Some people dream. Others speak it into existence. But Magic Johnson did both and backed it up with a lifetime of relentless hustle. Long before Earvin Johnson became Magic, he had a clear picture of his future. A ninth grader at the time, the kid from Lansing, Michigan, accurately predicted his future.
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Simply predicting something without putting in the work doesn’t get the desired result. One has to back it up with consistent hard work and immense sacrifice, Magic did just that to make his dreams come true.
When the NBA legend was in ninth grade, he told the local newspaper about his future plans. At the time, Magic had broken the city junior high school individual scoring record with a 48-point performance. During the brief interaction, Magic revealed that he’d like to continue playing ball up through high school, college, and into the professional ranks.
The newspaper also mentioned that he planned on starting a business in the future and traveling the world. In 2018, when the news resurfaced, Magic was very proud of himself that he was able to live up to everything he had said. “Even in the 9th grade, I envisioned playing in the NBA, owning a business, and traveling the world.”
Magic thanked god for making him able to achieve all his dreams. “How amazing is God that I’ve been able to do all three at the highest level?” He is now a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, a billionaire businessman, and has traveled the world as he predicted. But this wasn’t the only future prediction that turned into a reality.
Magic Johnson’s coach predicted his rivalry with Larry Bird
There are countless rivalries in the NBA, but none quite like the Magic-Bird rivalry. They were rivals since college, and the rivalry only intensified once they made it into the NBA. Magic’s high school coach, George Fox, knew that he was a very talented player and destined for greatness, but he didn’t want Magic to lose focus.
So, one day he told him that there is another player out there who is just as talented and works just as hard, if not harder. Initially, Magic didn’t believe him, but it all changed once he saw the great Larry Bird. “Truthfully? I wasn’t sure anybody like that existed. That changed the day in 1978 when I walked into a gym in Lexington, Kentucky, and met Larry Bird for the first time,” Magic said.
“Then I knew he was the guy Coach Fox was talking about. Larry was a different kind of cat. He didn’t say much, and he kept to himself. But, oh, could he play,” he continued. Although Magic never went off track in his career, seeing Larry Bird in action made him even more focused.
