Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr.is an American retired professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Associationfor 13 seasons. After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth14 August 1959
CityLansing, MI
CountryUnited States of America
I have to tell you, I'm proudest of my life off the court. There will always be great basketball players who bounce that little round ball, but my proudest moments are affecting people's lives, effecting change, being a role model in the community.
It's almost like we have ESPN.
The real story is that I had unprotected sex. That's that. That's easy.
It all started when I got injured early in my second season. This turned out to be as difficult emotionally as physically.
When you are honest and open with young people, they let you in.
Young people want you to be real with them.
You know I was a shy guy and people didn't know that and still don't know it today. I'm sure basketball brought my shyness out because of the fact that you have to do interviews, and that people are always talking to you in terms of the fans and everything.
My diet is mostly chicken and fish. I make sure I get a lot of vegetables, a lot of fruit. I am a big fruit man, I am a vegetable man anyway. And I also get a lot of rest. That's the key I may be up early, but I'm in bed early too.
I was around when my father finished the last payment of his house. I remember like it was yesterday. He had worked all those years to own that house and he cried. He was so excited and so happy and I want to see other people get that feeling, too.
I'm a big believer in dreaming. If you don't dream it, you can't become it.
We cut him off and there was nowhere for him to go but out of bounds ... It's still the greatest move I've ever seen in basketball, the all-time greatest.
You don't have to be Magic to be special. You're already special, you're you.
If people around you aren't going anywhere, if their dreams are no bigger than hanging out on the corner, or if they're dragging you down, get rid of them.
I tell you, it's funny because the only time I think about HIV is when I have to take my medicine twice a day.