Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson has become a living testament to advances in medicine that have turned human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from a . The superstars' fiery relationship cooled after filming a 1985 Converse commercial filmed in French Lick, Ind., Bird's hometown. Larry Bird's college career was taking off at Indiana State after Bird almost quit college after originally attempting to go to Indiana University.. As a senior at Indiana State, Bird led his school to a 33-0 record. [23] When recalling the events in his autobiography, My Life, he talked about how his time at Everett had changed him: As I look back on it today, I see the whole picture very differently. [226][228] He was also the main speaker for the United Nations (UN) World AIDS Day Conference in 1999,[227] and has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Converse was the sneaker company with which both players had a shoe deal. [204], In 2015, Johnson completed his planned acquisition for a "majority, controlling interest" in EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, which manages $14.5 billion in annuities, life insurance and other financial products. [41], During the 197879 season, Michigan State again qualified for the NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the championship game and faced Indiana State, which was led by senior Larry Bird. [129] On February 14, Johnson recorded the final triple-double of his career, when he scored 15 points, along with 10 rebounds and 13 assists in a victory against the Atlanta Hawks. [48] Johnson became the only rookie to win the NBA Finals MVP award,[48] and his clutch performance is still regarded as one of the finest in NBA history. [11] His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, are well documented. Johnson would often help his father on the garbage route, and he was teased by neighborhood children who called him "Garbage Man". [87] The game-winning shot, which Johnson dubbed his "junior, junior, junior sky-hook",[87] helped Los Angeles defeat Boston in six games. [3][55][56] He also became one of four players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years. The NBA-centered drama series follows the rise of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. Johnson had never seriously considered coaching, but he agreed to take the head coaching position with the Lakers in 1994 at Buss' request. Magic was the fourth of seven children Earvin Sr. and Christine had together. 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. Johnson and his wife, Cookie, also have a daughter named Elisa, whom they adopted in 1995. [87][88], Before the 198788 NBA season, Lakers coach Pat Riley publicly promised that they would defend the NBA title, even though no team had won consecutive titles since the Celtics did so in the 1969 NBA Finals. [129] Playing power forward, he averaged 14.6points, 6.9assists, and 5.7rebounds per game in 32games, and finished tied for 12th place with Charles Barkley in voting for the MVP Award. [181][182] Johnson also co-promoted Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope Tour through his company Magicworks. Johnson's mother, originally from North Carolina,[29] had also played basketball as a child, and she grew up watching her brothers play the game.[26]. [176] Calling Buss his "second father" and "one of [his] best friends", Johnson spent five hours visiting Buss at the hospital just a few months before his death from cancer. [158] ESPN's SportsCentury ranked Johnson No. [125] The Lakers played well initially, winning five of their first six games under Johnson, but after losing the next five games, Johnson announced that he was resigning as coach after the season. But being bused to Everett turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. He insisted that his health was not an issue, while downplaying questions about returning as a player, saying, "I'm retired. [200] Johnson sold his ownership stake in the Lakers in October 2010 to Patrick Soon-Shiong, a Los Angeles surgeon and professor at UCLA,[201] but continued as an unpaid vice president for the team. [188][189] In 2004, Johnson and his partner Ken Lombard sold Magic Johnson Theaters to Loews Cineplex Entertainment. Two-time Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee: College Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2006), 2016 WNBA champion (as part owner of the Sparks), 2020 World Series champion (as part owner of the Dodgers), This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 04:30. [150] The following year, HBO developed a documentary about their rivalry titled Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, which was directed by Ezra Edelman. [208] The Johnson-led group, which also includes movie executive Peter Guber, paid $2billion for the Dodgers, the largest amount paid for a professional sports team. [23], Johnson was first dubbed "Magic" as a 15-year-old sophomore playing for Everett High School, when he recorded a triple-double of 36points, 18rebounds, and 16assists. Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals . The clip starts off with Lakers owner, Jerry Buss, played by John C. Reilly, waking up one morning and . [100] Mike Dunleavy became the Lakers' head coach in 199091, when Johnson had grown to be the league's third-oldest point guard. [186] In addition to these business ventures, Johnson has also created the Magic Card, a pre-paid MasterCard aimed at helping low-income people save money and participate in electronic commerce. Magic Johnson was also having success in college at Michigan State.In his senior year, Magic led his school to a 26-6 record that was good enough . Through investment, partnership and consultation, Magic Johnson Enterprises has a portfolio of companies that strategically work together to reinforce the organization's focus on serving emerging, multicultural communities. [77][92][93] After the teams split the first six games, Lakers forward and Finals MVP James Worthy had his first career triple-double of 36points, 16rebounds, and 10assists, and led his team to a 108105win. (LAFC) of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2017. Magic Johnson Development Corporation, which develops commercial property in long neglected . The Lakers finished the season on a ten-game losing streak, and Johnson's final record as a head coach was 511. [16] Named by Ebony magazine as one of America's most influential black businessmen in 2009,[17] Johnson has numerous business interests, and was a part-owner of the Lakers for several years, as well as being the team's president of basketball operations from 2017 to 2019. The year was 2010, and scarves were in. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time. [65] After Johnson demanded to be traded, Lakers owner Jerry Buss fired Westhead and replaced him with Riley. [48] Lakers coach Jack McKinney had the 6-foot-9-inch (2.06m) rookie Johnson, who some analysts thought should play forward, be a point guard, even though incumbent Norm Nixon was already one of the best in the league. [163], On February 21, 2017, Johnson replaced Jim Buss as the president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. After leaving the NBA in 1991, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that traveled around the world playing exhibition games.[10]. At the age of 42, Johnson played with the All-Stars against his alma mater, Michigan State. [28] In the last championship series of his career, Johnson averaged 18.6points on .431shooting, 12.4assists, and 8.0rebounds per game. The Celtics won Game 4 in overtime, and the teams split the next two games. Ovitz encouraged him to start reading business magazines and to use every connection available to him. As. "[36] Johnson and Chastine were almost always together, playing basketball or riding around in Chastine's car. ", "Hillary Clinton Fundraisers Coming to Beverly Hills", "The Greatest Is Honored by The Diplomat", "Magic Johnson combats AIDS misperceptions", "Magic Johnson assists drugmaker to advertise HIV treatment", "Iconic Staples Center changing its name to Crypto.com Arena in reflection of changing times", "NBA unveils new trophies, awards honoring Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson", "2017 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame: Dream Team", "1992 U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Team", "Magic Johnson and Natalie Cole Honored at NAACP Awards Show", Basketball-Reference.com: Magic Johnson (as a coach), NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player, 1979 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans, NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award, Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording, Citizen Kane (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Movie on Record, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography, Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook), America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth, Wayland Baptist Women's Teams (19481982), Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs, The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, NAACP Image Award Jackie Robinson Sports Award, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magic_Johnson&oldid=1142219451, African-American sports executives and administrators, African-American television talk show hosts, All-American college men's basketball players, American chief executives of food industry companies, American expatriate basketball people in Denmark, American expatriate basketball people in Sweden, American sports executives and administrators, Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, National Basketball Association All-Stars, National Basketball Association broadcasters, National Basketball Association players with retired numbers, Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball, Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball), United States men's national basketball team players, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected biographies of living people, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 10-time NBA champion (five as a player, five as owner/executive), Trophy named in Johnson's honor (Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy) awarded to, 1992 Olympic gold medal (U.S. national team), 1977 Michigan high school state champion (Lansing Everett High School). [36] Johnson played with the team frequently over the next several years, with possibly the most memorable game occurring in November 2001. Our company We Build Businesses With so many ways to love the NBA, Google says the Pixel 6 is built for all fans. Other Facts: 9. They became friends . Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Read also Don Johnson Left Barbra Streisand to Remarry Melanie Griffith Following Her Pregnancy It's true that I hated missing out on Sexton. In the past 30 days, commercials featuring Magic Johnson have had 27,434 airings. [44] The Lakers reached the Finals for the third year in a row, where Johnson's Lakers and Bird's Celtics met for the first time in the postseason. After leaving the NBA in 1991, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that traveled around the world playing exhibition games. [28] Buss was also unhappy with the Lakers' offense and had intended on firing Westhead days before the WestheadJohnson altercation, but assistant GM Jerry West and GM Bill Sharman had convinced Buss to delay his decision. Kenan Draughorne. Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 and selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021, and became a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famebeing enshrined in 2002 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team". For the NBA center, see, Two moments of Johnson during his tour with the All-Stars to Argentina in January 1994: (left) greeting a local player; (right) hugging soccer superstar, HIV announcement and Olympics (19911992), Return to the Lakers as coach and player (1994, 1996). The rivalry continued in the NBA, and reached its climax when Boston and Los Angeles met in three out of four NBA Finals from 1984 to 1987, with the Lakers winning two out of three Finals. [79], In the 198485 regular season, Johnson averaged 18.3points, 12.6assists, and 6.2rebounds per game, and led the Lakers into the 1985 NBA Finals, where they faced the Celtics again. Johnson's son Earvin III was born in 1992. He shares his latest ventureMagic Johnson Development Corporationwhich develops commercial property in neglected urban and suburban neighborhoods. [43] After two years in college, during which he averaged 17.1points, 7.6rebounds, and 7.9assists per game, Johnson entered the 1979 NBA draft. Prior to Johnson and Bird's arrival, the NBA had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings. [157] The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted him in 2002. Michael B. Jordan, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Fanatics.com TV Spot, 'All-In Challenge' Featuring Kevin Hart, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen DeGeneres, Samsung Galaxy Note II TV Spot, 'Big Day' Featuring LeBron James, NBA TV Spot, 'This Is Why We Play: Anthem', AT&T Wireless TV Spot, 'The Codes We Live By' Feat. Peter Guber, who is the co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, owns a small stake in the Dodgers along with Johnson. In 1991, . It's safe to say that without their common sponsor bringing them together, they likely wouldn't have hung out that day. Double your traffic. "We think there is a lot of fun to be had with the Barkleylounger," he says. "[33][128], Determined to play competitive basketball despite being out of the NBA, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team composed of former NBA and college players. He also held the title of team vice president. Johnson stated that his aim was to "help educate all people about what [HIV] is about" and teach others not to "discriminate against people who have HIV and AIDS". [214] Johnson announced his co-ownership of a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise based in Los Angeles on October 30, 2014. [154], Johnson was exceptional because he played point guard despite being 6ft 9in (2.06m), a size reserved normally for frontcourt players. Magic Johnson: AIDS is still prevalent video 1991: Magic Johnson's HIV announcement On a recent March night in Los Angeles, Johnson again hugged Hydeia, his 6-foot-9 frame dwarfing her. 10. EJ was born June 4, 1992, during a turbulent time in Magic's life. [115] After qualifying for the Olympics with a gold medal at the 1992 Tournament of the Americas,[116] the Dream Team dominated in Olympic competition, winning the gold medal with an 80 record, beating their opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson shot the first part of the Converse commercial, and when it was time for lunch; Larry made a nice gesture towards his nemesis. [25] Upon learning of Chastine's death, Magic ran from his home, crying uncontrollably. Johnson sold his remaining interest in the stores back to the company in 2010, ending a successful twelve-year partnership. "[128] While Johnson played well in 1996, there were struggles both on and off the court. [13] In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly in a small wedding in Lansing which included guests Thomas, Aguirre, and Herb Williams. [177] Johnson credits Buss with giving him the business knowledge that enabled him to become part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. [36] Johnson, who finished his high school career with two All-State selections, was considered at the time to be the best high school player ever to come out of Michigan[34] and was also named to the 1977 McDonald's All-American team. He led all scorers with 39 points. [95] It was the fifth and final NBA championship of his career. [205], He is an investor for aXiomatic eSports, the ownership company of Team Liquid. [192] The experience taught him to listen to his customers and find out what products they wanted. [138][139] On November 1, 2002, Johnson returned to play a second exhibition game against Michigan State. [49][50] Johnson averaged 18.0points, 7.7rebounds, and 7.3assists per game for the season, was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team, and was named an NBA All-Star Game starter. According to sports journalist Larry Schwartz of ESPN, Johnson and Bird saved the NBA from bankruptcy. [215] The temporary name was Los Angeles Football Club,[216] which later became permanent in 2015. [113], Several journalists hypothesized that the JohnsonBird rivalry was so appealing because it represented many other contrasts, such as the clash between the Lakers and Celtics, between Hollywood flashiness ("Showtime") and Boston/Indiana blue collar grit ("Celtic Pride"), and between blacks and whites. [44] However, the Lakers bowed out to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, which was the Lakers' earliest playoffs elimination in nine years. [152], Johnson introduced a fast-paced style of basketball called "Showtime", described as a mix of "no-look passes off the fastbreak, pin-point alley-oops from halfcourt, spinning feeds and overhand bullets under the basket through triple teams. The 29-year-old reality TV personality came out to the basketball great, 62, in 2010, and at first, the latter wasn't too. [75] Friends Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre consoled him that night, talking until the morning in his Boston hotel room amidst fan celebrations on the street. and his parents couldn't be happier for their kid. [174], In 2010, Johnson and current and former NBA players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Bill Russell, as well as Maya Moore from the WNBA, played a basketball game with President Barack Obama as an exhibition for a group of military troops who had been injured in action. [58] Johnson returned before the start of the 1981 playoffs, but the Lakers' then-assistant and future head coach Pat Riley later said Johnson's much-anticipated return made the Lakers a "divided team". [168] Johnson and Cookie have one son, Earvin III ("EJ"), who is openly gay and a star on the reality show Rich Kids of Beverly Hills. [72] With Johnson's teammates Nixon, James Worthy, and Bob McAdoo all hobbled by injuries, the Lakers were swept by the Sixers, and Malone was crowned the Finals MVP. [229], HIV had been associated with intravenous drug users and homosexuals,[226] but Johnson's campaigns sought to show that the risk of infection was not limited to those groups. Larry was kicked off the basketball team after a confrontation during practice, prompting him to beg his brother not to play. [183] He has also worked as a motivational speaker,[15] and was an NBA commentator for Turner Network Television for seven years,[184] before becoming a studio analyst for ESPN's NBA Countdown in 2008. [13][169] The couple adopted a daughter, Elisa, in 1995.
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