Magic Johnson great facts
- Magic Johnson is the youngest player to ever be named the NBA Finals MVP.
- Earvin got his nickname of "Magic" from a newspaper reporter after scoring 36 points collecting 16 rebounds and dishing out 16 assists in one game as a 15-year-old.
- Magic Johnson was named Most Valuable Player in the 1978 NCAA Championship.
- Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996 to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
- Magic Johnson was named head coach of the Lakers for the final 16 games of the 1993-94 NBA season.
- Magic Johnson had a team single-game record of 24 assists three times for the Lakers.
- Magic Johnson had 138 triple-doubles in his playing career.
In 1981 Magic Johnson signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers for 25 years for $25 million dollars. It became the longest player contract in the history of sports.
- The Lakers retired Magic's number 32 on February 16, 1992.
- In 2001 the NBA established the Magic Johnson Award. It is given to the NBA player who combines excellence on the court with outstanding cooperation with the media and fans.
- Magic Johnson stood 6'9" which made him the tallest point guard in NBA history.
- Magic's flashy style of play became known as "showtime".
- Magic was a 3-time NBA MVP winning the award in the 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.
- Magic Johnson was named to the All-NBA First Team nine times.
- Magic was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 2002.
- Magic Johnson won the NBA Finals MVP Award three times, 1980, 1982 and 1987.
- Magic Johnson became the first rookie to ever win the NBA Finals MVP Award as he moved from point guard to center due to an injury to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- Magic Johnson retired on May 14, 1996 with the All-Time NBA record of 10,141 assists.
While playing for the Lakers Magic Johnson and his teammates won the NBA championship 5 times.
- Magic Johnson was a member of the "Dream Team" that won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1992.
- Magic Johnson was named to the All-Star team 12 times in his career.
