeles Lakers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... John Stockton Point guard is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. ... NBA logo, depicting former star Jerry West The National Basketball Association, more popularly known as simply the NBA, is the worlds premier mens professional basketball league and one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association, played under a best-of-seven playoff format. ... Michigan State University Michigan State University is a university in East Lansing, Michigan near the state capital of Lansing. ... The NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championship is held each spring featuring 65 of the top college basketball teams in the United States. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is a former NBA basketball player. ... Indiana State University Indiana State University is one of the many state-supported universities in Indiana, located in Terre Haute, Indiana. ... The Rookie: Norman Rockwells cover for The Saturday Evening Post Rookie is a term for a person who is in their first year of play of their sport and has little or no experience. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Johnson earned the nickname "Magic" in high school from a local sports writer, both for his flamboyant passing style and winning ways. While not known as an exceptional scorer, Magic excelled in all other facets of the game. In different periods of his career, he led the league in assists and steals. He led the Lakers in scoring three times (1987, 1989, 1990) and in rebounding twice (1982, 1983). Although he and Bird eventually became the best of friends off the court, they revived the heated Lakers-Celtics Rivalry, and drew millions of new fans to the NBA. A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Nick is short for Nicholas). ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In basketball, the court refers to the playing surface/floor. ... vs The Lakers-Celtics Rivalry or Celtics-Lakers Rivalry was a rivalry between the two greatest and most storied franchises in NBA history. ... One million (1000000), one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999999 and preceding 1000001. ...

The greatest game of Johnson's career arguably came in his rookie season: May 16, 1980, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Philadelphia. Filling in for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic started the game at center and eventually played every position on the floor in a dominating performance. Scoring a game-high 42 points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, he led the Lakers to the NBA crown, stunning Julius Erving, the Philadelphia 76ers, and a national television audience who came to understand the moniker "Magic". Johnson went on to lead the Lakers to championships in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Independence Hall Philadelphia (sometimes referred to as Philly or the City of Brotherly Love) is the fifth most populous city in the United States and the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, both in area and population. ... Kareem Abdul Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born April 16, 1947 in New York City, New York) was a successful high school, collegiate, and professional NBA basketball player. ... Vlade Divac playing for the national team of the former Yugoslavia The center is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. ... Julius Winfield Erving (born February 22, 1950 in Roosevelt, New York), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American basketball player who helped launch the modern style of play that emphasizes leaping ability and play above the rim. ... The Philadelphia 76ers are a National Basketball Association team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also known as the Sixers for short. ... An audience is the/a group of people who participate in and experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. ...

On the court

Johnson possessed stellar point guard talent. His unselfish playmaking and dazzling no-look passes on the fast break ushered in the "Showtime" era of Laker basketball, which dominated the eighties. He is widely considered to be one of the most exciting playmakers of the NBA, maybe the best of all time. At 6' 9", a size normally reserved for power forwards, Johnson was also easily one of the largest point guards ever to play on NBA level. He revolutionised the concept of the "oversized point guard", able to post up and outmuscle his much smaller opposition. His stature, paired with his talent, allowed him to play virtually every position from center to point guard. A power forward is a position in some team sports. ...

Magic is - statistically seen - probably the greatest offensive producer ever. Assuming every assist creates 2 points, Magic created 54.85 points per 48 minutes, compared to Michael Jordan's 50.98, or Wilt Chamberlain's 40.82. Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York) is a former National Basketball Association player, and is considered by many the greatest basketball player of all time. ... Wilton Norman Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) is a former NBA basketball player. ...

HIV publicity

Cover of Johnson's 1992 paperback book.

Outside of basketball, Johnson is probably most famous for his November 7, 1991, public announcement that he had contracted HIV and would be immediately retiring from basketball. The public announcement by a prominent and popular athlete shocked the nation into awareness about the AIDS epidemic and helped put the virus into the public eye. Cover of Johnsons 1992 paperback book. ... Cover of Johnsons 1992 paperback book. ... November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... -1... Retirement is the status of a worker who has stopped working. ... Q: What is the first sign you may have contracted AIDS? A: A pounding sensation in the arse. ...

Johnson and a team of ghostwriters produced a book which was published by Random House in 1992. Profits from the book were donated to the Magic Johnson Foundation for the prevention, education, research, and care in the battle against AIDS. Random House is a publishing division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, which acquired it in 1998. ...

Other ventures

His post-basketball business ventures include Magic Johnson Theatres, a nationwide chain of movie theaters whose complexes are primarily in urban locations. The chain is now a part of Loews Theatres, but is operated as a separate entity. More recently, his interests have expanded from a shortlived 1998 talk show "The Magic Hour", to ownership of several Starbucks franchises, again primarily in urban locations. Johnson is believed to have earned significantly more money from post-basketball ventures than from his playing days and endorsement deals. A typical megaplex (AMC Ontario Mills 30 in Ontario, California). ... The term urban means cities and towns as distinct from rural areas. ... Loews Theatres, founded in 1904 by Marcus Loew, is the oldest theatre chain still operating in North America today. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... For other meanings of the name Starbuck, see Starbuck. ...

Johnson also works as an NBA studio analyst for TNT. Relaunched TNT logo, 2001 - present Turner Network Television, usually referred to as TNT, is a cable TV network created by media mogul Ted Turner in 1988. ...

External links

• NBA official Magic website
• Magic plays here in the summer
• Magic's Official Site