Earvin JOHNSON

The Magic Man

Basketball player Earvin Johnson earned the nickname "Magic" when he was only 15 years old. He led his high school to a state championship, led Michigan State University to the NCAA title and won the NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers all within a period of only three years. The tallest point guard in NBA history (2.06m), Johnson was elected the NBA's most valuable player of the year three times and, with the Lakers, won five NBA championships. His all-around play inspired the term "triple-double" to refer to a game in which he scored at least 10 points, captured at least 10 rebounds and made at least 10 assists. On 17 April 1989, the International Basketball Federation voted to allow NBA professionals to participate in the Olympics for the first time at the 1992 Barcelona Games. The United States chose a squad of all-stars that deservedly came to be known as the Dream Team. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were honoured with the positions of co-captains. The Dream Team was so much better than their opponents that they never called a single time-out, and their average margin of victory was 43¾ points. They also averaged an Olympic record 117¼ points per game and scored more than 100 points in every one of their eight games.