Magic Johnson and his love for the game was unwavering. He played for just over a decade in the NBA and managed to win 5 championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played in an era when the league was starting to grasp the attention of not just the nation, but the entire world, so basketball was beginning to surge as he did as well.
Advertisement
Johnson was forced to retire from the NBA however after he was diagnosed with having caught HIV. This became national headlines and after taking the Lakers to the 1991 NBA Finals, he would be out of the league despite still having a lot more left in the tank.
He would make a comeback to the purple and gold in the 1995-96 season where he would play 32 games and average 14.6 points to go along with 6.9 assists a night. Though, after those 32 games, Magic felt like it was time for him to let NBA basketball go for good.
Magic Johnson would pull up to UCLA to play Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce recently had a guest appearance on ‘All The Snoke’ during the episode that featured Magic Johnson. Here, he would tell the story of when he, along with his team of young athletes at UCLA, would have to face off against Magic Johnson and other ‘old dudes’ he would bring on campus.
According to ‘The Truth’, Johnson would attempt to win a game tied at 6 a piece (1s and 2s to 7) with a mini hook shot. He would miss, leading to Pierce’s team getting the rebound and scoring on their end of the floor.
Immediately after the opposing team scored, Magic called a foul on the play where he missed his potential game-winner while being guarded by Paul, resulting in the entire studio bellyaching from laughter.
This goes to show that even a decade after having retired from the league, that competitive fire was still lit within Magic.
Magic Johnson would play overseas as well
Magic Johnson was itching to get back into the professional basketball scene to a point where he bought an entire Swedish basketball team named M7 Boras. He would play 5 total games for them, even putting up 30 points in a game.
Unfortunately, ‘father time’ caught up with Johnson as he was forced to retire after those 5 games as a 40 year old. Soon after his retirement, the team dissolved due to having gone bankrupt.
