Magic Johnson left no stone unturned during his illustrious NBA career, winning every individual and team accolade possible. However, one of his biggest achievements as a basketball player came before he even entered the league.
In September 1978, Johnson, a sophomore at Michigan State University, was chosen to be the cover athlete for Sports Illustrated’s College Basketball issue. In Johnson and Larry Bird‘s biography titled ‘When the Game Was Ours,’ biographer Jackie MacMullan wrote,
“Johnson was alone practicing perimeter jump shots in an empty Jenison Field House during the first week of September 1978 when [Michigan State head coach Jud] Heathcote waved him over to tell him Sports Illustrated had chosen him to appear on the cover of its college basketball preview issue.”
When the issue was released in the last week of November, Johnson called his father and told him to buy ten copies of the magazine. However, when he reached the newsstand, the rack was empty. The citizens of Lansing, Michigan, Johnson’s hometown, had bought every magazine copy. When the Michigan State star visited the dentist, he complained that his magazine copy was stolen.
Johnson’s father was taken aback by the love and admiration for his son. He was quoted saying,
“That was one special day in the Johnson home. For a young black man from Lansing, Michigan, to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated? I told my wife, ‘Now I have seen everything.'”
In the iconic cover, Johnson is sporting a black tuxedo and top hat with a white vest and patent leather shoes. It was titled “Super Sophs” and described the point guard as “Michigan State’s Classy Earvin Johnson.”
Picking Johnson was a masterstroke. Four months later, he led the Michigan Spartans to a National Championship win. He then declared for the NBA draft and was picked first by the Los Angeles Lakers, commencing the journey that would finish with him being revered as the greatest point guard in league history.
Considering how good he was already and what he went on to do just that season, there weren’t many who deserved to be on the cover more than Magic Johnson. To this day, the cover remains a legendary one, with many who were lucky enough to own a copy, now having it framed on their wall.
Magic Johnson and Sports Illustrated’s long history
Magic Johnson’s debut on the Sports Illustrated’s College Basketball issue in 1978 thrust the point guard into the national spotlight. His leadership role in guiding the Michigan Spartans to the National Championship win and his being picked first overall by the Lakers only increased his fan following.
In 1980, a year after winning the National Championship, Johnson led the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA title. He won the NBA Finals MVP award, becoming the first and only player until today to win it as a rookie. The Lakers legend then added four more titles, and two more Finals MVPs to his resume. He also won the NBA MVP award thrice. Johnson’s incredible success ensured he was featured often on Sports Illustrated’s cover.
Johnson has featured 23 times on the magazine’s cover. Only four other athletes – Michael Jordan (50), Muhammad Ali (40), LeBron James (25), and Tiger Woods (24) – have been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated more than the Lakers icon. Johnson’s last appearance on the magazine’s cover came in 2012. He was part of the ownership group that bought the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Johnson is among the most famous athletes in history. However, before he became a global icon, he was a kid from Lansing, Michigan, who was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was a college sophomore at Michigan State.
