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• Born: 14 August 1959
• Birthplace: Lansing, Michigan
• Best Known As: L.A. Lakers star who retired because of HIV

"Magic" Johnson (Earvin Johnson, Jr.) led the Los Angeles Lakers to five national championships in the 1980s, then abruptly retired from basketball in 1991 upon discovering he had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Johnson grew up in Lansing, Michigan and was a standout player at Michigan State University, leading them to a national championship in 1979 when he was a sophomore. He turned pro the next year and spent his entire career with the Lakers, including a couple of comebacks after his retirement and a short stint as a coach (the tail end of the 1993-94 season). During the 1980s the rivalry between Magic's Lakers and Larry Bird's Boston Celtics helped make the NBA a worldwide success. The Lakers won championships in 1980, '82, '85, '87 and '88. Johnson played in 12 All-Star Games, was the league's Most Valuable Player three times (1987, '89 and '90) and was a member of the USA's "Dream Team," gold medalists in the 1992 Olympics (after he'd announced his retirement). His enthusiasm for basketball and flashy play made him a crowd favorite and one of the most popular faces of the NBA. Now he's occasionally on TV as a sports analyst and busy running Magic Johnson Enterprises, a collection of business interests that includes movie theaters, restaurants and fitness centers.

Johnson, at 6' 9", was the biggest point guard in the NBA... In his career he scored 17,707 points, retrieved 6,559 rebounds and made 10,141 assists... He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Joining the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association in 1979, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born 1959) became one of basketball's most popular stars.

In November 1991, Magic Johnson stunned the sportsworld with his announcement that he was infected with the human immune deficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes the disease acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Johnson announced that he was retiring from professional basketball but returned in 1992 and again in 1996. He turned his enthusiasm and leadership skills to business. Among his successes, he developed movie theaters and shopping malls in poor and neglected sections of large cities where no one else would invest.

Johnson was born in 1959 in Lansing, Michigan. He first played organized basketball at Everett High School. In 1977 Johnson and the Everett team won the Michigan state high school championship. Johnson then attended Michigan State University. As a sophomore, he averaged 17.1 points per game and was named an All-American. In 1979 Michigan State won the national collegiate championship by defeating Indiana State University, a team led by future Boston Celtics star Larry Bird. Johnson scored 24 points and was chosen Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Johnson was selected first in the 1979 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. In his first game for the Lakers he scored 26 points. He then became the first rookie to start in an NBA All-Star game. The Lakers won the 1979-1980 Pacific Division title and went on to play the Philadelphia 76ers for the championship. The Lakers defeated the 76ers for the NBA title, and Johnson became the youngest player ever to be named MVP of the playoffs.

Transformed Lakers into Champions

At 6 feet 9 inches, Johnson became the first big man to dominate play at point guard, a position usually reserved for smaller players. His passing, dribbling skills, and ballhandling technique won him the nickname "Magic." His magnetic personality made him one of the most popular players in the league.

During the 1981-1982 season Laker head coach Paul Westhead designed an offense that focused around center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The change upset Johnson, and he asked to be traded, a move that angered some Laker fans who felt that Johnson was selfish. Westhead was replaced by Pat Riley, who stressed the role of the point guard in his offense. Under Riley, Johnson matured into one of the best all-around players in the league. In his first season with Riley, Johnson had more than 700 rebounds and 700 assists, the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to do so. Johnson was again named MVP of the playoffs.

In 1985 the Lakers won their third NBA title, defeating the Boston Celtics and Larry Bird. The sports media liked to refer to the matchup between Bird and Johnson, but Johnson was a guard and Bird a forward. During that same season, Johnson averaged 23.9 points per game, 5 points above his career average. That season he became the first guard in league history to be voted MVP of the regular season. In 1987 the Lakers again defeated the Celtics for the championship, and Johnson was named MVP of the series.

During his 12 years with the Lakers beginning in 1979, John's team went to the playoffs eight times and won five championship titles. Johnson was chosen playoff MVP three times. He was a 12-time All-Star and the 1990 All-Star games' MVP. He scored a total of 17,239 points in 874 games, averaging 19.7 per game. He displayed his defensive skills by pulling down 6,376 rebounds and making 1,698 steals. During the 1990-1991 season he broke Oscar Robertson's assist record with 9,888, finishing the season with a total of 9,921. Not surprisingly, in October 1996, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the NBA.

Retires after Contracting AIDS

In November 1991, during a routine physical examination for an insurance policy, Johnson found out that he was a carrier of the HIV virus. Johnson admitted that his lifestyle as a sports celebrity included extensive heterosexual promiscuity. However, he never suspected that he might contact HIV, which he thought was limited to homosexual men. The Lakers team physician advised Johnson to quit basketball immediately in order to safeguard his threatened immune system. Johnson shared his discovery with the other players on the Laker team, then announced to the American people that he was HIV-positive.

Johnson's admission stunned his fans. Overnight the likeable player became a spokesman for AIDS awareness. "I want [kids] to understand that safe sex is the way to go, Johnson told People. Sometimes we think only gay people can get it [HIV], or that it's not going to happen to me. Here I am. And I'm saying it can happen to anybody, even Magic Johnson." President George Bush appointed Johnson to the National Commission on AIDS, but he resigned to protest what he considered to be the president's lack of support for AIDS research. Johnson continued to speak out and literally raised millions for research to combat the disease. He founded the Magic Johnson Foundation for HIV/AIDS education and coauthored What You Can Do To Prevent AIDS.

Retirement, Return, Retirement, and Return

In January 1992, two months after he had retired, Johnson was among the leaders in voting for the 1992 NBA All-Star game. He came out of retirement to play in the game, scoring 25 points, with nine assists, in 29 minutes. There was little surprise when Johnson was named the game's MVP.

In the summer of 1992, Johnson went to Barcelona, Spain, as a member of the United States' basketball team in the 25th Summer Olympics. Dubbed the "Dream Team," by sports journalists, the American entry also included NBA stars Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullen, and Duke University's Christian Laettner. The Dream Team easily won the gold medal. Fans were saddened, however, because they believed that the careers of both Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were over.

But Magic hoped that he still could have a future in basketball. He announced his return to the NBA shortly before the 1992 season began, but only played in five preseason games before retiring for the second time. Johnson cited the other players' concerns about the possibility of being infected while playing and his desire to stay healthy for his family.

Johnson remained active in the basketball world. He purchased five percent of the Lakers, and he formed a charitable - but competitive - basketball team that played exhibition games around the world. He became a vice-president in the Lakers organization and took over as interim head coach of the team for the last part of the 1992-93 season.

But Johnson really preferred playing to coaching. At the beginning of 1996, the rumors of his return proved to be true. Magic Johnson came back to the L. A. Lakers, this time as a power forward and not a point guard. By May 1996, however, Johnson, once again announced his retirement - this time for good. He had discovered that the current players on the team did not idolize him and would not give the ball exclusively to him.

Successful Business Ventures

Johnson showed the same all-star success as an entrepreneur. Like other star athletes, Johnson endorsed products, licensed use of his name, and gave corporate speeches for big fees. He led his Magic Johnson All-Stars round the world, playing exhibition games against foreign basketball teams for substantial profits. Since he lived in L.A, it was only natural for him to get involved in entertainment, possibly as host of of a late night talk show.

However, in a move less typical of a sports star, Johnson also became personally involved in large-scale property development. Among his successes were movie complexes and shopping centers in inner-city areas where no one else wanted to invest. In June 1995, Johnson partnered with Sony to open the 12-screen Magic Theatres multiplex in a predominantly black section of Los Angeles. The project became one of the top grossing movie outlets in America and helped boost sales and occupancy at the mall in which it was located. In 1997, Johnson opened another movie complex in southwest Atlanta. Magic movie marquees were under construction in Houston and Cleveland, and Johnson announced plans for 14 new multiplexes in 10 other cities. His company, Johnson Development went on to buy entire shopping centers in poor communties in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Johnson earned goodwill for helping spiff up and bringing jobs to the inner cities. His ventures also brought him great personal wealth. Time quoted him as saying "It's important to help the community, but the number one goal here is to make money. This is not charity."

Johnson's personal involvement in business affairs got its impetus early in his hoop career. He realized he had signed away his talents for too low a salary. And he also witnessed the fleecing of fellow Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who lost millions to unscrupulous financial advisers. In the mid-1980s, Johnson dumped his own advisers and demanded monthly statements from his new ones. By 1996, he had a net worth of more than $100 million.

Living with HIV

In September 1991, just before he learned he had HIV, Johnson wed longtime friend Earletha "Cookie" Kelly. The couple had a son in 1993 and adopted a daughter in 1995. Johnson also has a son from a previous relationship who spends the summers with him. Ever optimistic, Johnson believed that the right combination of medicine, diet, and exercise would help him to survive until a cure for AIDS was found.

Johnson's physicians announced in early 1997 that the AIDS virus in his body had been reduced to undetectable levels. They attributed the improvement to the use of powerful drugs, including protese inhibitors. His wife Cookie gave the credit to God stating, "The Lord has definitely healed Earvin. Doctors think it's the medicine. We claim it in the name of Jesus." The Johnsons attended the West Angles Church of God in Christ, to which he donated $5 million in 1995.

Further Reading

Two early biographies, Magic with Richard Levin (1983) and Magic's Touch with Roy S. Johnson (1989) are interesting but were written before the devastating discovery that ended Johnson's career. An important and well written biography is Magic Johnson: My Life (1992). Deeply moving, the book contains a message to young persons that shows Johnson's sincere concern for them. For more about the Olympic "Dream Team" readers should see The Golden Boys by Cameron Smith (1992).

Also see Blatt, Howard, Magic! Against the Odds (Pocket Books, 1996); "The Magic and the Money," Forbes, December 16, 1996, p. 264-266; and Monroe, Sylvester, "Post-game show," Time, March 17, 1997, p. 38-39.

basketball player; chief executive officer; business owner; entrepreneur; aids activist

Personal Information

Born Earvin Johnson, Jr., on August 14, 1959, in Lansing, MI; son of Earvin (an auto worker) and Christine (a cafeteria worker) Johnson; married Earleatha "Cookie" Kelly; children: (from a previous relationship) Andre, Earvin III, Elisa (adopted)
Education: Attended Michigan State University, 1977-79.
Memberships: Magic Johnson Foundation.

Career

Professional basketball player with Los Angeles Lakers, 1979-92, 1996, head coach, 1994, minority owner, 1996-; member of U.S. Olympic basketball team, 1992; Named to United States National AIDS Committee by President George Bush, 1992; Johnson Development Company, owner and CEO, 1992-.

Life's Work

Earvin "Magic" Johnson reigned as one of the top players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for close to a decade. Brimming with youthful enthusiasm, Johnson led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships and was one of the top paid athletes in professional sports. Tall for a point guard at 6'9", Johnson, according to Alex Ward in a 1987 New York Times Magazine article, is "a master" of improvisation who "defies comparison" with NBA players both past and present. Ward stated: "In a sport populated by ever larger, faster and more skilled athletes, there is no other player--never has there been a player quite like Johnson."

Championships seemed to follow Magic: he led Lansing Everett High School to victory at the state high school championships in Michigan and helped Michigan State University win the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. "Put him on a basketball court, hand him the ball and before you can blink he's passed it to a teammate who's in perfect scoring position," commented Ward in 1987. "No player works as hard, or as deftly, to make other players look good. But that definition only begins to describe Magic Johnson, who at the tender age of 20, became an instant superstar, a manchild whose talent and exuberance amazed teammates and foes, and charmed fans."

Unfortunately, the life of a "manchild" can be fraught with danger. On November 7, 1991, Johnson stunned the world when he announced that he was retiring from basketball because he had been diagnosed as a carrier of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that leads to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)--an incurable, fatal disease transmitted through human blood or semen that cripples the body's immune system. In a subsequent interview in People, Johnson claimed that he had caught the virus by "messing around with too many women." Even a deadly illness cannot dull Magic Johnson's lustre, however. He became a celebrity spokesman for safe sex and was a member of former President George Bush's National AIDS Commission. Commenting on the turn his celebrity had taken so suddenly, Johnson told a Sports Illustrated correspondent, "The further I go with this, the more I believe God picked me. If I didn't believe that, I'm not sure how I could go on the way I have."

Built Foundation Upon Skills and Family

Johnson was one of the most brilliant guards in NBA history, as his numerous honors attest. Known more for his astonishing assists than for his own scoring, Johnson excelled on the fast break and touted strong defensive pressure as the key to undercutting the scoring potential of the opposition. Johnson remarked in the New York Times Magazine: "You've got to get on your man quickly, be right there in his face as soon as he gets the ball, pressuring him, or helping someone else out with a double team. Pretty soon, they start making bad passes or taking bad shots--and you start running." Offensively, Johnson handled the ball and set up plays, reading and recognizing advantages in the ever-shifting configuration of players. His height made him a threat as an outside scorer, but he was generally recognized for his smooth passing.

Earvin Johnson, Jr., was born on August 14, 1959, the sixth of ten children in a Lansing, Michigan, family. Both parents were employed; his father worked on a General Motors assembly line and his mother in a school cafeteria. Johnson's father, Earvin, Sr., often held two jobs to support the large family and would collapse from exhaustion at the end of his 16-hour day. "When I was young, I didn't really think about what [my father] was doing," Johnson recalled in the Los Angeles Times, "but now I understand how much he did for me and my brothers and sisters." In his rare moments of free time--usually on Sunday--the elder Johnson would watch televised basketball games with his son and give him advice on strategy.

Johnson became enthralled with basketball; neighbors nicknamed him June Bug because he was always hopping around the local court, practicing his moves before and after school. Johnson described himself in the Washington Post as an avid student of the game who could not wait to try out shots he had seen on television. "I just wanted to learn to do everything I could to win," he said. "In the schoolyard, the only way you can stay on the court when there are lots of people around is to keep winning.... And I wanted to keep playing. All day and all night long." He also added that he was "blessed" with a number of essential ingredients that contribute to professional caliber play. "Besides just loving the game, I had good coaches early, good size, good parents, everything I needed."

Perfected the Passing Game

Johnson made his mark early at Lansing Everett High School. He led his team to the Class A quarterfinals as a sophomore. The following year Everett progressed to the semi-finals, and as a senior Johnson helped the team win the Class A championship. After a game in which the three-time All-State selection scored 36 points and had 18 rebounds, a local sportswriter dubbed him "Magic" Johnson; the name--and the image of supernatural prowess--stuck. Johnson, however, soon learned that his teammates resented the grandstanding, and he perfected the passing game that would come to be his trademark.

Choosing Michigan State University over the University of Michigan, Johnson led the Spartans to the 1977-78 Big Ten championship as a freshman. The following year--as a sophomore--Johnson shattered a school record with his 269 assists, and the Spartans advanced to the 1979 NCAA Final Four; the championship game on March 26 matched Johnson with the superb Indiana University forward Larry Bird. The Spartans won, 75-64. Bird had been named College Player of the Year, but Johnson won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the championships. Bird was drafted and signed by the Boston Celtics, while Johnson accepted a $600,000 offer from the Lakers.

Johnson was enthusiastic and ebullient as he arrived at the Los Angeles training camp. His confidence and high spirits were infectious, and his older teammates quickly warmed to him. The media also embraced him; he was always affable and ready to interview or clown in front of the camera. Away from the arena, however, he sometimes felt intimidated. Being young and out of his element in a daunting city, he was most at home on the court, and his play reflected it. The previously lackluster Lakers were transformed into immediate contenders who finished first in their division and then brought home their first world championship since 1972.

Transformed Lakers Into Champions

Johnson's rookie statistics broke numerous Lakers records, including a .530 shooting percentage, 563 assists, a free-throw percentage of .810, and an average of 18 points a game. His outstanding accomplishment of that season remains his performance in the sixth game of the 1980 NBA finals. With teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sidelined by an injury, Johnson started at center and played each position on the court. He scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, had seven assists, three steals, and one blocked shot. He was named series MVP and won wide acclaim. Washington Post reporter Dave Remnick called Johnson's performance "the most extraordinary show in playoff history." Ironically, however, it was Bird who earned the Rookie of the Year award.

If Johnson's rookie season with the Lakers seemed a fairy tale of sorts, his second season had all the earmarks of a nightmare. First, incurring a serious knee injury, he missed 46 games. Then, his return to the lineup occasioned resentment and envy among his teammates. The Lakers did make the playoffs and were heavily favored to oust the Houston Rockets, but instead they were beaten badly. Johnson absorbed much of the blame for the loss; he was, in fact, haunted by it through the off-season. The tension between him and his teammates only increased when Johnson secured an unprecedented $25 million, 25-year contract in June of 1981. Fellow Lakers, including Jabbar, wondered aloud if the deal would give Johnson a say in the management of the team.

Some months thereafter friction developed between Johnson and then-head coach Paul Westhead over Westhead's changes in strategy. An angry Johnson spoke his mind publicly and asked to be traded. Westhead was fired the next day. To many observers, Johnson had become a spoiled prima donna holding undue influence in the Lakers front office. He was booed even in Los Angeles--but only briefly, because in 1982, under new coach Pat Riley, the Lakers advanced to, and won, the NBA championship for the second time in three years. Johnson, however, once again winning series MVP, was a far different person from the effervescent rookie he had been. He played with equal determination, but he was subdued and sobered by his experiences with club politics.

The Lakers again advanced to the NBA championship series in 1985. This time they faced off against the Boston Celtics, a traditional rival led by Bird. Sports Illustrated contributor David Halberstam observed of Johnson and Bird: "Slowly, inevitably, as they raised their teams to the highest professional level, as their teams became perennial challengers for the title, the connection between them, which had once been hyped and artificial, gradually became real. In a league in which expansion had ruined traditional rivalries, their rivalry and that of their teams remained genuine, and they reached the rare point where rivalry turns into respect and even affection."

A True Team Player

Johnson himself dates this moment of dawning affection to a time when he and Bird made a television commercial together. It was the first time they had ever really talked, and they compared notes eagerly. Johnson once claimed that he would retire from the sport when Bird did. "Larry's going to go first, and I'm going to go right after him," Johnson commented in the Los Angeles Times in 1987. "We feed off one another, that's why we go on. That's why we always want to top each other."

In terms of team play, the honors are Johnson's--the Lakers beat the Celtics in two of three championships from 1985 to 1987. Much has been made of the relative ability of the two men, and some suggested that Johnson was underestimated because of his race. Halberstam claimed Bird "is perceived as the lunchbox player who only by a diet of hard work and high intelligence has created himself as a great basketball player, whereas what is seen of Johnson ... is simply his natural skills, not the endless hours spent honing those skills and the intelligence to employ them constantly in making split-second decisions." Johnson responded to such comparisons off the court by acknowledging that racial stereotypes do influence those who write and speak about him. On the court he let his play serve as testimony to his keen perception of the game.

The Lakers won the NBA championship in 1985, 1987, and 1988. Inevitably, perhaps, Johnson became as big a star in Los Angeles as many a motion picture actor. Hollywood's biggest names--Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, and Michael Jackson, to name a few--were known to seek Johnson out; the player was often amazed at the politeness with which major film and television luminaries would greet him. "It always surprises me when that happens, when people take to me like that," he told the New York Times Magazine's Ward in 1987, "because I'm in awe of them, and I realize they're in awe of me."

As an NBA icon Johnson shared many of the privileges and endured the same fame-related problems that plague movie stars. Traveling with bodyguards, living in a fence-enclosed, guarded estate, he found himself severely restricted by the constant crush of adoring fans. "People see the glitter and say to themselves, 'If only I could be Magic for a day,'" Johnson reflected in the Detroit Free Press. "I doubt if they could handle it, even for only a day. The glitter is part of it, but so are the people with schemes, the thieves running scams; so are the people who want to get so close that it becomes scary. There is never a normal day."

Retired After Contracting HIV

Being a celebrity carries with it a number of drawbacks, of which the former player became a victim. Johnson, who claimed he has never had a homosexual experience, admitted that his lifestyle as a professional basketball player included heterosexual promiscuity. Never suspecting that he might be a carrier of HIV--initially thought to be limited to homosexual men--he found out he had the virus during a routine physical examination for an insurance policy sought by the Los Angeles Lakers on their high-paid superstar.

Only months before, in September of 1991, Johnson had wed longtime girlfriend Earleatha "Cookie" Kelly, who was in the early stages of pregnancy. The honeymoon was brief indeed. By the first week of November, Johnson was stunned to discover the results of his routine blood test: he carried the virus that leads to AIDS, an incurable and terminal illness. The Lakers team physician, Dr. Michael Mellman, advised Johnson to quit basketball immediately in order to safeguard his threatened immune system. Johnson shared his tragic discovery with his wife and his closest friends--Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons, Larry Bird, Pat Riley, and talk show host Arsenio Hall.

By noon on November 7, 1991, rumors had already hit the radio and television airwaves in Los Angeles. Johnson announced a press conference, but he first told the other players on the Lakers team. "Breaking the news to my teammates was the most emotional experience of this entire ordeal," Johnson told a People correspondent. "Everyone was crying, including me." Later, a composed Magic Johnson announced to the American people that he was HIV-positive.

Johnson's admission of his illness stunned the entire world. Overnight the likeable player became a spokesman for AIDS awareness, and he is one of the best known public figure on the National AIDS Commission. "I just want to say that I'll miss playing," Johnson expressed in People, "and will now become a spokesman for the HIV virus. I want [kids] to understand that safe sex is the way to go. Sometimes we think only gay people can get it, or that it's not going to happen to me. Here I am. And I'm saying it can happen to anybody, even Magic Johnson."

Still Played After Retirement

At first Johnson thought he might never play basketball again. Instead, he decided to keep himself in shape in an effort to counter the effects of the virus. Johnson caused a stir when he arrived to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star game. Some fellow players doubted that he could keep the pace after so many months out of the game. Others--including several Lakers--thought it was unfair to allow Johnson, a retired player, to participate in the event. All controversy aside, Johnson so dominated the 42nd NBA All-Star Game that Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum called the contest "The Earvin Johnson Consciousness Raising Love-In" and added, "Bank on this: You'll never see anything like it again." The player scored 25 points that the evening, pulled down five rebounds, and made two steals. As McCallum put it, "Johnson special-delivered his intended message--that a person afflicted with the AIDS virus can be exceedingly productive."

The summer of 1992 was momentous for Johnson in two very important ways. The first, and perhaps most important, was the birth of his son Earvin Johnson III in June. Not only were there no complications with the birth, but the baby tested negative for the HIV virus, a fear that both Cookie and Johnson had harbored since learning of Johnson's disease. With his son healthy and his wife properly recovering from birth, Johnson was able to return to basketball for a second time since his retirement as he attended the 1992 Summer Olympic games. Johnson felt himself fortunate to be included in the first ever Olympics where professional basketball players were allowed to compete in the Men's Basketball event, and the United States' "Dream Team," made up of the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, and David Robinson, destroyed the competition, winning all eight of their games and securing a gold medal for the United States in the event.

1992, however, would not be the last time that Johnson played professional basketball. In January of 1996, Johnson decided to try once again to play professional basketball and rejoined the Lakers, where he still had a contract. He had tried to rejoin the NBA once before during the 1993-94 season, but during a preseason game he injured himself and many players refused to continue the game on account of the blood from Johnson's injury possibly infecting another player. Hence, Johnson retired once again, but worked to promote awareness of AIDS within the NBA and other professional sports, so that when he returned to the NBA in 1996, it was a much more welcome and accepted comeback. Johnson only played the end of the 1995-96 season, retiring for a third time after the Lakers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Houston Rockets in order to focus more on keeping himself healthy as well as fostering his budding business ventures.

Started Johnson Development Corporation

Many sports analysts and fans wondered what Johnson would do once he had retired from basketball, but it was a question that Johnson had already begun to answer before 1991. In 1990 Johnson purchased the Pepsi-Cola distribution plant in Forestville, Maryland, with the help of Black Enterprise publisher, Earl G. Graves. To many people, taking on a sports star as a business partner would be risky, but as Graves said in an interview with Black Enterprise, "If I had any reservations early, they were overcome by the nature of his personality. It was clear that he really wanted to be a businessman and someone that others would take seriously." Johnson lived up to Graves' image of him when he went on to start Johnson Development Corporation (JDC) in 1992. JDC's first venture was to bring well known movie theaters into minority communities where few theaters existed. Partnering with Loews Cineplex Entertainment, JDC began to build Magic Johnson Theaters in Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Harlem, and the results were phenomenal. By 1998 the revenues from just three of the theaters were approaching $20 million. Lawrence J. Ruisi, the president and CEO of Loews Cineplex Entertainment was very impressed by his working relationship with Johnson, saying in an interview with Black Enterprise, "When you sit down and talk to him, what Earvin displays is the ability to listen and learn.... He didn't walk into this with notions that he knew everything there was to know about running a movie theater."

Over the next few years, Johnson would continue to expand JDC, creating five separate companies under the JDC parent company, including JDC Las Vegas, which ran a large retail shopping mall in the Las Vegas area, and Johnson/MacFarlane, which owns numerous shopping complexes in the Los Angles area. In 1998 Johnson met with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and much like his pitch to Loews Cineplex Entertainment, suggested moving franchises of the popular coffee shop into inner city locations where more minority communities would have access to them. After what Johnson had been able to do with his Magic Johnson Cinemas, it did not take much convincing to get Schultz on board. By 1999 Starbucks had opened eight stores with the help of JDC in inner city and urban locations. Johnson was able to broker a similar deal with the restaurant chain T.G.I. Friday's which also began opening franchises with JDC in 1999.

By 2002 JDC was moving in a variety of directions, working with other restaurant chains such as Fatburger, opening a series of 24 hour Magic Johnson Sports Clubs, and even dipping into the movie making business. Johnson was the executive producer of the movie Brown Sugar, which came out in 2002 and hopes to take JDC into contracts to produce films and television shows for Black Entertainment Television. He is also working in conjunction with MTV to produce "Who's Got Game," a reality show in which street-basketball players compete for money and other prizes. Many critics have scoffed at the idea of Johnson working in the entertainment industry after Johnson's involvement with a short lived talk show on the Fox Network. Running for only a few months, "The Magic Hour" failed to attract viewers and was panned by most critics. Johnson, however, has realized that he rushed into his show on Fox and that he needed to change his tactics as he reintroduced himself into the world of film and television. As he told The Hollywood Reporter, "I'm going to learn the business first, and then I want to branch off and do my own things.... I want to do it right and make quality films."

It is anybody's guess in to what area of business Johnson will take JDC next, just as it is hard to nail down in which direction Johnson will take his own personal ventures. In a People article in 2002, Johnson speculated that he might run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2005 saying "People want me to run. I'm going to take my time to think about it." Many critics are concerned with a choice like this for it will be the first time ever that a candidate with the HIV virus has ever run for a major political office, yet as Johnson pointed out, his doctors have said that the HIV levels in his body have been virtually undetectable since 1997, and according to Johnson in People, "One thing about me is that I have unbelievable stamina, especially at the age of 42." Johnson has come a long way since his early prima donna days as an NBA rookie all-star, and his drive to accept new challenges in the face of adversity assure that the nickname of "Magic" is still well deserved.

Awards

Selected: Named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four playoff tournament, 1979; named MVP of NBA Championship Series, 1980, 1982, and 1987; winner of Schick Pivotal Player Award, 1984; Life Time Achievement award, Friars Club of California, 2002; Naismit Memorial Baseball Hall of Fame, 2002; Savoy Magazine, Person of the Year, 2003.

Works

Selected writings

• (With Richard Levin) Magic (autobiography), Viking, 1983.
• (With Roy S. Johnson) Magic's Touch: From Fast Breaks to Fundamentals with Basketball's Most Exciting Player, Addison-Wesley, 1989.
• (With William Novak) My Life, Random House, 1992.
• (With William Novak) What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS, Times Books, 1992.

Further Reading

Books

• The Complete Marquis Who's Who, Marquis Who's Who, 2003.

Periodicals

• Associated Press, January 30, 2003.
• Black Enterprise, February 1992; May 1999.
• Business Wire, September 27, 1999; October 22, 2002.
• Chicago Tribune, February 1, 1980.
• Detroit Free Press, May 11, 1986.
• Detroit News and Free Press, November 9, 1991.
• Esquire, February 1992.
• Essence, March 1992.
• Hollywood Reporter, July 1, 2002, p. 6.
• Interview, January 1992.
• Jet, December 23, 1991; March 30, 1992; February 6, 1995; April 21, 1997.
• Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1987.
• Newsweek, November 18, 1991; December 23, 1991; February 12, 1996; June 15, 1998.
• New York Times, December 2, 1991; March 4, 1992; March 11, 1992; March 19, 1992; April 21, 1992.
• New York Times Magazine, December 6, 1987.
• People, November 25, 1991; December 30, 1991; May 20, 2002.
• Playboy, March 1992.
• PR Newswire, January 29, 2003.
• Savoy, February 2003.
• Sports Illustrated, May 13, 1985; June 29, 1987; November 18, 1991; January 20, 1992; February 17, 1992; June 15, 1992.
• U.S. News & World Report, November 18, 1991; November 25, 1991.
• Wall Street Journal, April 16, 1992.
• Washington Post, May 31, 1984.

On-line

• "Earvin Johnson," Biography Resource Center, www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC (May 5, 2003).

— Mark Kram and Ralph G. Zerbonia

For more information on Magic Johnson, visit Britannica.com.

(Earvin Johnson, Jr.), 1959–, African-American basketball player, b. Lansing, Mich. After winning the national championship with Michigan State Univ. (1979), he joined the Los Angeles Lakers and with them won five National Basketball Association championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987–88). Respected as a consummate team player and leader, he was named most valuable player three times (1987, 1989–90). In 1991 he announced that he had tested positive for HIV and retired from professional basketball. He subsequently worked to promote AIDS awareness, played on the 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream Team,” made brief comebacks with Los Angeles in 1992 and 1996, and coached the Lakers in 1994. In 1998 he bought the Borås, Sweden, professional basketball team and has played occasional games with them. Since his official retirement Johnson has also become a successful entrepeneur, overseeing a multimillion dollar business empire based in inner-city minority neighborhoods throughout the country. He is also a vocal proponent of African-American economic empowerment.

Bibliography

See his autobiography (1992).

Quotes:

"You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it."

"When you face a crisis, you know who your true friends are."

"They said playing basketball would kill me. Well, not playing basketball was killing me."

"Everybody on a championship team doesn't get publicity, but everyone can say he's a champion."

"I never think that there's something I can't do, whether it's beating my opponent one on one or practicing another hour because something about my game is just not right."