Having been a sports fan for pretty much my entire life, I have witnessed countless fantastic moments and other-worldly performances by athletes I admired and respected.
Magic Johnson has been part of most of these, and today, my favorite athlete of all eternity turns the big 5-0. There was a time when none of us thought he'd ever sniff 35 years old (more on that later), but he has gone on to become a fabulously successful businessman and executive with the Lakers. But as great as his life after basketball has been, it is but a speck in the rear-view mirror of his playing career.
In my opinion, only two players have done more for their teams' success than Magic: Bill Russell and Michael Jordan, and in reality, Magic is just a smidge behind Michael. Larry Bird? Nope. Magic won more titles, had more NBA finals and conference finals appearances, and beat Bird three of the four times they went head-to-head. Wilt? Nope. Wilt won only two titles and was beat down by his nemesis Russell's squad several times. Oscar? Nope. Big O won a single title.
Check these numbers:
-NCAA champion and Final Four MVP.
-Five-time NBA champion.
-Three-time NBA Finals MVP.
-Three-time NBA regular season MVP.
-Twelve-time All-Star.
-Nine-time NBA First Team selection.
-Two-time NBA All-Star Game MVP.
-Named to the NBA's Fifty Greatest Players of All Time (DUH!)
-Member of the 1992 USA Dream Team.
In his twelve-year career (I'm not counting his brief comeback in 1995), Magic led the Lakers to the NBA Finals an amazing NINE times, winning five titles. They made the conference finals ten of his twelve years. Only a mutiny by the team against Paul Westhead in 1981 and one of the flukiest shots of all time by Ralph Sampson in 1986, kept them out of the Finals in the 1980's, and age caught up to them in 1990.
I think that Johnson's excellence is taken for granted far too often and he is not held in as high regard as he should be. Ya, most NBA commentators would put him in their Top Ten of All Time (I hope!), but I think he's a lock for a position in the Top Four: Russell, Jordan, Kareem, Magic.
In honor of my main man's fiftieth birthday, I wanted to run down my personal Top Ten Magic Moments:
1. Magic Leading Michigan State to the 1979 NCAA Championship.
In 1979, I was still a ten-year old punk who was just starting to discover the greatness of basketball and I remember that my family was on vacation at the time the NCAA Final Four came on. Both of my parents had attended Michigan State, and my mom and myself were born in East Lansing, so they made a big deal of the fact that their team, led by a player from the rival high school from my mom's school, was on the verge of winning the title. I was transfixed by that game and it absolutely launched my love affair with basketball as a game and Magic as a player. The fact that he beat Larry Bird to win that title wasn't as big a deal to me then as it became later as I was too naive, but the Sports Illustrated that came out a few days later didn't leave my sight for months.
2. The Magic Game.
Less than a year after his NCAA title, Magic led the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. With the series tied 2-2 going in to game 5, the Lakers held a slim lead in the third quarter when their captain and leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went down with a sprained ankle. Thankfully, NBA TV has been airing this game along with the more famous Game 6 of this series this week. I had completely forgotten what an absolute FORCE Kareem still was at this time in his career. He was the league MVP that season and averaged 32 ppg and 12 rpg in the playoffs and his size, grace and lethal skyhook were in full effect during that game. (In fact, he still had a full head of hair and had not yet donned the goggles, so he still looked like a badass.) Then, BOOM, he is suddenly erased from the floor. The announcers, Brent Musberger, Hot Rod Hundley and Bill Russell were unanimous in declaring that the Lakers could not beat the Sixers without Kareem.
Enter Magic's incomparable Will to Win. With Kareem out, Johnson goes on a tear and scores about ten straight points, gets the Forum jumping with his electricity, and the Lakers build their lead and win the game to take a 3-2 series lead. Kareem made it back for some of this game but was out for game six. It is announced that Magic will play center for the game, and as they are about to have the jump ball to start the game, you could seriously feel the Spectrum crowd was almost laughing at the fact that this undersized rookie would dare try to match up with their powerful front line of Darryl Dawkins, Caldwell Jones and Dr.J. Unfortunately for the Sixers themselves, they shared this arrogance, and within two minutes it was 9-0 Lakers and they were off and running. Magic and Jamaal Wilkes were unstoppable - Johnson posted a 42 & 15 while Wilkes threw up 37 points - and the Lakers won the title.
I've watched that game three times this week and it is one of the few times when the romantic memory of the performance is actually surpassed by the performance on tape. Magic was fucking unstoppable and did things that he never matched again in his career. It was actually named NBA.com's Number 1 Greatest NBA Finals Performance. POW!
3. Magic Announces He Has HIV.
I was entering my final year at UCLA and was still a massive Lakers and Magic fan. I just got home from classes on November 7, 1991 and flipped on the TV. Within seconds I was in tears. The news had just broken that Johnson had been diagnosed with HIV and he was holding a press conference to announce his retirement. At that time, such a diagnosis was basically perceived as a death sentence, so not only was my favorite player leaving my favorite team, but he would be dead soon. It was the biggest of stomach punches and the entire city of Los Angeles was under a dark cloud that day - you could feel it in the air.
4. The Baby Hook.
If nothing else, the Lakers-Celtics series of the 1980's are memorable to me for how intensely my dad (I me) hated the Celtics and loved the Lakers. He would have to go outside and walk around the block to decompress at halftime of many of these games. In the first meeting between the teams in 1984, the Lakers were the better team, yet lost the series in 7, mainly due to several costly blunders by Magic. The Lakers got their revenge the next year by beating the Celtics in 6.
Then came 1987 and the rubber match. With the Lakers leading the Celts 2-1 in the series, game 4 was in the Boston Garden. With seconds to go, Bird hit a three to put the Celtics up by two. Kareem was fouled on the next trip down the court and hit his first free throw to put L.A. down by one. Somehow the famed leprechaun was color blind that night, and after Kareem missed the tying free throw, the ball bounced off of McHale and went out of bounds. With seven seconds left, the Celtics stupidly allowed the ball to be inbounded to Magic on the left wing. He sized up McHale and Parrish and rolled in to the lane, never once looking to pass, and stunned the Celtics with a sweeping hook shot to put the Lakers up by one with two seconds left. Chick Hearn's call of the play is classic.
Thankfully, Bird narrowly missed a three at the buzzer and the Lakers had a stranglehold on the series and won the title in 6 games.
4. Magic's Banker Defeats Boston.
It was a very cold night in some small town in the mountains of Alberta. I was an assistant coach with the basketball team of my Alma mater and we were playing in a tournament and luckily were able to get this game on TV one night. I just remember leaping in the air and screaming "Take THAT Celtics, you homos!"when Magic hit this.
5. Still One of the Smartest Plays Ever Made.
In the 1991 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers were the underdog against the up-and-coming Portland Trail Blazers featuring Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey and Terry Porter. By this time, the Lakers roster still contained James Worthy and Byron Scott, but that was pretty much all that was left from their '80's championship teams. The intelligence and playoff "know-how" of Magic had led the Lakers to a 3-2 series lead and late in game 6, with L.A. up one, Portland took a shot with about 5 seconds left. Magic grabbed the rebound and instantly fired the ball high in to the air toward the other baseline. In one of the single smartest plays that I have ever seen, Magic was able to avoid being fouled by Portland to stop the clock while essentially running out the final seconds of the game and giving the Lakers the Western Conference championship.
Ok. This is getting waaay too long, so I'll cut it to a Top Five Magic Moments. You can owe me.
BUT, I do want to share a couple personal anecdotes about the Magic Man.
In the summer of 1985, I was lucky enough to attend Magic's basketball camp at Occidental College in Los Angeles. When most big name players put their name on a camp, they might make a few token appearances during the week. Not Magic. He was there every day and was very hands-on the entire week. One particular night, during scrimmages, Magic was watching and suddenly loudly blew his whistle.
"What the hell is going on out here?!"
I had obviously never seen this side of Johnson. He was seriously PISSED at all of us for not playing defense properly and without enough effort and made us put all of the balls away. For what seemed like an hour (although it was probably closer to 20 minutes), he hollered at us and made us do defensive slides around the perimeter of the courts until we could barely stand. I just remember thinking, "Wow, he really does take this game seriously. Man, how much work must he have put in to be as great as he is?"
As much as I loved him before the camp, I thought the world of him after it.
And finally, just a year after that, I was playing on the College of the Desert team in Palm Springs. I was, like, the twelfth man on the team but it didn't matter at all because I soon found out that the fucking World Champion Lakers would be having a week of their training camp in our gym! No one was allowed in the gym during their practices except those of us on the C.O.D basketball team who volunteered to help with practices and shlep the players' laundry to the laundry room and wash their stuff.
Yep, I got to pick up Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Byron Scott and the rest of the Lakers' mesh bags of practice gear and toss them in to the washer and dryer and deliver them back to the team the next day. To have contact like this with those players was unimaginable. Their size and speed was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. Pat Riley was mere feet away, running them quickly and business-like through their drills. Then came the post-practice shooting contests where they would talk shit to each other and take each other's money. And immediately after practice, they would all be sitting there, cooling down with ice bags on every joint and removing the little foam sleeves they wore on their toes for additional cushioning. It was one of the coolest weeks of my life and such an amazing peak at life behind the scenes for these guys.
So, for providing many of my fondest memories, here's a huge Happy Birthday to the Magic Man.
In other news, the Kansas City Chiefs have already cashiered offensive coordinator (and one-time Jerry Jones coaching tactic landfill) Chan Gailey. Todd Haley is now the head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach. He is also "the judge, the jury, and the jailor," and may step on Terrell Owens' injured toe if he sees him at any league functions. This widdle piggie went to market!
