“I would let my daughter and mother get to 9 points and then crush them”: Magic Johnson revealed just how competitive he is following retirement from Lakers

Magic Johnson was just as competitive off the court as he was on it as he would give his mother and daughter a false sense of hope in 1v1s. 

Magic Johnson is perhaps the greatest player to have ever worn the purple and gold and is rivaled by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant, players who most certainly are in the uppermost echelon of NBA legends. The Los Angeles Lakers thrived the moment Magic stopped foot on NBA hardwood for them and never once looked back. 

It’s easy to forget about just how successful Magic Johnson was in merely a single decade of greatness as you never hear stories about Johnson in a Michael Jordan-esque way. The greatness of Michael Jordan persists due to the sheer amount of daunting tales that are told about him every day.

Also read: “Magic Johnson turned $40 million into $600 million!”: How the Lakers legend turned over an unthinkable profit during his post-NBA career

Johnson on the hand, was a one of the happiest and most elated people anyone could’ve met. The HBO series ‘Winning Time’ focused on casting an actor to play Magic based heavily off of how charismatic his smile was. 

His cheery personality however, should most definitely not be mistaken for someone who didn’t care deeply about winning. 

 Magic Johnson on being competitive against his daughter and mother during 1v1s. 

Athletes are wired differently from regular people. The reason they succeed is because of how much they truly want to attain their desired end goal of either championships or individual glory. Many of us will never feel the way a top-tier athlete may feel when he/she knows that they are infinitesimally close to their goal.

Also read: “The one Finals Magic invited Cookie to, Michael Jordan did a gentlemen’s sweep to the Lakers!”: Magic Johnson reveals why he never invited his wife to NBA Finals

Magic Johnson wouldn’t win 5 championships in single decade if he was wired differently. Isiah Thomas once said that Johnson was ‘crying and boo hoo-ing’ all night after losing to Larry Bird for the first time in the NBA Finals at Boston Garden. 

Another instance of Johnson’s competitiveness was when he said he would hilariously let his daughter reach 9 points in a game of 1v1 to 10 points, and then proceed to ‘crush her’. He would do the same with his mother but would let her get to nine and a half points and then follow suit.

Clearly, Magic Johnson wanted to feel the euphoric feeling of winning even when the stakes were as low as a background 1v1 against a family member that no one is watching.