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Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr. (born August 14, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan) is an American former basketball player, widely regarded as one of the purest passers and best point guards in the game's history. more...

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He has won championships at every level of competition - high school, collegiate, professional, and international. His professional career consisted of 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won five NBA championships, was named to the NBA All-Star team 12 times, was league MVP three times, and NBA Finals MVP three times. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, and was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. In 1991 he became one of the first sports-celebrities to announce his HIV-seropositivity, and as one of the most well known public figures to be HIV-positive, he has continually worked to educate and raise awareness of the disease.

High school and college

From his first days playing the game as a high school All-American at Everett High School in Lansing, Johnson was a unique player. He earned the nickname "Magic" when he was only 15 from local sports writer Fred Stabley Jr., who watched him put up 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists in one game. In 1977, Magic's senior year, he led Everett High School to a 27-1 record and a state championship, averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds for the year.

At 6'9", he was as tall as some centers yet played the point guard position (he still remains the tallest dedicated point guard in NBA history). Choosing a college close to home, Johnson put up impressive numbers his freshman year, and helped Michigan State University earn a Big Ten Conference title; the Spartans lost in the Mideast Region final to eventual champions Kentucky. His sophomore year in college, Johnson took the team even farther, winning the NCAA national title in 1979, beating player-of-the-year Larry Bird's Indiana State University. It remains the most widely watched title game in history.

1979-80: First NBA season

Leaving college after his sophomore year, Johnson was the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, chosen by the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson's impact was immediate. The Lakers were a talented team and featured one of the game's greatest centers in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Kareem had been unable to get the Lakers to the championship series in his previous two seasons. Many observers felt that it was Johnson who pushed the Lakers from being a good team to a great one. He combined the skills of the "true" point guard with those of a forward and a center, and fit in well with the Lakers scheme. Featuring a fast-breaking style with often dazzling passes, the Lakers were winning games in such an exciting fashion they were dubbed "Showtime" by fans and the media. Johnson played with a great joy that was infectious, and the Lakers not only became a fun team to watch, but a team that seemed to be having fun playing. Only the Boston Celtics, featuring eventual Rookie of the Year Larry Bird, and the Philadelphia 76ers, with the dynamic Julius Erving, matched the Lakers in fan popularity.

Read more at Wikipedia.org