Magic Johnson

"Earvin Johnson" redirects here. For the Milwaukee Bucks center, see Ervin Johnson.

Earvin Johnson

Personal information
Born	(1959-08-14) August 14, 1959 Lansing, Michigan
Nationality	USA
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College	Michigan State
NBA draft	1979: 1st overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career	1979–1991, 1996
Position	Point guard
Career highlights and awards
3-time NBA MVP 5-time NBA Champion 3-time NBA Finals MVP 12-time All-Star 2-time All-Star MVP 1992 Olympic gold medal
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Earvin Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan), nicknamed Magic, is a retired American National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers. Before joining the NBA, the 6'9" point guard enjoyed success in NCAA college basketball, winning the title in 1979 with Michigan State University. With the Lakers, Johnson established a successful career as he won five NBA championships, played in nine NBA Finals series, and was elected three times for both NBA Finals Most Valuable Player and NBA Most Valuable Player. Johnson also played in 12 All-Star games and was voted into 10 All-NBA First and Second Teams, and led the league in regular season assists four times.

Johnson is acknowledged as one of the most popular NBA basketball players of all time, being well-known for his uncanny passing and dribbling skills, and for his cheerful nature on and off the court. His fierce, but friendly rivalry with Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird rejuvenated the NBA and ushered in the era of million-dollar salaries. He was also member of the Dream Team U. S. basketball team which won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. For his feats, Johnson was honored as one of the NBA 50 Greatest Players in 1996 and enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Johnson is also well-known for contracting HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus), which he made public in 1991, and which caused him to temporarily retire. After winning over the support of his colleagues, he became the first openly HIV-positive player to play in the NBA. Since then, he has been a crusader for HIV prevention, safe sex, and a philanthropist for social causes.

Professional biography

Early years

Earvin Effay Johnson Jr. grew up in Lansing, Michigan. From his early days on, Johnson Jr. loved basketball, frequently taking his ball to bed, and waking up at 7:30 am to play on the court. He often journeyed to shops while dribbling with one hand and with the other on his way home. According to his mother, he showcased a great amount of enthusiasm in everything he did, a harbinger for things to come.

When Johnson joined the Everett High School basketball team, he had a game with a triple-double 36 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists at the age of 15. After this, a sports writer called him "Magic" for the first time. His mother, a devout Christian, thought the nickname was blasphemous, but the moniker stuck. In his junior year, Johnson showed a lackluster work ethic, and his coach threatened to relegate him to the bench if he did not improve; Johnson responded by working out harder and soon improved. However, tragedy struck his team, as his colleague Reggie Chastaine was killed in a car accident. The team dedicated the season to Chastaine and vowed to win the title in honor of his memory. They fulfilled their promise after winning the state title in overtime. As a senior, Johnson led Everett to a 27-1 record and the state title while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds.

Michigan State University

With proximity to home being a major priority, Johnson decided to attend Michigan State University in East Lansing. Initially, he had no strong desires to become a basketball star, instead focusing on communication studies because he wanted to become a TV commentator. Paired with future NBA star Greg "Special K" Kelser in the local Spartans squad, Johnson averaged 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists as a freshman, leading the Spartans to a 25-5 record and the Big Ten Conference title. In the next season, Johnson played point guard, but was also often switched to forward, to make use of his prolific rebounding. The tactic worked, and Johnson led Michigan State to the NCAA Finals in 1979. There, the Spartans played against the Indiana State University team of a sharp-shooting forward named Larry Bird. In a highly anticipated NCAA Championship Game, Johnson's squad prevailed 75-64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Showtime is born (1979-80)

Having won everything possible at the college level, Johnson decided to leave college two years early and declared himself eligible for the 1979 NBA Draft. The Utah Jazz had the first draft pick, but they had traded it away to sign NBA star Gail Goodrich. As a result, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Johnson with the first overall pick, signing him for a sizable salary of US$600,000 a year.

Johnson joined a franchise which had gone though major changes. The Lakers featured a new coach in Jack McKinney, a new owner in Dr. Jerry Buss, and several new players. However, Johnson was most excited about the prospect of playing with his personal idol, the 7-2 center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the leading scorer in NBA history. From the first game, Johnson displayed his trademark enthusiasm for the game. When Abdul-Jabbar hit a last-second free throw line hook shot to win against the San Diego Clippers, Johnson ran around the court, high-fiving and hugging everybody, causing concern that the "Buck" (as Johnson was called by Lakers announcer Chick Hearn for his youth) would burn himself out. However, in that 1979-80 NBA season, the rookie proved them wrong. Johnson introduced an uptempo style of basketball which the NBA described as a mix of "no-look passes off the fastbreak, pinpoint alley-oops from halfcourt, spinning feeds and overhand bullets under the basket through triple teams". Fellow Lakers guard Michael Cooper even 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." This style of basketball became known as "Showtime". Given Johnson was also a profilic scorer and rebounder, he soon led the league in triple-doubles, racking up 10-points-10-rebounds-10-assists games in a rate only second to NBA Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson. In addition, he expressed a raw, childlike enthusiasm which further endeared him to the fans.

Johnson's average of 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game was enough to make the All-Rookie Team and become a starter on the All-Star Team, even though the NBA Rookie of the Year Award went to his rival Larry Bird, who had joined the Boston Celtics. The Lakers compiled a 60-22 win-loss record, and with Paul Westhead replacing coach McKinney as a coach after a serious bicycle crash, the Lakers reached the 1980 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Fighting fierce resistance of Sixers Hall-of-Fame forward Julius "Doctor J" Erving and Darryl Dawkins, the Lakers took a 3-2 lead before Abdul-Jabbar went down with a sprained ankle. Coach Westhead decided to put point guard Johnson at pivot instead, and on the Sixers' home court, the rookie dominated with 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, lifting the Lakers to a 123-107 win and winning the NBA Finals MVP award. The NBA regards Johnson's clutch performance as one of the finest individual games ever. Although only 20 years old, he had already won every trophy at high school, college and professional level. Johnson also became one of only four players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years.

Ups and downs (1980-83)

Johnson was sidelined for most of the 1980-81 NBA season with a serious knee injury, playing only 37 games in the regular season. In the 1981 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were defeated by the Houston Rockets in the first round. However, in the off-season, Johnson signed a record 25-year $25-million contract, courtesy of Lakers owner Dr. Buss, who was impressed with Johnson's spectacular "Showtime" play. Yet, trouble awaited in the following 1981-82 NBA season, in which Johnson got into a serious dispute with coach Westhead. Westhead preferred a deliberate, slow half-court play as opposed to the quick fastbreak style favored by Johnson. After a road win against the Utah Jazz, Johnson stated "I cannot play here anymore" and demanded to be traded. Buss instead fired Westhead, causing league-wide scorn against Johnson. For perhaps the first time in his career, Johnson found himself being booed by fans across the league, including his own Lakers fans.

Westhead was replaced by assistant coach and former broadcaster Pat Riley. With a strong season, in which he scored 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, Johnson responded to his critics. In that season, he joined Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only NBA players to score at least 700 points, 700 rebounds and 700 assists in the same season. The Lakers stormed though the playoffs and went on to win the 1982 NBA Title 4-2 against the 76ers. Again asserting himself against Sixers stars Erving and Andrew Toney, Johnson played a strong series and won his second NBA Finals MVP award.

In the 1982-83 NBA season, Johnson played another outstanding season, averaging 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 10.5 assists and earning his first All-NBA First Team nomination, and the Lakers again reached the finals series. However, in that series, Johnson's team mates Norm Nixon, James Worthy and Bob McAdoo were injured, and the Lakers were whitewashed by the Sixers, Erving, Toney and their colleagues supported by their new superstar center, Finals MVP Moses Malone.

Larry Bird and the Bad Boys (1983-88)

Since several years, another superstar had established himself, namely Boston Celtics forward and Johnson's old NCAA Finals rival Larry Bird, ex-NBA Rookie of the Year and winner of the 1980-81 NBA title. As German sports journalist Günter Bork put it, Johnson and Bird were two polar characters: on one side the black, smiling and highly spectacular "Showtime" playmaker Johnson, and on the other side the white, trash-talking blue-collar worker Bird. In addition, the Lakers and the Celtics were the two of the biggest NBA franchises, shared a long historic rivalry, represented two different styles — the Lakers relied on their "Showtime" fastbreak basketball, while the Celtics defined themselves over their deliberate half-court play – and in time, one of basketball's biggest individual rivalries was born.

Both Johnson and Bird had been stars for a while, but as the Celtics were in the Eastern Division and the Lakers in the Western Division, the only way the two teams could meet each other in the Playoffs were the NBA Finals themselves. Up to 1984, Johnson's Lakers and Bird's Celtics had not met in the post season. In this season, however, Johnson put up another outstanding season of 17.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 13.1 assists, and led by him and steady center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers entered the 1984 NBA Finals against the Celtics. However, Johnson's performances were not up to his usual standards. With several errors that were regarded as decisive in Games 2, 4 and 7, he was heavily blamed for a seven-game loss in which Larry Bird became Finals MVP. For his moodiness, Celtics forward Kevin McHale taunted him as "Tragic Johnson".

In the next 1984-85 NBA season, Johnson returned to form, averaging 18.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 12.6 assists in the regular season and leading the Lakers into the 1985 NBA Finals, where they again played against the Celtics. The series started poorly for the Lakers, as they were heavily defeated 114-148 in Game 1 on Memorial Day, the game later being dubbed as the "Memorial Day Massacre". In the following five games, the Lakers stormed back to win the NBA Finals 4-2, credited mainly to the efforts of the 38-year-old Finals MVP Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson contributed with 15.2 assists per game in the finals.

The 1985-86 NBA season proved to be a disappointment for Johnson and his Lakers. Despite Johnson's strong 18.8 point / 5.9 rebounds / 12.6 assists regular season average, the Lakers were unable to progress past the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. Unable to resist the Houston "Twin Towers" of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, the Lakers bowed out 1-4. However, in the following year, the 1986-87 NBA season, Johnson was at his best. His career-high 23.9 points, coupled with 6.3 rebounds and 12.2 assists earned him his first MVP award, the only trophy that had eluded him since his rookie year. The Lakers met the Celtics again in the 1987 NBA Finals. In this series, Bird was locked down by Lakers defensive stalwart Michael Cooper while Johnson was productive, best shown in Game 4, when he hit a last-second hook shot over the outstretched arms of Celtics big men Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to win the game 107-106. The Lakers won 4-2, and for his feats, Johnson won his third Finals MVP title.

Prior to the 1987-88 NBA season, Lakers coach Pat Riley shocked the team by publicly promising to the media that they would defend the NBA title. His words were met with horror by the Lakers, because it was regarded in that era as being near-impossible to win consecutive titles. The last successful run had been done by the Boston Celtics who won both the 1968 and 1969 NBA Finals. Johnson had another productive season (19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists per game), but in the 1988 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers survived two narrow 4-3 series against the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks. In the Finals, the Lakers played against the Detroit Pistons, the rugged "Bad Boys" squad which was often accused of playing brutal basketball. After six grueling games which were split 3-3, Laker forward and Finals MVP "Big Game" James Worthy came though in Game 7, his triple-double 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists powering his team to a 108-105 win. Riley intended to promise to defend the title again, but was prevented by Abdul-Jabbar, who gagged him with a towel when he was about to do so.

MVPs and falling short (1988-91)

In the 1988-89 NBA season, Johnson's 22.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 12.8 assists per game earning him his second MVP award. The Lakers reached the 1989 NBA Finals, but when Johnson went down with a hamstring injury, they were no match for the "Bad Boy" Pistons who swept them 4-0, giving the 42-year-old Lakers Abdul-Jabbar a rather sobering farewell in his final games. A similar fate awaited Johnson in the following 1989-90 NBA season, when he won his third MVP award with a strong regular season with averages of 22.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 11.5 assists, but his Lakers bowed out in the second playoff round to the Phoenix Suns. In the 1990-91 NBA season, Johnson had another strong season, and the Lakers reached the 1991 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls. In this matchup, Johnson was pitted against shooting guard Michael Jordan, multiple scoring champion and regarded as the finest player of his era. However, the series failed to live up to the media billing, as Bulls defensive stalwart Scottie Pippen defended well against Johnson and Finals MVP Jordan powered his team to a 4-1 win.

HIV announcement and comeback (1991-92)

In the 1991-92 NBA season, Johnson missed the first three games with an unspecified "stomach ailment". On November 7, 1991, Johnson shocked the world with the announcement that he was infected with HIV and would immediately retire. Johnson discovered his condition when he tried to obtain life insurance and had failed the compulsory HIV test conducted by Lakers team doctor Dr. Michael Mellman. Johnson gave a grave but defiant statement, stating he was happy that both his wife Cookie and her unborn child were HIV negative and that he was going to dedicate his life to spread the word about HIV prevention and promote safer sex. The NBA world was in shock, and even U. S. president George H. W. Bush mourned: "For me, Magic is a hero, a hero for anyone who loves sports." Johnson immediately was listed as an injured reserve on the roster, but due to his valid contract, he continued to be paid by the Lakers franchise.

Nonetheless, Johnson was still voted into the 1992 All-Star Game, and the press speculated whether he was going to make a comeback. Moreover, many colleagues were wary: as HIV can be transmitted by blood contamination, they argued that Johnson would be a deadly risk if he would get a bleeding wound and touch them. One of the most vocal opponents was Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone. Johnson won the skeptics over and made a triumphant return, leading the West to a 153-113 win and being crowned All-Star MVP. The game was also a curiosity, ending prematurely when he drained a last-minute three-pointer and his colleagues refused to play further, instead running collectively on court, hugging him and exchanging high-fives. However, it remained Johnson's only NBA game for a long time.

1992 Olympics

Olympic medal record
Men's basketball
Representing United States
	1992 Barcelona	Team

Despite being HIV positive, Johnson was chosen for the US team for the 1992 Olympic Games. The squad was quickly dubbed the Dream Team because of its abundance of NBA stars such as Jordan, Karl Malone and Bird, but the ill Johnson was the main attraction. At the Olympic Opening Ceremony, German tennis player Steffi Graf ordered colleague Barbara Rittner to photograph her with Johnson, and in the match against Spain, Spanish captain Juan Antonio San Epifianio and his squad demonstratively hugged him, showing that his HIV infection did not matter to them. During the tournament, Johnson struggled with knee problems and played for only a fraction of the games. The point guard position was mostly run by Utah Jazz all-time assist leader John Stockton, but Johnson's presence alone was enough to provoke standing ovations from the crowd. He used the spotlight to attempt to inspire HIV positive people in several interviews.

Post-Olympics and later life

Initially refraining from a return on the hardwood, Johnson engaged himself in a plethora of new activities. Among others, he wrote a book on safer sex, ran several businesses, worked for NBC as a commentator, built up movie theaters in minority areas of Los Angeles and toured Asia and Australia with a basketball team made of former college and NBA players.

Late in the 1993-94 NBA season, he returned to the NBA, replacing Randy Pfund as head coach of the Lakers. Johnson won his first five games, but then lost the next six, causing him to announce he would not continue coaching. Instead, in June 1994, Johnson purchased a share of his Lakers and became a part-time owner. In the 1995-96 NBA season, Johnson made a short-lived second comeback as a player from January 1996 to May 1996. In this time, he had bulked up from his self-reported weight of 235 lbs in 1992 to 255 lbs in order to play power forward, a much more physical position than his usual point guard role. At age 36, Johnson played the last 32 games of the season, averaging 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. The Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, and Johnson retired for good. Johnson explained his comeback with the words: "I am going out on my terms, something I couldn't say when I aborted a comeback in 1992."

After his second retirement, Johnson attempted a career in show business, hosting a short-lived late night talk show on Fox called The Magic Hour in 1998 which only lasted for two months. Since then, Johnson became a successful businessman. He became CEO of his own companies, the Magic Johnson Enterprises and Magic Johnson Theaters, a nationwide chain of movie theaters. Johnson was also an advocate of economic development in Harlem, and had opened the first Starbucks Coffee there. He also participated in a number of charity ventures, including his own Magic Johnson Foundation, and continued spreading the word about HIV prevention. Additionally, Johnson is a major supporter of the Democratic Party, and his endorsement is coveted in Los Angeles politics.

Legacy

Few athletes are truly unique, changing the way their sport is played with their singular skills.

— introductory line of Johnson's nba.com/history biography

The 6-9, 255 lbs. Johnson played the point guard position and is considered as one of the most successful and unique players in the history of the game. He is a five-time NBA champion and a 12-time All-Star, earned a place on ten All-NBA teams, and was thrice named MVP of the regular season and the Finals. 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.

Beyond statistics, Johnson is regarded by the NBA as one of the most spectacular and crowd-pleasing players ever. He entertained a generation of fans with his uncanny passing and dribbling talents, especially showcased in his trademark "no look" passes, and was famous for his enthusiastic, cheerful nature on and off the court. He was also a unique player because he played point guard despite being 6-9, 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 introduced into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2006, ESPN.com rated Johnson the greatest point guard of all time. The popular Californian funk-rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers immortalised Johnson in a song called Magic Johnson on their fourth album Mother's Milk.

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 Johnson's Lakers and Bird's Celtics met in three NBA Finals (1984, 1985, 1987). Bork hypothesised that the Johnson-Bird rivalry was so appealing because it represented many other rivalries, such as the clash between Lakers and Celtics, between Hollywood flash ("Showtime") and Boston/Indiana blue collar grit ("Celtics Pride"), and between black and white. Johnson was highly appreciative of the rivalry, 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 boxscore was the first thing he looked at after every game day, stating everything else was unimportant.

Beyond the on-court differences, the rivalry proved significant because it drew national attention to the faltering NBA. Prior to Johnson and Bird, the league had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings. With the two 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 to assert that Johnson and Bird saved the NBA from bankruptcy.

As fierce as their on-court feud was, Johnson and Bird became good friends in private life, ironically during the filming of a joint 1984 Converse shoe ad which was meant to depict them as enemies. Over the years, the two superstars developed a deep bond. When Bird retired in 1992, Johnson appeared at his retirement ceremony and emotionally described Bird as a "friend forever."

Anti-HIV activist

The HIV positive Johnson is also widely seen as one of the most prominent activists for HIV prevention and for safer sex. According to Bork, Johnson single-handedly destroyed several popular prejudices about HIV. Previously, HIV was associated with drug addicts and homosexuals. Johnson's admission and subsequent campaigns publicized a risk of infection that included everyone, and he often included the words "even me". His appearances were not without controversy, as some had felt his message of safer sex was risky and that he was an irresponsible role model in admission of sexual intercourse with 200 women. Johnson did state that abstinence is clearly the safest way to avoid AIDS by way of sexual contact. Johnson also gained recognition for his role in spreading the word about HIV.

Personal life

Earvin Johnson Jr. was born to his mother Christine, who was a school custodian, and his father Earvin Sr., an assembly worker. He was the sixth of ten children growing up in Lansing, Michigan, where his parents worked hard to give their children a decent living. In September 1991, he married his sweetheart Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly and fathered a child. After declaring himself as HIV positive two months later, he has also been a crusader for HIV prevention and safer sex. He confessed that he had encounters with several women while on the road, which explained his illness, and stated to be lucky that neither his wife nor child were infected. Since then, he has established himself as a figurehead of the anti-HIV movement, as a successful businessman and philantropist. He also became close friends with his fierce on-court rival Larry Bird and was also best friends with Hall-of-Fame Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas, with whom he exchanged a brotherly kiss prior to Game 1 of the 1988 NBA Finals. According to SportsCenter, Magic will be executive producing a movie about Jason McElwain's life, including J-Mac's spectacular basketball game in February 2006.

Books

Biographies

Johnson's autobiography is Johnson, Earvin (1992). Magic Johnson: My Life. ISBN 0449222543. Some other biographies about him:

• Haskins, James (1981). Magic: A Biography of Earvin Johnson. ISBN 0-89490-044-7.
• Morgan, Bill (1991). The Magic: Earvin Johnson. ISBN 0-606-01895-6.
• Gutman, Bill (1991). Magic: More Than a Legend. ISBN 0-06-100542-8.
• Gutman, Bill (1992). Magic Johnson: Hero On and Off the Court. ISBN 1-56294-287-5.
• Johnson, Rick L. (1992). Magic Johnson: Basketball's Smiling Superstar. ISBN 0-87518-553-3.
• Schwabacher, Martin (1993). Magic Johnson (Junior World Biographies). ISBN 0-7910-2038-X.
• Rozakis, Laurie (1993). Magic Johnson: Basketball Immortal. ISBN 0-86592-025-7.
• Frank, Steven (1994). Magic Johnson (Basketball Legends). ISBN 0-7910-2430-X.
• Blatt, Howard (1996). Magic! Against The Odds. ISBN 0-671-00301-1.
• Gottfried, Ted (2001). Earvin Magic Johnson: Champion and Crusader. ISBN 0-531-11675-1.

Instructional

• Johnson, Earvin "Magic" (1992). Magic's Touch: From Fundamentals to Fast Break With One of Basketball's All-Time Greats. ISBN ; ISBN 0-201-63222-5. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)

• Johnson, Earvin "Magic" (1996). What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS. ISBN 0-8129-2844-X.
  • Updated version of Johnson, Earvin "Magic" (1992). 'Unsafe Sex in the Age of AIDS'. ISBN 0-8129-2063-5.

Further reading

• Rappe, Michael (2005). Magic Basketball. ISBN 3-89533-497-9.
• Günter, Bork (1995). Basketball Sternstunden. ISBN 3-7679-0456-X.
• Günter, Bork (1994). Die großen Basketball Stars. ISBN 3-7679-0369-5.

External links

• Template:NBA-profile
• Template:Basketball-reference
• Magic Johnson Bio, NBA Encyclopedia, Playoff Edition
• Official website
• Magic Johnson's Talent Agency
• Basketball Hall of Fame biography