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Magic Johnson is one of the greatest players in NBA history. He was a five-time champion, three-time NBA Finals MVP and three-time league MVP. He did it all in a relatively short career that spanned just 13 seasons.
Johnson was selected first overall by the LA Lakers in the 1979 NBA draft out of Michigan State. He was coming off an NCAA championship win for the Spartans and immediately made an impact for the Lakers.
In partnership with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson helped the Lakers finish the 1979-80 NBA season with a record of 60-22. They reached the 1980 NBA Finals and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.
Johnson was named Finals MVP for his performance in the series-clinching Game 6 when he played guard, forward and center.
Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers dominated the 1980s, winning five championships during the decade. Johnson and his rivalry with Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics helped the NBA survive and took the league to a new level of popularity.
Johnson won the league MVP three times in the late 1980s but his career abruptly ended at the age of 32 years old. He announced his retirement before the start of the 1991-92 NBA season. He was diagnosed with HIV at the time and there was a stigma back then about having the illness.
However, that didn't stop Team USA from naming Johnson as part of the Dream Team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He stayed retired until returning to the Lakers midway through the 1995-96 NBA season. He went on to play 32 games and primarily came off the bench.
Johnson permanently retired before the start of the 1996-97 NBA season. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 as a player and in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team.
Magic Johnson became a successful entrepreneur after his NBA career
Magic Johnson tried his hand at several forms of entertainment after his playing career ended. He was a host of a short-lived talk show called "The Magic Hour" in 1997 before it was canceled due to low ratings. He also started his own music record label and production company.
However, Johnson found his success after establishing a conglomerate company called Magic Johnson Enterprises. He was able to grow his net worth to a reported $620 million.
The two-time Hall of Famer is also a part-time owner of three sports franchises — the WNBA's LA Sparks, the MLB's LA Dodgers and the MLS' LAFC.
