Johnson, an American NBA player known as the "Magician". In his first season with the Lakers, he helped the team win the 1980 championship. He scored a triple-double in the first game of the playoffs, eventually won his first career championship, and became the NBA Finals MVP. It was he who brought more concepts, wisdom and skills to the basketball court, which raised the viewing and competitiveness of basketball to a new level in the 1980s. Johnson is undoubtedly one of the greatest stars in NBA history.

Elvin Johnson was born in Lansing, Michigan. He has been practicing basketball obsessively since he was a child. When he was still in middle school, he was called "Magician" by a local newspaper reporter because of his excellent basketball skills, so that later generations forgot his real name, Erwin, and replaced it with "Magician". Johnson has comprehensive skills and is the highest point guard in NBA history. At the same time, he can play any position and is an all-around star. Johnson's advancement speed is extremely fast, and his passing skills are varied, often creating very comfortable offensive opportunities for his teammates. In particular, he can play basketball like a blind chess player, making accurate passes without even looking at his teammates. In high school, Johnson relied on his exaggerated passing methods and playing style to win the best rebounding team twice in 1987, 1989, and 1990 (1982 and 1983). His strong performance ability and dizzying "No look pass" made the "Showtime" of Lakers basketball lead the basketball style of the 1980s. Although he and Bird were the closest friends off the court, they sparked a "Lakers vs. Celtics" rivalry on the court and attracted millions of fans to watch the NBA.

Selected to the Lakers

Johnson

In 1979, Johnson was selected as the first pick in the first round of the Lakers. Since then, the only player to have a triple-double in his first career playoff game is LeBron James in 2005. At that time, with the total score of 3:2, the Lakers' main center "Skyhook" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was seriously injured in the sixth game, and the 20-year-old Johnson replaced him as the center. In that fierce battle, the young Johnson scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. The entire court became his performance stage, and he led the team to win his first championship ring. , and also won the MVP award of the NBA Finals. During Johnson's basketball career, he won the NBA MVP Award three times in 1987, 1989, and 1990, and won the championship five times (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988). In 1992, as co-captains with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, he led the Dream Team to sweep Barcelona and win his first and last Olympic gold medal. Perhaps Johnson's most classic game was Game 6 of the NBA Finals on May 16, 1980. As a rookie, Johnson replaced the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as center. Although he was playing in Philadelphia away from home, he was active in every position on the court and eventually became the absolute dominant player in that game. He scored 42 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in one game, which were the highest scores of the day. He also defeated the Philadelphia 76ers led by Julius Erving and won the NBA championship that year. Fans across the country have since truly understood the reason for the "Magician". After that, he led the Lakers to four championships. In 1991, "Magic" unfortunately contracted HIV and had to say goodbye to the NBA. But he did not give in, and earned people's understanding and respect with his sincerity and integrity. Then, under the premise of his active treatment, he continued to engage in basketball training and competition, and participated in the Eastern All-Star Game and the Olympic Games in 1992. . In 1996, Johnson came out again after four years and did his best to accelerate the maturity of the young Lakers. In March 1997, after a test, Johnson miraculously defeated his terminal illness, and HIV was almost no longer found in his body.

Johnson's tenacity, integrity, tenacity, as well as his excellent basketball skills and awareness are a valuable asset to the world of basketball.

Retired to engage in business

After retiring, Johnson began to engage in business. He operates a national chain of movie theaters called Magic Johnson Cinemas, which is currently owned by Loews Cinemas but remains an independent operation. His interests also extended to a talk show "The Magician's Hour" and the acquisition of several Starbucks coffee chains. It is said that Johnson's income from business after retirement has exceeded his playing salary and advertising income.

Status

Few players are truly special, and few can use their extraordinary skills to change the way a sport like his is played. Earvin "Magic" Johnson is one of them. How great is Johnson? Very great. Perhaps future generations of fans may regret not being born a few years earlier because they couldn't see Magic in person and could only watch his highlights. He is what Bob Cousy was to the 1950s, Oscar Robertson was to the 1960s, and Julius Erving was to the 1970s. Moreover, Earvin Johnson is also a revolutionary player. At 6-9, he is the tallest point guard in NBA history. His superhuman talent can amaze and admire even those who don't often watch football. Whether it was a back pass to James Worthy on a fast break, a buzzer beater in the half, or his charming smile, anyone who has watched Magic play will say it is an indelible memory in their lifetime. Once he sets foot on that field, everyone will exclaim: How can such a tall man do so many incredible moves? ! Johnson achieved everything a player could dream of during his 13-year NBA career with the Lakers. He is the absolute core of a team that has won 5 championships. He has won the MVP of the regular season and the finals 3 times. He has been selected to the All-Star Game 12 times and was selected to the All-NBA Team 9 times. He also broke Oscar Robertson's career assist record at the time. At the same time, he was also a major member of the American Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Winning the MVP

His comprehensive performance made people add the term "triple double" to the basketball lexicon. Although the first triple-double in history was Oscar Robertson, unfortunately, no one cared about triple-doubles in the 1960s. Johnson has used his childlike love of sports and competition to get to where he is now. His love for basketball completely outweighed the temptations of money, fame and achievement. If there's one thing that's most amazing about Johnson, it's his passing skills. He used no-look passes one after another in the fast break, alley-oops across the half court, extremely rotating passes, and long passes for more than 3/4 of the game to stun the opponents and drive the fans crazy. He shot when the opponent thought he was going to pass the ball, and when everyone thought he was going to shoot, he chose to pass the ball. Former Lakers swingman Michael Cooper said: "Sometimes when he throws a long ball I don't know who he's going to throw it to, and then one of my teammates catches the ball and scores. Then I run. Returned to the backcourt and told him he'd better find someone in the middle to transition."

Basketball Fate

On August 14, 1959, Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Michigan. Lansing, at home, he has 9 brothers and sisters. His father worked in a General Motors factory and his mother was a school administrator. Little Earvin spent his childhood singing on street corners with his friends and, of course, playing ball. Called "Junior" or "June Bug" by his neighbors, he still appears on the basketball court at 7:30 every morning. "He practices almost every day," Johnson told Us Weekly. "I dribble with my right hand on the way to the store and my left hand on the way back.

I sleep with a basketball in my arms at night. He was first called "Magic" during his early days at Everett High School. A sports columnist gave him the nickname after seeing the 15-year-old preppy's 36 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists. (Johnson’s mother, a devout Christian, believes that the nickname Earvin Johnson on the cover of Time Magazine is disrespectful to God.) As a third-grade high school student, Johnson led his Johnson went 27-1 in high school and won the state championship, averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds. Johnson wanted to attend college close to home, so he chose Michigan State as a freshman. His statistics were very dazzling (17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists), and he led the team to a 25-5 record and won the Big Ten championship. In his sophomore year, when he was elected to the All-American team, Johnson led his team in the league. In what is considered the most classic NCAA championship game in history, he defeated Indiana State University led by Bird and won the national championship. Julius Earving said of him at the time: "Magic is the kind of player who only takes three shots in a game. Players who can still control the game. "After completing what he wanted to achieve in college, he gave up the last two years of school and directly participated in the 1979 draft. Originally, the Utah Jazz should have been the lucky one, but they eliminated this draft three years ago. Quan was traded to the Lakers when they signed Gail Goodrich, so the Lakers selected Johnson with the first pick that year. At that time, the Lakers were also undergoing a major change: Jack McKinney became the team's new coach. With a new owner and Johnson donning the purple and gold as one of the seven new faces on the roster, Buss hoped that the Lakers' stable fan base would be reinvigorated and "Showtime" was born. Fans who witnessed Johnson's first game immediately saw the crazy performances that Johnson would have in his subsequent career. After defeating the San Diego Clippers on Abdur Jabbar's game-winning shot, Johnson went crazy. Everyone gave high fives and hugged each other. In that situation, everyone thought that he might lose control at any time. In the end, even Jabbar went over to persuade him to calm down, because after all, there were still 81 games to play--they hadn't counted them yet. Playoff games. The Rookie of the Year went to Larry Bird, but the Lakers won the championship with a 60-22 record, which was also the second-best record in the league (in the regular season). After 14 games, Paul Westhead replaced McKinney who was injured in a car accident and became the team's head coach. In 77 games, Johnson's statistics were a replica of his high school statistics (18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists). He was named to the All-Rookie First Team and became the first player to be selected to the All-Star Game as a rookie after Elvin Hayes 11 years ago. In the 1980 Finals against the 76ers, Johnson played a vital role in the first round. The performance in six games has become a classic. Abdul-Jabbar suffered a serious ankle injury in the fourth game of a 40-point performance, so he had to miss the sixth game in Philadelphia. The newcomer replaced him as the main center, and with his small sky hook and rebounding, he scored 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, and finally helped the Lakers win. He even became Johnson's opening jump ball for the Lakers. Winning the first rookie Finals MVP in history is also a good example of how he can help the Lakers win in different ways.

When Westhead described his young rookie to LA TIMES, he said: "At first we all thought he was a great player, but then we discovered that he can really bring us a lot of help and energy. It's like discovering It's amazing that a plastic surgeon can repair a bulldozer." The second season was brutal for Johnson and the Lakers. In the first month of the game, 7-2 Hawks center Tom Burleson pressed on Johnson's knee, causing him to miss the next 45 games. He contributed in the Lakers' 3-game 2-win playoff game against the Rockets, but he only hit 2-for-13 from the field, and he made a three-pointer at the end of the third game. The Lakers lost 86-89. Lost the game and also lost the series. In the 1981-82 season, the Lakers began to rebound and won the Pacific Division Championship again, and defeated the 76ers 4-2 in the Finals. Johnson also became the MVP of the Finals again. But some ugly things happened during that season. At the beginning of the season, Westhead wanted to make adjustments to the offensive system, and Magic believed that would weaken his role in the team. According to many reports, Johnson rushed into the break after a game and yelled: "I can't play here anymore, I want to leave, I want to be traded." Reporters were waiting for Johnson to say that it was just a joke. But he did not come forward to clarify. The next day, Westhead was fired and his assistant coach Pat Riley took over. In Riley's first game, fans at the Big West Forum booed Johnson when the player was introduced. Then in Seattle, fans jeered him every time he touched the ball. He also lost All-Star voting for the first time in his life without injury. It wasn't until he used a very gorgeous performance in the playoffs that he finally silenced the most radical ones. On the court, Johnson's performance has always been outstanding. He won the steals title for the second time, and in any of his subsequent seasons, he never averaged less than 17.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 10.5 assists. In the two years after Westhead was dismissed, Magic's personal achievements were quite remarkable, but the Lakers struggled. Johnson won the first two single-season assists titles of his career during this stretch and continued to build on his already stellar all-around play. But in the 1982-83 NBA Finals, the Lakers faced the 76ers again. Norm Nixon, James Worthy and Bob McAdoo were all troubled by injuries, and the Lakers were swept out by their opponents. Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Before the 1984 Finals, Nixon had left the team, Jabbar was nearly 40 years old, and Magic also signed a 25-year contract worth 25 million. That year's Finals was the lowest point of Johnson's career. His late mistakes in Games 2, 4, and 7 cost the Lakers the game. When Johnson began to improve his outside shooting and began to set assist records, the Lakers also won three championships in the next four years. The first ring came from their revenge game against the Celtics in 1985. After being completely defeated by their opponents 148-114 in Game 1 in the famous "Memorial Day Massacre", the Lakers rebounded strongly and won the championship in Game 6. This victory at the Celtics' home court also allowed them to finally get rid of the shadow of eight consecutive losses to their opponents that began in Minneapolis. During the 1986-87 season, with Abdul Jabbar missing a lot of games due to eye problems, Johnson did what many scouts thought he couldn't do: score. He scored 38 points against the Rockets and scored a career-high 46 points in the next game against the Kings. His scoring average of 23.9 is also the highest of his career. During that season, Johnson was named the regular season MVP.

He had been waiting for this award for eight years, and Bird had already won three. Johnson is eager to receive this award. "Right now, he's 3-0," Johnson told LA TIMES before the winner was announced. "It's driving me crazy." (He eventually tied Bird for the 1989 and 1990 MVP awards. ) Johnson also won the 1987 Finals MVP after defeating the Celtics 4-2. That year was also the year that Johnson completely replaced Abdul-Jabbar as the team leader. During the team's internal bullfight, 40-year-old center Abdul-Jabbar taught his protégé his skyhook stunt. Johnson was quickly able to use this technique flexibly, and used this technique to hit a 107-106 winning shot in Game 4 of the Finals. That victory also directly led to the Lakers' second victory over the Celtics in three years. In 1988, the Lakers defeated the Pistons in seven finals games and became the first team to win the championship after the 1968-69 season. In the next two years, Johnson averaged more than 20 points and led the Lakers to consecutive Western Conference championships. In the 1988-89 season, Abdul-Jabbar's last season, Johnson was affected by a hamstring injury in the Finals, and the Lakers were swept by the mature Pistons in the Finals. The next year, the Lakers were eliminated for the first time in nine years, as they were defeated by the Suns in the conference semifinals. Johnson's performance in the 1990-91 season helped the Lakers achieve a 58-24 record. After defeating the Trail Blazers led by Clyde Drexler in the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers reached the Finals again. Although they eventually lost to MJ's Bulls 1-4, Magic still completed the feat of reaching the finals nine times in his 12-year career. Before the 1991-92 season, Magic shocked the world with the news that he tested positive for HIV and chose to retire as a result. However, he still qualified for the All-Star Game that year, led the Western Conference to a 153-113 victory and won the MVP. For his popularization of knowledge about AIDS prevention, he also received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award that year. Former Lakers head coach Mike Dunleavy commented: "Some people thought he was just a legend on the court, but now, he has become a fighter who fights for his beliefs." Even in the most difficult moments when he was infected with HIV, he The smile on his face has never been wiped off. Jack Knoll said: "The greatest thing about Magic is that his human bravery has been brought to the level of gods. We think he is one of the best people, and no one will dislike Magic." Johnson represented the Dream Team in 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, ??wrote a book on safe sex, launched a career as a businessman, became a television commentator for NBC and tried to buy an NBA team. With 16 games left in the 1993-94 season, he replaced Randy Pfund as the Lakers' head coach. The team began to attack the playoffs under Johnson's passionate leadership, and the Lakers quickly won 5 consecutive games. However, when the team lost 5 of the next 6 games, Johnson announced that he He will not return to the Lakers as head coach next season. "I want to go home," he told United Media. "It was never my dream to be a coach. I wanted to own a team and be a businessman. He has to fight for your dreams." In 1994, Johnson realized his dream and became one of the Lakers' greatest players. In 1995, he was involved in another business venture. He opened a chain of movie theaters in a few areas of Los Angeles and gave some speeches there. He also participated in the Orators basketball team (a team composed of former NBA and college players) that traveled to Asia and Australia and entertained fans around the world.

Johnson's statue outside Staples Center

But he did not completely abandon the NBA. After resting for four and a half seasons, he returned to the court again in the second half of the 1995-96 season and played the remaining 32 games of the regular season for the Lakers. At that time, his weight had reached 255 pounds, and he appeared more at the power forward position rather than the point guard position. After the Lakers were eliminated by the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, Johnson announced his retirement again. During Johnson's 13-year NBA career, he scored 17,707 points (19.5 per game), 6,559 rebounds (7.2), 10,141 assists (11.2), and ranked ninth in history with 1,724 steals. He also holds All-Star Game records with 127 assists and 10 three-pointers. In the 1996-97 season, Johnson was selected as one of the NBA's 50 greatest stars. In 2002 he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.