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Earwin Magic Johnson
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 Earvin
"Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American
professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los
Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After
winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected
first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He won a
championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie
season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the
1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had
HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the
All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired
again for four years, but returned in 1996 to play 32 games for the
Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
Johnson's career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA
Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and
Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists
four times, and is the NBA's all-time leader in assists per game, with
an average of 11.2. Johnson was a member of the "Dream Team", the U.S.
basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1992.
Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest
Players in NBA History in 1996, and enshrined in the Basketball Hall of
Fame in 2002. He was rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by
ESPN in 2007. His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry
Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship
series, were well documented. Since his retirement, Johnson has been an
advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as a
philanthropist and motivational speaker.
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