Earvin"Magic"Johnson Biography

“All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them” These words came from an NBA legend who was giving a speech to homeless people in Michigan in 2005. This essay will focus on Magic Johnson’s background, childhood, achievements, difficulties and crazy things he did in the 21st century.

Magic Johnson the extraordinary one was born in Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A. This legend of basketball was born in 14th of August 1959. Mr. Basketball had a hard childhood. He was 6th of the ten children of the Johnson family. Because his family was so poor, he had to work 6 hours, go to school twelve hours and he had only one hour to play basketball. He says “I dribbled to the store with my right hand and back with my left.” He idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes.

In his early life he started to play sports.

English: Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson

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He played football, volleyball and tennis. He was a good athlete. When he started playing basketball in Everett High School everyone was amazed by his skills. A journalist named him “Magic” after his 1st match. He scored 36 points, 18 rebounds and 12 assists which was a unexpected stat for a point guard. After his High School career, he went to Michigan State Spartans to complete his education. By that time Michigan State was one of the best universities in the U.S.A. As a point guard in Michigan State he scored total of 3000 points, 2545 assists and 925 rebounds and he won the U.S.A championship with Michigan State Spartans. He was then selected to the Michigan State Hall of Fame. Was he satisfied? No, he was just beginning. Later on his life he was drafted to NBA on 1979, with overall pick of 1st. He was selected by Los Angeles Lakers to be a hero for their team. In his first match with Los Angeles Lakers he scored 47 points and beat the NBA rookie reward. This was just the beginning. In his second match against rival Boston Celtics he scored 33 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. All the newspapers next day was saying “Magic saved Lakers with his Magic touch!” He was now a hero for Los Angeles Lakers fans. A new legend was born in the ruins of Staples Centre. That season he won the Rookie of the Year and Season MVP award. “His height was an advantage for him, since he was to long for a point guard he could easily finish one on one positions” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However Los Angeles Lakers could not win the Play-Offs that season. The following season was a nightmare for him. He had a knee injury which caused him to miss 83 matches that season. When his injury was cured he was back for more. In Play-Offs he led his team to finals and surprisingly Lakers won the Play-Offs that season and Magic was named as the finals MVP. He was now a true legend for Lakers fans. Until 1990-1991 seasons he won NBA MVP award three times and NBA finals MVP award two times. He was also selected to the American-Dream Team. He was on the nirvana point in basketball, but in 1991 something terrible happened. Terrible for Lakers fans and for himself. Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV- positive and shocked everyone by telling that he was going to retire from basketball. That was the worst day for Los Angels Lakers. After that announcement one of his teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar interviewed a magazine about this incident. He said “Just a terrible incident. The day he announced that he was HIV-positive everyone was shocked even the chairman of Lakers. I felt guilty inside just guilty! I wanted to cry at that point but tears were not coming out from my eyes.” Lakers were in the Play-Offs and they needed a legend to win, but since Magic Johnson was retired their wish was not going to come true. Chicago Bulls eliminated Los Angeles Lakers on the 2nd round of NBA Play-Offs. The absence of Magic Johnson was so effective to Los Angeles Lakers they could not even make it to the Play-Offs. In 1995 Magic Johnson announced that he was HIV-negative and said “I have to tell, it is funny because the only time I think about HIV is when I have to take my medicine twice a day.” That season he returned to NBA to be the legend of Lakers again. That season a rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird begun. That season on Play-Offs final match against Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers was leading by two then Magic Johnson lost the ball. Larry Bird got the ball and shoot… He missed the shot and Lakers won the NBA finals. After that match Larry Bird and Magic Johnson announced that they were both retiring in a friendly way.

After that in 2002 Los Angeles Lakers fans built up a statue of Magic Johnson to give their thanks. Magic Johnson was pleased how fans were treating him. He decided he should fight against HIV. He started to join in anti-HIV conferences to tell people how to avoid HIV. He interviewed in magazines and played on commercials to build up awareness. He built up his own chain of cinema called “Magic Cinema.” In 2005 he cut the net of the Staples Centre and sold it on eBay for 90 million dollars. In the All-Star game 2008 he was one of the juries of Slam-Dunk contest.

Magic Johnson will probably be the most remembered basketball player in NBA history. He had a hard childhood and faced with many difficulties but his determination of being successful was always with him. He saved a team in NBA and led them to NBA play-offs. His statue in front of the Staples Centre will always attract people and let them think who was this great legend that saved a team by himself. This essay talked about Magic Johnson’s life background, childhood, achievements, difficulties and crazy stuff he did in the 21st century.

BibliographyMagic Johnson. 4th of March 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_JohnsonAnderson, Dave. 2nd of March 2009. The story of the Basketball. 1st edition. 1988.

Magic Johnson. 2nd of December 2006. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005059/Magic Johnson Biography. 8th of February 2009. http://www.notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Johnson-Magic.htmlMagic Johnson Quotes. 9th of February 2009. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/magic_johnson.htmlMagic Johnson Biography. 2nd of March 2009. http://www.nba.com/history/players/johnsonm_bio.html“Hollywood Collectibles” [photograph] in Hollywood Collectibles website. Retrieved 2nd of March 2009. http://images.google.com.tr/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hollywoodcollectibles.com/autographed/memorabilia/sports/collectibles/authentic/Basketball/8x10%2520Photos/Magic_Johnson_Lakers_8x10_mid.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hollywoodcollectibles.com/autographed/memorabilia/sports/collectibles/authentic/Magic-Johnson-Autographed-8x10-NBA-Greatest-50__ABK8X0080.aspx&usg=__fZo6mrQMAeYAzOtf7GkBmpoQoeM=&h=469&w=375&sz=55&hl=tr&start=1&tbnid=CHbLYhrPgW1ZtM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmagic%2Bjohnson%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Dtr“Miscellaneous Artists” [photograph] in Miscellaneous Artists website. Retrieved 2nd of March 2009. http://images.google.com.tr/imgres?imgurl=http://art4collectors.com/magic_johnson.jpg&imgrefurl=http://art4collectors.com/misc.html&usg=__hiB9y0-r7dsVrPVeqzTU4XDf8vk=&h=417&w=505&sz=164&hl=tr&start=20&tbnid=sKHlPQwGZmA--M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmagic%2Bjohnson%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Dtr“Postseason Magic” [photograph] in blackspotsports.com website. Retrieved 3rd of March 2009. http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://blacksportsonline.com/index/2008/10/09/Magic%25252520Johnson.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blacksportsonline.com/index/2008/10/espn-to-provide-some-christmas-1.html&usg=__dbnyGRde2tI60ebZePjCTYgfXS4=&h=400&w=305&sz=40&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=Ct8H_jDuJVcZmM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=95&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmagic%2Bjohnson%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den“Magic Johnson Statue in front of Staples Centre” [Photography] in flickr website. Retrieved 3rd of March 2009. http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2262/2113839894_a228e92cb3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/vlkt/2113839894/&usg=__PM-rTSxRTggLWfizdn6ViqPBJQs=&h=500&w=429&sz=147&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=jkbWC4Nu0-oJyM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmagic%2Bjohnson%2Bstatue%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den“10 greatest point guards ever” [photography] in daily dime website. Retrieved 3rd of March 2009. http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://espn.go.com/photo/2006/0505/nba_g_mjohnson_430.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime%3Fpage%3Ddailydime-GreatestPointGuards&usg=__7kJkI1Zc80dzCW9rsSUPPUelFfk=&h=520&w=430&sz=50&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=rDUDnZH-WyxkeM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmagic%2Bjohnson%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

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Retired Lakers jerseys at the Staples Center