Magic Johnson is a retired professional basketball player from the United States who is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players. He played professional basketball for 13 seasons with the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers (NBA).
This superstar is a tall, well-built man known for his muscular arms, agility, and quickness, which helped him become one of the world’s most threatening players throughout the 1980s.
After graduating from high school, Magic continued to play basketball at Michigan State University. He dazzled during his collegiate career, proving to be a great player. Later this sportsperson was diagnosed with HIV and is well-known for his HIV advocacy and charity work.
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Magic Johnson: Quick Facts
Full Name | Earvin Johnson, Jr. |
Nickname | Magic Johnson |
Date of Birth | August 14, 1959 |
Birth Place | Lansing, Michigan, United States |
Age | 63 years old |
Sun Sign | Leo |
Father’s Name | Ervin Johnson Sr. |
Mother’s Name | Christine Johnson |
Siblings | 9 |
Sister/brother name | Pearl, Quincy, Larry, lois, Yvonne, and Kim
Evelyn, Mary, and Michael Johnson |
Nationality | American |
Ethnicity | Will update soon |
Height | 6′ 9″ |
Weight | 220 lbs |
Body Measurements | Will update soon |
Eye Color | Black |
Body Type | Will update soon |
Hair Color | Bald |
Shoe Size | 14 US |
Education | Michigan State (1977–1979) |
Religion | Christianity |
Sexuality | Straight |
Marital Status | Married |
Wife | Cookie Johnson |
Children | 3 |
Children name | EJ Johnson, Elisa Johnson, and Andre Johnson |
Net Worth | $650 million |
Salary | Will update soon |
Social Media Presence | Instagram, Twitter |
Source of Wealth: | American former professional basketball player and former president of the Los Angeles Lakers |
Last Updated | May 2022 |
Early Life
On August 14, 1959, Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan. Earvin Sr. worked as a GM assembly worker, while his mother Christine worked as a school custodian. He has several siblings.
His father had played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi, and both of his parents were basketball fans. Earvin showed an early interest in the sport as well.
Magic Johnson was raised in a large home with many siblings and had an early passion for basketball. His father was an athletic man who had played basketball in high school, despite not being a professional player. His mother, too, fueled his enthusiasm for the sport.
Education
He attended Everett High School and was a standout basketball player there. This personality once had a triple-double of 36 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists in a game when he was 15 years old, earning him the nickname “Magic.”
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A fantastic player for the Everett High School squad, earning two All-State honors, and was regarded as the best high school player ever to emerge from Michigan at the time. He went to Michigan State University to study and continue playing the sport. Similarly, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers after college and spent the rest of his career with them.
Age and Body Measurements
The age of Magic Johnson is 63 years. Even with the increase in age, the ex-players aura and personality look fabulous. All thanks to his dedication and hard work. This 63-year-old stands at 6’9″, which isn’t too bad for the measurement.
Along with that, the weight of 100 kg means that it suits the height quite perfectly. Magic is a Christian American with shining black eyes. Talking about the hair, his head is completely shaved. With the increase in age, Magic has started to gain weight. Anything on the body measurements will be updated soon.
Magic Johnson Rings and Career
- In 1979, the Los Angeles Lakers selected him first overall. After putting up a good show in the early seasons, he signed a 25-year, $25-million contract with the Lakers.
- He had a great season in 1981–82, averaging 18.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and a league-high 2.7 steals per game, earning him a spot on the All-NBA Second Team.
- During the 1984–85 regular season, Johnson averaged 18.3 points, 12.6 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game, leading the Lakers to the NBA Finals. The Lakers met the Boston Celtics in the finals, and Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar guided the team to victory.
- He set a career-high in the 1986–87 season with 23.9 points, 12.2 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game. In the 1987 NBA Finals, the Lakers faced the Celtics again, and Johnson hit the game-winning shot and was named Finals MVP.
- His excellent play continued over the next few years, and in the 1988–89 NBA season, he averaged 22.5 points, 12.8 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game. In 1989, the Lakers reached the NBA Finals for the second time, but Johnson was out due to injury, and his team fell to the Pistons.
- Despite his retirement, he was selected to play for the United States in the 1992 Summer Olympics. With an 8–0 record, the team dominated the competition and took home the gold title.
- He had considerable success as a coach at first, and the team did well under him, but the squad went on a ten-game losing skid, and he quit as a coach.
- During the 1995–96 NBA season, he re-joined the Lakers and made a comeback as a player. In a victory over the Atlanta Hawks in February, he had 15 points, ten rebounds, and 13 assists.
Awards and Accolades
- He was voted the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament in 1979.
- He was named Most Valuable Player (1987, 1989, 1990).
- In 1992, he received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.
- In 1996, Johnson was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Wife
Earlitha “Cookie” Kelly and Johnson married in a small ceremony in Lansing, Michigan, in 1991. Earvin III (EJ), the couple’s openly gay son, was born in 1992. On the reality show Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, EJ appeared. In 1995, Magic and Cookie adopted their daughter Elisa. Johnson and his wife split their time between Dana Point, California, and Beverly Hills, California.
Johnson is also the father of a son from a previous relationship. Melissa Mitchell gave birth to Andre Johnson in 1981. Andre was reared by his mother, although he spent every summer with Johnson and ultimately worked for Magic Johnson Enterprises as a marketing director.
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Johnson and his wife own a Beverly Hills’ Beverly Park gated community property. In Dana Point, Orange County, California, the pair also owns a Tuscan-style beach house. The couple previously owned a home in Napili, Hawaii, but it was too far away for their children to visit, so they traded it for the beach house around 75 miles south of Beverly Hills.
Controversies
Magic Johnson makes some explosive claims about his former friend and NBA superstar, Isiah Thomas, in his new book When the Game Was Ours.
The book, co-authored with Larry Bird through Jackie MacMullan and focuses on the rivalry between the Lakers, Celtics, and Pistons in the late 1980s, is released on November 4.
After they established a close friendship in the past, Thomas allegedly propagated rumors and probed about Johnson’s sexuality, sparking a conflict between the two basketball players. In the book, Magic claims that in 1991, his agent, Lou Rosen, informed him that Isiah was spreading these falsehoods.
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Thomas wanted to discover if Magic’s HIV infection was caused by a bisexual lifestyle, and he went around the locker room and NBA world openly questioning Johnson’s true sexuality.
Thomas questioned Magic’s illness after having stood by Johnson as a friend for so long added to Magic’s anguish. No one wanted to play one-on-one with Magic because they were afraid of coming into contact with his sweat, but Magic believed that Isiah was the one person he could rely on in a crisis.
In a previously built home, Magic even dubbed a room “the Isaiah chamber.” When the Pistons arrived in town, he’d leave his automobile at the team hotel for Isaiah. That reduces the issue to a simple case of betrayal among friends, but it will almost certainly be twisted into a witch hunt to find more skeletons in Thomas’ closet.
Magic Johnson Net Worth
Magic’s retirement has not been a peaceful one. In retirement, he founded the Magic Johnson Enterprises business empire, worth over $1 billion, and earned Magic a personal net worth of $650 million.
Magic Johnson Enterprises is the parent corporation of Magic Johnson Theaters, a film studio, and a promotional marketing firm. Magic bought a 5% stake in The Lakers for $10 million in 1994, which he sold to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong in 2010 for a reputed $50-60 million.
Johnson also sold his Starbucks franchise for $75 million in 2010. Magic and a group of investors paid $2 billion to Frank McCourt for the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 27, 2012. No matter how much money Magic Johnson had, it was more about how well he utilized the available resource himself.
Social Media Presence
Magic is active on social media with a good fan following. He has active Instagram and Twitter accounts in which he has millions of followers.
Instagram: 2.9 million followers
Twitter: 5.2 million followers