“As a kid, I never thought playing the game that I love will get me here”: Magic Johnson is grateful to stand among the game’s best for NBA’s 75th-anniversary honours

Magic Johnson never imagined that the game he loved to play since his childhood will earn him the success he has had.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. is most certainly one of the best point guards, if not The Best, to ever play the game of basketball. Much famous for his friendly demeanour and infectious smile on and off the court, Johnson did some things with the basketball that no one ever did.

The 6’9 point guard could have been known as “June Bug” for hopping off one court to another in search of playing more and more games in his childhood.

That thirst to play ball made him a wonderful player. He played for the school team in Everett High School and finished his high school career with two All-State selections, and soon became the best high school player ever to emerge from Michigan.

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Soon enough he would become one of the best in the world after he would join the Los Angeles Lakers as the first pick in 1979 coming off from 2-years at the Michigan State college.

Magic made an immediate impact on the biggest stages of all and helped the Lakers win a championship in his rookie season. But surprisingly, it wasn’t always the plan for him to become a basketball player, and now he finds himself among the best.

Magic Johnson never imagined achieving this much

Magic’s preference as a career growing up was to become a television commentator after studying a communications major. But as it panned out, the June Bug was destined to become an all-time great athlete. And it seemed surreal to him when he stood among his idols and basketball greats to be named as NBA’s Top-75 player of all time.

That is as humble as one can be because not only did Johnson seal his place as top-50 or top-75 players in his 13-years in the game, he is easily top-10 or even top-5 on anyone’s All-time list. Just think of a team or an individual basketball honour and the 62-year-old legend has it.

Having earned everything in his relatively small career, Johnson shocked the world with that magical smile announcing he had tested positive for HIV before the 1991-92 season.

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5 NBA Championships, 3 MVPs, 3 Finals MVPs, 12 All-Star selections, 10 All-NBA team selections, and having a career average of well over 19 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds meant he was a First Ballot Hall of Famer.

Having played his whole career against Larry Bird’s Celtics, Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Isiah Thomas’ Pistons, and still winning every possible individual and team honours make him one of the GOATs in the game.