WEBVTT 00:00:07.508 --> 00:00:09.009 Ready? 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:14.890 Are you glad your name's Magic Johnson? 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.018 I would think that puts pressure on you right there. 00:00:18.101 --> 00:00:20.101 Yeah. 00:00:20.187 --> 00:00:22.439 Ladies and gentleman, you know him, you love him. 00:00:22.523 --> 00:00:26.026 Please say hello to Number 32, Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson! 00:00:26.109 --> 00:00:27.194 Here we go! 00:00:27.695 --> 00:00:29.322 -Magic. Magic. -Magic. 00:00:29.405 --> 00:00:32.158 Magic Johnson, that's who I wanna be like. 00:00:32.242 --> 00:00:35.286 Magic Johnson, the man, the myth, the legend. 00:00:35.870 --> 00:00:39.791 Magic Johnson was about passing the basketball. 00:00:39.874 --> 00:00:42.585 Doing so with flash, dash and sizzle. 00:00:44.454 --> 00:00:48.708 Magic did it with a smile. He did it with joy. 00:00:48.791 --> 00:00:50.251 People became special around him. 00:00:50.334 --> 00:00:53.796 They got their own kind of mythology around themselves, 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:57.050 because they were on the team with this mythological cat. 00:00:57.976 --> 00:00:59.936 The way he played the game. 00:01:00.019 --> 00:01:04.022 Magic's no-look passes made it seem like he was clairvoyant, you know? 00:01:04.941 --> 00:01:07.944 Everybody wants to credit Michael Jordan for changing the NBA. 00:01:08.862 --> 00:01:12.282 When Magic Johnson came in, that's when the game changed. 00:01:12.991 --> 00:01:17.036 I was a Chicago Bulls fan, but I gotta say, 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:18.705 Magic Johnson was pretty good. 00:01:20.081 --> 00:01:22.292 Here he is! Magic Man. 00:01:22.375 --> 00:01:25.336 And you know that we're number one! 00:01:26.421 --> 00:01:31.467 He was the brightest star in the galaxy of stars. 00:01:32.010 --> 00:01:33.845 That's saying quite a bit here in Los Angeles. 00:01:33.928 --> 00:01:36.890 He's still the most popular athlete in Los Angeles. 00:01:36.973 --> 00:01:41.853 He is beloved by everyone in this town. Nobody doesn't like Magic. 00:01:43.104 --> 00:01:46.649 It wasn't "Magic." It was Earvin Johnson Jr. 00:01:47.775 --> 00:01:50.278 And if you notice, I went Earvin and Magic. 00:01:50.945 --> 00:01:53.239 Those are two different personalities. 00:01:53.323 --> 00:01:55.074 Magic loves the crowd, 00:01:55.158 --> 00:01:59.662 loves the atmosphere of being a basketball player. 00:01:59.746 --> 00:02:02.790 Earvin likes to get away from that. 00:02:02.874 --> 00:02:05.710 Earvin and Magic are very different people. 00:02:05.793 --> 00:02:08.463 Magic is just, like, in front of the camera, the big smile, 00:02:08.545 --> 00:02:10.632 laughing, loving the attention. 00:02:10.715 --> 00:02:12.634 Earvin's quite impatient and, you know, 00:02:12.717 --> 00:02:14.886 he's the one who's, like, very controlling. 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:17.096 He put you through hell though, didn't he? 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.034 None of us call him Magic. He is Earvin and sometimes something else. 00:02:21.862 --> 00:02:23.772 Earvin don't like to lose. He don't like to lose nothin'. 00:02:23.956 --> 00:02:25.415 I don't care if it's checkers 00:02:25.499 --> 00:02:30.212 The thing about Earvin "Magic" Johnson, he never wanted it easy. 00:02:30.295 --> 00:02:33.590 And I'm sure in his life, very few things came easy. 00:02:34.675 --> 00:02:37.177 Everything came fast and good to you, 00:02:37.261 --> 00:02:40.055 but it could easily be taken away, just as fast. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:41.974 He's Earvin. 00:02:42.057 --> 00:02:43.642 I don't call him Magic, 00:02:43.725 --> 00:02:47.187 'cause Magic is a character that played basketball. 00:02:47.271 --> 00:02:48.564 He's like a superhero. 00:02:54.695 --> 00:02:56.613 If that's Magic, I guess that's what I am. 00:03:49.082 --> 00:03:50.793 Earvin Johnson passes long! 00:03:50.876 --> 00:03:54.004 Johnson drives to the net. One of the best, perhaps the best, 00:03:54.087 --> 00:03:56.381 all-around college basketball player today. 00:04:02.846 --> 00:04:05.724 The rumors say that you've played your last college game 00:04:05.808 --> 00:04:08.268 and that you're heading away from Michigan State. 00:04:24.201 --> 00:04:25.244 Yeah. 00:04:27.412 --> 00:04:28.747 Scoot this up. 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:37.014 Yeah, I'd like to say hello to all my teammates. 00:04:39.058 --> 00:04:41.226 And what's happening? 00:04:41.852 --> 00:04:44.188 I'd like to say good morning. It's a hot morning. 00:04:46.190 --> 00:04:48.275 And I'd like to say 00:04:49.151 --> 00:04:50.778 it's been rough, you know. 00:04:50.861 --> 00:04:52.029 It's 00:04:53.113 --> 00:04:55.115 I've been going through a lot, you know. 00:04:56.033 --> 00:04:58.869 Students, you know, the community, 00:04:58.953 --> 00:05:01.038 everybody wanna know what I'm gonna do, but-- 00:05:02.164 --> 00:05:04.750 Could Michigan State fans lose their star player, 00:05:04.833 --> 00:05:06.210 Earvin "Magic" Johnson? 00:05:06.293 --> 00:05:09.088 With shouts of triumph or tears of disappointment, 00:05:09.171 --> 00:05:11.465 many believe Johnson is likely to be the first pick 00:05:11.548 --> 00:05:12.967 in this year's NBA draft. 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:16.637 The team's best positioned to get him would be the Lakers or the Bulls. 00:05:17.388 --> 00:05:22.434 I'll never forget how excited everybody was about that draft. 00:05:22.518 --> 00:05:25.854 Because we had a chance to draft Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson. 00:05:26.897 --> 00:05:30.734 You know, at the end of the '78, '79 season, 00:05:30.818 --> 00:05:34.405 two franchises flipped a coin to see who got first pick. 00:05:34.488 --> 00:05:38.409 So, the Lakers and the Bulls were headed for a coin flip. 00:05:38.492 --> 00:05:40.661 Magic's style on the court would breathe new life 00:05:40.744 --> 00:05:43.872 into Chicago, if he chooses to leave college early to go pro. 00:05:44.456 --> 00:05:47.626 I haven't had a lot of time to think about it, 00:05:47.710 --> 00:05:50.254 but I guess this is the deadline so I had to 00:05:51.088 --> 00:05:52.756 give the answer up today. 00:05:53.924 --> 00:05:56.343 Bill Sharman and I had a conversation. 00:05:56.427 --> 00:05:59.680 Bill was GM of the Lakers, and I said to Bill, 00:05:59.763 --> 00:06:02.141 "Do you mind if we call the flip?" 00:06:02.224 --> 00:06:06.186 Because we're having our fans decide for us 00:06:06.270 --> 00:06:07.938 whether we're gonna call heads or tails. 00:06:08.022 --> 00:06:11.066 With NBA Commissioner Larry O'Brien ready to toss the coin 00:06:11.150 --> 00:06:15.446 and both teams waiting on the phone, Bulls GM Rod Thorn made his call. 00:06:16.071 --> 00:06:18.282 I had always been a tails guy. 00:06:19.491 --> 00:06:22.536 Our fans told us, "Call heads." 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:24.538 Let's have Chicago's call. 00:06:24.622 --> 00:06:27.666 -Chicago calls heads. -Chicago calls heads. 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:31.754 In New York, the commissioner flipped the coin. 00:06:32.796 --> 00:06:35.299 For the Lakers, this was that one guy 00:06:35.883 --> 00:06:38.594 that was going to change the destiny of this franchise. 00:06:38.677 --> 00:06:42.848 And when somebody gives you a nickname, "Magic", 00:06:44.350 --> 00:06:45.559 what do you expect? 00:06:48.604 --> 00:06:50.397 We'll now make the flip. 00:06:57.488 --> 00:06:58.489 Tails it is! 00:07:01.825 --> 00:07:04.203 In the off-season, some Laker prayers are answered. 00:07:04.286 --> 00:07:06.288 Los Angeles has first rights to Magic now. 00:07:08.374 --> 00:07:12.002 Okay, so next season 00:07:13.629 --> 00:07:17.424 I'll be-- Well, today, I'll be applying for hardship. 00:07:17.508 --> 00:07:18.926 I'll be turning pro. 00:07:25.599 --> 00:07:27.768 It is now exactly 12:00 noon. 00:07:27.851 --> 00:07:31.480 The draft is officially open. I want to welcome all the fans 00:07:31.563 --> 00:07:34.441 that are gonna join in and help make this draft a success. 00:07:40.531 --> 00:07:44.118 The first pick is the Los Angeles Lakers. 00:07:45.911 --> 00:07:49.790 The Los Angeles Lakers select Earvin "Magic" Johnson, 00:07:49.873 --> 00:07:52.835 Michigan State, 6'8'', 200 pounds. 00:07:52.918 --> 00:07:55.838 Earvin "Magic" Johnson of Michigan State, 00:07:55.921 --> 00:07:58.173 was chosen by the Los Angeles Lakers today, 00:07:58.257 --> 00:08:02.344 as the number one pick in the National Basketball Association draft. 00:08:11.687 --> 00:08:16.108 I am Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and-- 00:08:16.191 --> 00:08:20.821 But I was born Earvin Johnson Jr. 00:08:24.033 --> 00:08:29.038 When I got drafted by the Lakers and I got off the plane in LA, 00:08:29.121 --> 00:08:31.122 oh, my goodness! 00:08:31.206 --> 00:08:34.877 I had to come in and prove I could play in the NBA 00:08:34.959 --> 00:08:37.170 and lead the Lakers. 00:08:37.880 --> 00:08:41.508 I really, really didn't want him to go. 00:08:41.592 --> 00:08:43.385 He was 19 years old. 00:08:44.345 --> 00:08:48.557 Going away from home, this would be the first time away from the family. 00:08:48.641 --> 00:08:52.686 And I just didn't know what was gonna happen to my baby. 00:08:52.770 --> 00:08:56.106 The LA Lakers had the number-one pick. They took Earvin "Magic" Johnson. 00:08:56.190 --> 00:08:58.609 And a young man who is so exciting. 00:08:58.692 --> 00:09:00.402 He is a delightful personality. 00:09:00.486 --> 00:09:02.947 He is lighting up all of Southern California. 00:09:05.741 --> 00:09:08.118 See this shit here? I bleed this shit. 00:09:08.911 --> 00:09:11.914 If I was Superman, this would be my "S" on my chest. 00:09:11.997 --> 00:09:14.083 But I ain't Superman. I'm Snooperman, 00:09:15.042 --> 00:09:16.335 and that's my symbol. 00:09:16.418 --> 00:09:17.628 Laker gang. 00:09:19.713 --> 00:09:22.383 I first heard about Magic in 1978. 00:09:22.466 --> 00:09:25.219 When he was getting it in, in college. 00:09:26.804 --> 00:09:28.931 And then the next year '79. 00:09:30.599 --> 00:09:35.229 When the Lakers got Magic Johnson, excitement ain't even the word. 00:09:40.006 --> 00:09:41.090 Here we are. 00:09:47.231 --> 00:09:49.358 I remember when he showed up, 00:09:50.067 --> 00:09:52.653 there was a rumor Earvin "Magic" Johnson was gonna come 00:09:52.737 --> 00:09:53.988 to the Summer League game. 00:09:54.906 --> 00:09:58.409 I'm on my way to the game, and I said to our trainer-- I said, 00:09:58.493 --> 00:10:00.161 "Well, how many people do they get?" 00:10:00.244 --> 00:10:03.289 And he said, "Well, they only get like a 100, 200 people at the game." 00:10:04.207 --> 00:10:07.960 Place is full, 2,500 to 3,000 people, standing room only, 00:10:08.044 --> 00:10:10.546 LA crowd, and he's walking. 00:10:11.506 --> 00:10:15.760 And there are just nothing but hundreds of kids following him. 00:10:15.843 --> 00:10:19.180 You could just feel that something different was going to happen. 00:10:19.263 --> 00:10:20.556 You could feel it in the air. 00:10:20.640 --> 00:10:21.849 I'll be definitely ready, 00:10:21.933 --> 00:10:24.727 especially if the fans be as beautiful as they were tonight. 00:10:24.811 --> 00:10:25.937 Fans, gonna be here? 00:10:27.688 --> 00:10:29.899 Cooper interview. Take one. 00:10:30.817 --> 00:10:31.901 I'm sorry. 00:10:32.485 --> 00:10:36.030 Michael Cooper. Los Angeles Lakers. AKA Dark Gable. 00:10:36.113 --> 00:10:39.909 AKA Lockdown *. AKA Buck *. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.123 We're sitting in the locker room, and he hadn't gotten there yet. 00:10:46.207 --> 00:10:47.750 So, we're sitting there. 00:10:47.834 --> 00:10:50.461 This was gonna be my second year with the Lakers. 00:10:51.212 --> 00:10:53.005 And I knew something was up. 00:10:56.008 --> 00:10:59.303 We knew that Magic was in the parking lot 00:10:59.387 --> 00:11:01.722 because we could hear his boom box. 00:11:02.765 --> 00:11:06.561 I had this big boom box that I brought from Lansing, Michigan. 00:11:06.644 --> 00:11:10.898 And I was playing Parliament-Funkadelics at that time. 00:11:10.982 --> 00:11:14.819 His favorite group was, Parliament-Funkadelic. 00:11:14.902 --> 00:11:18.573 But Kareem, he liked the quiet music, you know? 00:11:33.671 --> 00:11:36.382 You hear that music, and all of a sudden, he walks in. 00:11:36.465 --> 00:11:37.675 Flashlight 00:11:47.101 --> 00:11:50.646 Kareem's a quiet man, so-- A man of few words. 00:11:50.730 --> 00:11:56.277 So, he just looked at me and said, "Rookie, cut that damn box off!" 00:11:57.320 --> 00:11:59.655 He went around and introduced himself to everybody, 00:11:59.739 --> 00:12:03.409 and he goes, "Hey, I'm Magic." He didn't say Earvin Magic. "I'm Magic." 00:12:03.493 --> 00:12:05.953 I said, "Magic, I'm Coop. How you doing?" 00:12:06.037 --> 00:12:08.956 And I said, "Welcome to the NBA, *." 00:12:16.339 --> 00:12:18.674 But when Magic got drafted by the Lakers, 00:12:18.758 --> 00:12:23.471 NBA was not considered a very glamorous league at that time. 00:12:23.554 --> 00:12:25.973 The league was like a mom-and-pop league. 00:12:26.057 --> 00:12:28.810 There wasn't a lot of money flowing around in those days. 00:12:29.310 --> 00:12:32.688 The National Basketball Association in its 33rd season is troubled 00:12:32.772 --> 00:12:35.733 by diminishing crowds and declining television ratings. 00:12:35.817 --> 00:12:38.528 Signs that fan interest may be waning. 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.950 That October of 1979, the NBA was a mess. 00:12:44.492 --> 00:12:47.286 The NBA was considered too drug-infested, too Black, 00:12:48.246 --> 00:12:50.081 and the games were on tape delay. 00:12:50.164 --> 00:12:53.501 I remember watching games late night, and they were repeats. 00:12:53.584 --> 00:12:55.628 You had to tell your family, "Don't tell me who won. 00:12:55.711 --> 00:12:57.380 Don't tell me nothing about the game." 00:12:57.463 --> 00:13:00.424 It just wasn't popular enough to be in prime time. 00:13:00.508 --> 00:13:03.553 Dare to talk with the commissioner of the NBA, Larry O'Brien. 00:13:03.636 --> 00:13:05.138 What about the future of the NBA? 00:13:05.221 --> 00:13:07.849 When we talked last year, there were a lot of problems. 00:13:07.932 --> 00:13:11.519 Frankly, I get a little bit frustrated when I hear and read about it so often. 00:13:11.602 --> 00:13:15.064 The league not only was losing money, it was losing interest. 00:13:15.148 --> 00:13:18.067 This was not a good week for the National Basketball Association. 00:13:19.277 --> 00:13:22.488 I mean, it was known as a thuggish league. 00:13:22.572 --> 00:13:25.449 Violence in the National Basketball Association 00:13:25.533 --> 00:13:27.535 appears to be on the rise. 00:13:27.618 --> 00:13:31.205 They let people in the NBA fight then. You know? 00:13:33.708 --> 00:13:36.043 When things happened, people fought. 00:13:37.378 --> 00:13:41.674 The National Basketball Association today suspended Los Angeles Lakers forward, 00:13:41.757 --> 00:13:42.967 Kermit Washington. 00:13:43.676 --> 00:13:47.638 I remember when Kermit Washington hit Rudy Tomjanovich at the Forum. 00:13:47.722 --> 00:13:50.850 Broke his jaw. That was really one of the low points. 00:13:50.933 --> 00:13:55.229 It's turning off a lot of white customers that are coming to the game, you know? 00:13:55.313 --> 00:13:56.314 Why? 00:13:56.898 --> 00:14:00.651 I think there's a conflict between the white and the Black, and 00:14:00.735 --> 00:14:04.030 I don't enjoy going to the basketball and seeing all Black players. 00:14:04.113 --> 00:14:06.908 America was over 65, 70% white. 00:14:06.991 --> 00:14:11.204 People were not willing to embrace the product into their living rooms. 00:14:11.954 --> 00:14:16.626 And there was talk of certain teams even folding. 00:14:16.709 --> 00:14:18.544 It was "survive." 00:14:18.628 --> 00:14:23.174 Can we survive a, you know, another year? Can we survive another week? 00:14:23.257 --> 00:14:26.677 And now, starting for your Los Angeles Lakers 00:14:26.761 --> 00:14:29.305 The Lakers at that time weren't thought of as champions. 00:14:29.388 --> 00:14:30.973 They were thought of as contenders. 00:14:31.057 --> 00:14:33.851 West. West all alone. Look at Russell come down. 00:14:33.935 --> 00:14:35.394 And what a play by Russell! 00:14:36.521 --> 00:14:39.106 I remember my first year in Los Angeles. 00:14:39.190 --> 00:14:43.152 The Lakers were on the last page of the newspaper. The last page. 00:14:43.903 --> 00:14:46.155 We would get in the back of trucks 00:14:46.239 --> 00:14:49.492 and go in the neighborhoods with microphones. 00:14:49.575 --> 00:14:53.412 "Come out and see the Lakers play. Come out and see the Lakers play." 00:14:53.496 --> 00:14:57.792 Since 1960, I mean, the Lakers got beat six times in a row 00:14:57.875 --> 00:14:59.669 by Bill Russell and the Celtics. 00:15:00.753 --> 00:15:04.632 We lost so many times in the Finals. I played nine Finals. 00:15:04.715 --> 00:15:07.051 We won one time in nine Finals, 00:15:07.135 --> 00:15:09.846 and it was probably the most horrid feeling in my life. 00:15:09.929 --> 00:15:13.474 I actually-- I wanted to quit basketball. 00:15:15.143 --> 00:15:17.395 We just didn't have the team that could win. 00:15:17.478 --> 00:15:19.897 You know, we had a good team. I played very well. 00:15:19.981 --> 00:15:23.901 I won an MVP, but we couldn't really contend 00:15:23.985 --> 00:15:26.737 for the championship without the right players on the court. 00:15:32.660 --> 00:15:35.413 Is Magic Johnson your favorite basketball player? 00:15:37.456 --> 00:15:39.167 Not seeing no magic. 00:15:40.835 --> 00:15:41.919 No. 00:15:42.003 --> 00:15:43.671 That was one of the many questions heard 00:15:43.754 --> 00:15:46.215 at the Forum as the Lakers held their annual picture day 00:15:46.299 --> 00:15:48.551 before leaving for Palm Springs and training camp. 00:15:48.634 --> 00:15:50.761 And their hopes are high for the '79-'80 season. 00:15:58.644 --> 00:16:02.398 When I got to training camp as a rookie, 00:16:02.482 --> 00:16:05.401 I went in there-- At first I was so nervous. 00:16:06.569 --> 00:16:08.529 Magic, you talk about getting to know things 00:16:08.613 --> 00:16:09.906 and making these adjustments. 00:16:09.989 --> 00:16:11.824 What are the big adjustments that you're making? 00:16:11.908 --> 00:16:14.702 I think-- You know, you got so many different 00:16:14.785 --> 00:16:17.788 plays and so many different combinations you can go on offense. 00:16:17.872 --> 00:16:20.708 And then on defense, just trying to stay with your man 00:16:20.791 --> 00:16:23.461 and then trying to learn some of them hold moves. I'm-- 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:27.548 When he first got there, there was some friction 00:16:27.632 --> 00:16:29.550 with this Magic Johnson. 00:16:29.634 --> 00:16:32.303 Who's gonna be the leader? Is it gonna be Kareem? 00:16:32.386 --> 00:16:33.888 Is it gonna be Magic? 00:16:33.971 --> 00:16:38.434 There's a tradition of harassing the rookies in the NBA. 00:16:38.518 --> 00:16:44.440 The older players get to be cruel and unusual with the rookies. 00:16:44.524 --> 00:16:48.778 Kareem said, "Hey, I want Earvin Johnson to be my rookie." 00:16:48.861 --> 00:16:52.365 I said, "Oh, okay." You know, I'm like, 00:16:52.448 --> 00:16:58.162 "I'll do anything for you. You a legend. You the best player in the NBA." 00:16:58.245 --> 00:17:03.334 I had to have his newspaper at his door at, like, 7:00, 7:30 in the morning. 00:17:03.417 --> 00:17:06.712 Every time it was a time-out in practice, 00:17:06.796 --> 00:17:11.801 he wants two waters and two Gatorades, and it better be cold. 00:17:11.884 --> 00:17:12.885 I said, "No problem." 00:17:12.969 --> 00:17:14.678 So, Norm Nixon called me aside. 00:17:14.762 --> 00:17:18.224 "Man, act like you been here before. Relax a little bit." 00:17:18.307 --> 00:17:22.520 He was a target, you know? And he just had to be careful. 00:17:23.938 --> 00:17:26.023 So, we're in practice. 00:17:26.107 --> 00:17:29.235 I was boxing out Ron Boone. 00:17:29.318 --> 00:17:32.530 All of a sudden, I look up at the rim and the ball, 00:17:32.613 --> 00:17:38.035 and he had hit me right behind my head really hard. 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:39.579 And he was just smiling. 00:17:39.662 --> 00:17:41.539 Ronnie Boone, he's a warhorse. 00:17:41.622 --> 00:17:43.541 I don't think he's ever missed a game in his life. 00:17:43.624 --> 00:17:44.792 Ron was old-school. 00:17:44.876 --> 00:17:48.713 As tough as they come. He'd look at you and you'd say, "What did I do?" 00:17:48.796 --> 00:17:50.298 Love him as a human being. 00:17:50.381 --> 00:17:52.383 As a basketball player? Nasty * , man. 00:17:52.466 --> 00:17:54.594 Ron would not back down to anybody. 00:17:54.677 --> 00:17:57.930 And he probably wanted to let the rookie know that the-- 00:17:58.014 --> 00:18:00.933 You know, "I've been here for 12 years, so don't mess with me." 00:18:02.643 --> 00:18:05.229 The next time, he's boxing me out. 00:18:05.855 --> 00:18:07.148 Ron Boone? 00:18:07.231 --> 00:18:08.608 Let's see what you got. 00:18:08.691 --> 00:18:11.611 You think, first of all, you drafted the wrong dude? 00:18:11.694 --> 00:18:13.488 Okay. I got something for you. 00:18:14.614 --> 00:18:19.994 So I ran in as fast as I could, and I hit him as hard as I could. 00:18:21.078 --> 00:18:23.456 He shouldn't have woke that quiet bear up, see? 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:24.540 He woke me up. 00:18:25.124 --> 00:18:26.918 So, Jerry West came over. 00:18:27.001 --> 00:18:31.464 He pulled me aside and he said, "Magic, I like that." 00:18:31.547 --> 00:18:35.510 And I said, "Do you want Earvin Johnson to play basketball, 00:18:35.593 --> 00:18:38.513 or do you want Magic Johnson to play basketball?" 00:18:38.596 --> 00:18:42.391 I said, "I'd rather see Magic Johnson play basketball." 00:18:52.026 --> 00:18:56.531 You know, growing up in a small town like Lansing, Michigan-- 00:18:57.490 --> 00:18:58.825 Let me tell you something. 00:18:59.659 --> 00:19:02.411 Nobody really heard about Earvin Johnson. 00:19:03.538 --> 00:19:05.915 I mean, who's Earvin Johnson? 00:19:08.167 --> 00:19:10.878 A person coming from Lansing-- You had to prove yourself. 00:19:10.962 --> 00:19:14.257 If you were really good, you had to go out and prove a point 00:19:14.340 --> 00:19:17.510 that this little boy from Lansing, Michigan had game. 00:19:17.593 --> 00:19:18.928 You know? 00:19:22.056 --> 00:19:25.143 Lansing is a hardworking town. 00:19:26.394 --> 00:19:28.688 You either worked in the car industry, 00:19:29.313 --> 00:19:32.650 or you worked, really, for the state. There's only two jobs. 00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:37.864 My father worked for General Motors for 30 years. 00:19:37.947 --> 00:19:39.949 He was never late. Never missed a day. 00:19:41.409 --> 00:19:44.203 And he worked on the line with the welding. 00:19:44.287 --> 00:19:47.707 So, his shirt would have holes in 'em from all the sparks flying. 00:19:49.584 --> 00:19:51.919 My mother worked for the school cafeteria. 00:19:52.712 --> 00:19:55.882 They were both hardworking people, blue-collar people. 00:19:57.508 --> 00:19:59.469 My father was in the service. 00:19:59.552 --> 00:20:03.264 And every time he came home, he made a baby. 00:20:05.725 --> 00:20:07.977 That's why we're all in a row. 00:20:08.978 --> 00:20:10.188 Michael Johnson. 00:20:10.271 --> 00:20:11.355 Larry Johnson. 00:20:11.439 --> 00:20:13.566 -Pearl Johnson. -Kim Johnson-Ray. 00:20:13.885 --> 00:20:18.180 I have six sisters, three brothers. I'm the baby boy. 00:20:18.264 --> 00:20:20.683 We used to call him Junebug. 00:20:20.766 --> 00:20:23.936 I don't even know where that came from. 00:20:24.020 --> 00:20:26.230 All I know, we-- They called him Junebug. 00:20:26.314 --> 00:20:29.233 Junebug. That was when he was little. 00:20:29.317 --> 00:20:32.403 He was so joyful all the time. 00:20:32.486 --> 00:20:35.948 I think that was a fitting nickname for him. 00:20:36.616 --> 00:20:38.826 -I don't think he liked it. -Oh, no. 00:20:38.910 --> 00:20:41.454 That stuck with him for a long time. Every now and then, 00:20:41.537 --> 00:20:44.290 somebody that-- When he's home. "Hey, Junebug!" 00:20:44.373 --> 00:20:47.710 Then, as he grew up, we started calling him Earvin. 00:20:49.128 --> 00:20:50.838 We used to have some games, man. 00:20:50.922 --> 00:20:54.717 I tell you those one-on-one games were just hard. 00:20:54.800 --> 00:20:55.801 We fought. 00:20:56.385 --> 00:20:58.846 We both roughed each other up, you know, 00:20:58.930 --> 00:21:01.974 'cause then neither one of us wanna lose, you know. 00:21:02.058 --> 00:21:04.810 And at a young age he wouldn't let nothing get by, you know. 00:21:04.894 --> 00:21:07.897 So we had our time where we had to scrap and stuff 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:10.066 on the ground, and stuff during a game. 00:21:10.149 --> 00:21:12.610 Arguing about who won and who-- you know. 00:21:12.693 --> 00:21:17.657 But Earv was that go-getter, you know. 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:19.992 Whatever he wanted to do, he was gonna do it. 00:21:23.329 --> 00:21:26.582 Main Street School was the mecca of Lansing, Michigan. 00:21:26.666 --> 00:21:29.293 If you were the best player in Lansing, 00:21:29.377 --> 00:21:31.754 you had to come to Main Street School. 00:21:31.837 --> 00:21:36.092 That's where you gonna get the action at, because guys were coming from all over. 00:21:36.175 --> 00:21:39.595 If you lose a game, you might not play again for another two hours. 00:21:39.679 --> 00:21:43.307 'Cause guys is lined up, and they always had their teams ready to go. 00:21:43.391 --> 00:21:45.476 Whether you had to cheat to win, or whatever, 00:21:45.560 --> 00:21:47.061 you wanted to stay on that court. 00:21:47.144 --> 00:21:49.564 I'ma pick the dudes that gonna play their role, 00:21:49.647 --> 00:21:52.692 so that we can win and stay out on that court all day. 00:21:52.775 --> 00:21:55.778 I played in the rain. I played in the snow. 00:21:55.861 --> 00:21:56.862 It didn't matter. 00:21:56.946 --> 00:21:59.031 Sunup to sundown. 00:21:59.115 --> 00:22:01.826 And then I started playing against older boys, 00:22:01.909 --> 00:22:04.036 and then I started playing against men. 00:22:04.120 --> 00:22:06.372 Even my father and my uncle. 00:22:07.248 --> 00:22:11.419 My father, my uncle fouled me, but they said there was no foul, 00:22:11.502 --> 00:22:13.629 so I had to play through that. 00:22:13.713 --> 00:22:18.134 I didn't want him to be out there, crybaby each time somebody hit him, 00:22:18.217 --> 00:22:20.219 or bump him into the jaw, he'd cry. 00:22:20.845 --> 00:22:24.682 They said, "Okay, he can hold his own, and he's strong enough 00:22:24.765 --> 00:22:26.684 and physical enough to--" 00:22:26.767 --> 00:22:29.061 to handle the beating that they were gonna give me. 00:22:29.729 --> 00:22:31.939 And nobody outworked me in the neighborhood. 00:22:32.023 --> 00:22:36.903 I was on the court more than any kid. I mean, it wasn't even close. 00:22:36.986 --> 00:22:39.071 And I wanted it more. 00:22:49.207 --> 00:22:50.791 One of my very best friends 00:22:50.875 --> 00:22:54.253 wrote high school sports for the Lansing State Journal. 00:22:54.337 --> 00:22:59.091 And one December Friday night, he called me and he said, 00:22:59.175 --> 00:23:01.344 "Have you heard of this kid Earvin Johnson?" 00:23:01.427 --> 00:23:03.971 I was assigned to cover Earvin's first game. 00:23:04.055 --> 00:23:08.517 50 to 49. Earvin had 12 points, ten rebounds and fouled out. 00:23:11.354 --> 00:23:12.772 And so I get back to the office 00:23:12.855 --> 00:23:16.275 and everybody wants to know how this Earvin Johnson kid is. 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:20.446 I said, "Well, he's 6'5'' type kid. He's gonna be a good player one day, 00:23:20.529 --> 00:23:22.240 but he wasn't anything special in that game.'' 00:23:22.323 --> 00:23:25.952 We beat 'em by one point, on a rebound at the buzzer. 00:23:27.828 --> 00:23:30.081 And my brother came into the locker room. 00:23:30.164 --> 00:23:35.253 He says, "George, he might be an all-city and maybe an all-stater. 00:23:35.336 --> 00:23:37.004 He's no all-American." 00:23:37.922 --> 00:23:39.131 But I thought, "Wait." 00:23:41.008 --> 00:23:44.303 Somehow, fate had me be assigned to the second game. 00:23:44.387 --> 00:23:47.014 We went to play one of the schools that's supposedly good 00:23:47.098 --> 00:23:48.474 in the state of Michigan. 00:23:48.558 --> 00:23:50.810 And we blew them out on their home court. 00:23:50.893 --> 00:23:55.690 I always tell people, he had 36 points, 20 rebounds, 15 assists and 10 steals. 00:23:55.773 --> 00:23:58.401 As a 15-year-old, that was my first triple-double. 00:23:58.484 --> 00:24:00.236 And my brother came up to me 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.655 and he says, "George, he'll make you forget 00:24:02.738 --> 00:24:05.616 about every other basketball player we've had in this area." 00:24:06.242 --> 00:24:09.745 It was the most amazing performance I'd ever seen 00:24:09.829 --> 00:24:13.291 by anybody, and he was his second game of his high school career. 00:24:13.374 --> 00:24:17.253 So the sportswriter came in and he said, "Listen, man, I'm-- 00:24:17.336 --> 00:24:20.423 I haven't seen a performance like that ever in my life." 00:24:20.506 --> 00:24:23.759 -He says, "I wanna give you a nickname." -"Earvin, we gotta call you something." 00:24:23.843 --> 00:24:27.305 Somebody's called Biggie. Somebody's called Dr. J. 00:24:27.388 --> 00:24:28.723 How about Magic? 00:24:28.806 --> 00:24:31.100 You know, you're like, "Yeah, right." 00:24:31.183 --> 00:24:34.186 You know, you start laughing like, "Yeah, yeah, okay that--" 00:24:34.270 --> 00:24:37.440 My boys not gonna call me "Magic." You know? 00:24:41.986 --> 00:24:45.990 And within two months, everybody in Michigan knew who Magic was. 00:24:47.533 --> 00:24:50.494 When I first started playing basketball in high school, 00:24:50.578 --> 00:24:53.206 everybody started talking about this guy from East Lansing. 00:24:53.789 --> 00:24:56.959 Magic Johnson. Magic, Magic, Magic. 00:24:57.627 --> 00:25:01.756 And I was like, "Magic? Man, I need to watch this." 00:25:02.965 --> 00:25:05.968 And I had heard about this kid, you know, Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson. 00:25:06.052 --> 00:25:07.887 I was like, "Who's this dude? Earvin 'Magic' Johnson." 00:25:07.970 --> 00:25:12.516 Never saw him, but just kept hearing how great he was as a basketball player. 00:25:12.600 --> 00:25:14.352 There he goes. Watch it for three 00:25:14.435 --> 00:25:16.896 "Have you seen this kid in Lansing?" 00:25:17.521 --> 00:25:20.608 "This 15-year-old Black kid from the Midwest. 00:25:21.317 --> 00:25:23.402 They call him Magic. Have you seen him?" 00:25:23.486 --> 00:25:26.197 Earvin Johnson, you're a very sought-after player. 00:25:26.280 --> 00:25:29.575 You shoot well, you pass well, you dribble, score, assist. 00:25:29.659 --> 00:25:31.410 We're trying to figure out what you do best. 00:25:31.494 --> 00:25:33.246 Do you know? We can't figure it out. 00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:35.831 When the newspapers really started getting involved, 00:25:35.915 --> 00:25:38.417 and then he started getting the big headlines-- 00:25:38.501 --> 00:25:41.879 You know, that's when he basically became the pied piper. 00:25:41.963 --> 00:25:44.966 Whatever game he was playing, everybody wanted to go see it. 00:25:59.522 --> 00:26:03.359 Everywhere we would go, you could not find a seat any place. 00:26:03.442 --> 00:26:05.152 You just could not find a seat. 00:26:05.987 --> 00:26:10.116 I still remember the ticket scalping, the extra police there for security. 00:26:15.413 --> 00:26:18.499 It wasn't any kind of ordinary stuff that he did. 00:26:18.583 --> 00:26:22.461 He did stuff that I'd never seen on a basketball floor before. 00:26:22.545 --> 00:26:25.673 He's up and down the court. Just behind his back, 00:26:25.756 --> 00:26:28.593 throwing no-look passes. Just doing everything. 00:26:29.844 --> 00:26:33.097 Earvin was a fierce competitor. 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:35.141 God, he was competitive. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:39.520 A lot of the other kids-- white kids, they wanted to beat him. 00:26:40.187 --> 00:26:42.732 And I'll never forget that they were playing Benton Harbor, 00:26:42.815 --> 00:26:45.318 a tradition-rich basketball school in Michigan history. 00:26:45.401 --> 00:26:50.072 They practiced first, and as they exit the floor 00:26:50.156 --> 00:26:52.992 and it was our turn to go onto the floor, a dude said, 00:26:53.576 --> 00:26:55.995 "Which one of you dudes Earvin Johnson? 00:26:56.078 --> 00:26:59.123 I just want you to know, tomorrow you in trouble." 00:27:00.166 --> 00:27:03.836 All my teammates were like, "Man. He talking trash." 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:06.297 I said, "You just wait till tomorrow night." 00:27:09.842 --> 00:27:13.054 It was 9,000 people, sold out I think. 00:27:13.554 --> 00:27:17.558 I remember one play in the game and a guy stepped on the back of my foot, 00:27:17.642 --> 00:27:19.602 so my shoe came off. 00:27:19.685 --> 00:27:22.605 For the next two or three minutes, I'm playing with one shoe on. 00:27:24.065 --> 00:27:27.610 In that three minutes, I made, like, five plays. 00:27:28.444 --> 00:27:30.613 He still went down the court with one shoe on 00:27:30.696 --> 00:27:33.324 and did a dazzling move and scored. 00:27:33.407 --> 00:27:36.577 Laid it in, and the people were just going crazy. 00:27:36.661 --> 00:27:38.287 It was just building. 00:27:38.371 --> 00:27:41.958 And by the time Benton Harbor coach called the time-out, 00:27:42.041 --> 00:27:44.043 the place just erupted. 00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:48.548 I said, "Look at the scoreboard." 00:27:48.631 --> 00:27:51.384 That's all. I don't have to talk trash. Just look up. 00:27:55.616 --> 00:27:59.328 I just knew he was not gonna go away. 00:28:01.830 --> 00:28:05.209 I do know one thing, that his mother was not real fond 00:28:05.292 --> 00:28:07.419 of the nickname "Magic" when he was given it. 00:28:07.503 --> 00:28:10.798 How about the nickname "Magic?" How'd you take to that? 00:28:10.881 --> 00:28:17.262 Well, I really never liked that, you know, because it had such a-- 00:28:17.346 --> 00:28:20.724 such an impact on him, you know. 00:28:20.808 --> 00:28:26.146 People expect so much from him because of that name. 00:28:33.570 --> 00:28:35.739 We had a big press conference at Everett High School. 00:28:35.823 --> 00:28:37.408 It was the big news. 00:28:39.326 --> 00:28:42.079 Every TV station within 50 miles was here. 00:28:42.162 --> 00:28:43.288 All right. 00:28:45.374 --> 00:28:47.626 Is there any questions before I get started? 00:28:49.878 --> 00:28:54.508 No, next year I will be attending Michigan State University. 00:28:57.511 --> 00:28:59.179 Michigan State University. 00:28:59.263 --> 00:29:03.350 Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson directing the Spartan Ballet Company 00:29:03.434 --> 00:29:05.144 from East Lansing, Michigan. 00:29:05.227 --> 00:29:07.771 Magic Johnson comes from the Lansing area, 00:29:07.855 --> 00:29:10.107 which is something we're all very proud of here. 00:29:13.360 --> 00:29:17.614 The whole city recruited Earvin Johnson. It wasn't just Michigan State. 00:29:18.532 --> 00:29:20.409 That enthusiasm that he showed. 00:29:20.492 --> 00:29:23.620 That electricity permeated through the building. 00:29:24.830 --> 00:29:25.914 It was-- 00:29:27.166 --> 00:29:28.459 It was mesmerizing. 00:29:29.668 --> 00:29:31.879 Magic Johnson, he's a coach on the floor. 00:29:31.962 --> 00:29:34.214 His play's under control. He's got great hands. 00:29:34.298 --> 00:29:37.468 A great passer. The way he goes, so goes the Spartans. 00:29:37.551 --> 00:29:42.389 They had a bad season the year before, but most of the players were coming back. 00:29:42.473 --> 00:29:47.227 Greg Kelser was there, and I put Jay Vincent in that lineup, 00:29:47.311 --> 00:29:49.146 and I put myself in the lineup. I said, 00:29:49.229 --> 00:29:52.941 "Man, I think we can win the Big Ten." 00:29:53.025 --> 00:29:56.028 I could not wait for the season to begin. 00:29:56.111 --> 00:29:59.615 So we can enjoy this chemistry and camaraderie. 00:29:59.698 --> 00:30:01.200 And it clicked right away. 00:30:01.283 --> 00:30:03.786 We were just having a good time. 00:30:05.954 --> 00:30:09.833 We had a nice boom box and record player in the locker room. 00:30:11.210 --> 00:30:12.920 When he joined, that was his thing. 00:30:13.003 --> 00:30:15.172 He took that over so we just left it alone. 00:30:15.923 --> 00:30:19.593 The one that we adopted, the song by the Jimmy Castor Bunch, 00:30:20.594 --> 00:30:21.804 is called "Potential." 00:30:22.554 --> 00:30:26.558 Potential, spelled P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L. And we used to spell that out. 00:30:28.094 --> 00:30:30.387 Earvin fashioned himself as a disc jockey. 00:30:30.471 --> 00:30:33.140 You know, his moniker was EJ the DJ. 00:30:35.184 --> 00:30:37.394 EJ the DJ. 00:30:37.478 --> 00:30:40.106 EJ the DJ. Yeah, yeah. 00:30:40.189 --> 00:30:43.150 You know, he would deejay on his off days, 00:30:43.234 --> 00:30:45.861 and before every game he had to get into a groove. 00:30:46.612 --> 00:30:49.323 And boy did-- I don't know what music did to him, 00:30:49.407 --> 00:30:53.911 but he'd go out and get a triple-double like it wasn't nothing. You know, so 00:30:53.994 --> 00:30:58.332 And so then I started deejaying at all the local clubs, 00:30:58.416 --> 00:31:01.544 and I was getting paid to be there to deejay. 00:31:01.627 --> 00:31:05.172 And then it was the last day before we left 00:31:05.256 --> 00:31:06.966 to go home for Christmas break. 00:31:08.634 --> 00:31:11.887 We go to this famous nightspot called Dooley's. 00:31:11.971 --> 00:31:16.016 -It was a party place. -Everybody on campus went to Dooley's. 00:31:16.100 --> 00:31:19.145 But it was just the place to be, to go. 00:31:19.228 --> 00:31:22.606 But we were sheltered. We didn't hang out. We didn't do those things. 00:31:22.690 --> 00:31:24.567 This was our first time being grown-ups. 00:31:24.650 --> 00:31:28.571 You know, away from home. Hanging out, drinking, having a good time. 00:31:29.086 --> 00:31:35.008 We said hello, I ran into my other friends and, you know, danced and had a good time. 00:31:35.092 --> 00:31:36.426 She walked away... 00:31:37.344 --> 00:31:38.470 and I said... 00:31:41.598 --> 00:31:43.558 "I got to get to know her." 00:31:44.226 --> 00:31:50.107 Man, that's when "Jamaica Funk" and "Ring My Bell" just had hit. 00:31:50.304 --> 00:31:51.972 So, Jay kept elbowing me, 00:31:52.055 --> 00:31:54.766 saying, "Man, if you don't get her phone number." 00:31:54.850 --> 00:31:55.976 The lights came up. 00:31:56.059 --> 00:31:57.477 Everybody was leaving. 00:31:57.561 --> 00:31:58.729 And I started walking out. 00:31:58.812 --> 00:32:02.524 And I stood right by the door 'cause I couldn't miss my opportunity. 00:32:02.608 --> 00:32:04.359 And as I walked past him, he said, 00:32:04.443 --> 00:32:06.028 "Hey, lemme get that phone number." 00:32:06.111 --> 00:32:10.240 "I would like to get your phone number so when we come back from Christmas break, 00:32:10.324 --> 00:32:12.242 maybe we could go out or something." 00:32:12.326 --> 00:32:14.453 I laughed at him and I said, 00:32:14.536 --> 00:32:18.081 "You'll never remember my name and remember to call me." 00:32:18.165 --> 00:32:21.335 -I said, "I'm gonna call you." -I gave him the number, and I said, 00:32:21.418 --> 00:32:23.420 "Okay, but you'll never remember who I am." 00:32:24.296 --> 00:32:26.632 Indiana working the ball. Forecourt. Bounce pass. 00:32:26.715 --> 00:32:28.884 Michigan State played a Christmas tournament. 00:32:28.967 --> 00:32:31.595 I was sitting with my mother watching the game, and I was like, 00:32:31.678 --> 00:32:34.848 "Mom, that guy right there, he asked me for my number when I left." 00:32:34.932 --> 00:32:37.184 And I was like, "He'll never remember me." 00:32:37.267 --> 00:32:39.186 And we laughed. We had a good laugh about it. 00:32:41.647 --> 00:32:46.193 I went back early because I had to finish registering for some classes, 00:32:46.276 --> 00:32:49.530 and I remember the day that I walked into the room, 00:32:49.613 --> 00:32:50.822 the phone started ringing. 00:32:50.906 --> 00:32:53.116 Like, literally we were walking in with our bags, 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:55.994 and the phone started ringing. I picked it up, and it was him. 00:32:56.078 --> 00:32:58.372 She said, "I never thought you were gonna call me." 00:32:58.455 --> 00:33:02.918 And I'm thinking, "How did he even know that I just walked into my room?" 00:33:03.001 --> 00:33:05.170 That we even came back 'cause we came back early. 00:33:05.254 --> 00:33:06.338 I just played it off-- 00:33:06.421 --> 00:33:09.216 "Yeah, you know a brother know these type of things." 00:33:10.384 --> 00:33:12.219 She didn't know I was calling every day 00:33:12.302 --> 00:33:14.638 about five times a day trying to reach her. 00:33:18.725 --> 00:33:21.645 And he found out my birthday was January 20th. 00:33:21.728 --> 00:33:24.481 And so then he asked me, 00:33:24.565 --> 00:33:26.692 "Can I take you out for your birthday?" 00:33:26.775 --> 00:33:29.027 You know, and I thought, "Oh, wow, okay." 00:33:29.110 --> 00:33:33.322 I was really shocked, you know, and excited about it. 00:33:33.407 --> 00:33:35.492 I went home and told my father, 00:33:35.576 --> 00:33:39.580 "I want to put on a suit to take her out on my first date." 00:33:40.956 --> 00:33:44.543 And he said, "Wow, you must really like this girl. 00:33:45.043 --> 00:33:48.130 How long you known her?" I said, "Dad, I don't know her yet." 00:33:49.214 --> 00:33:51.175 We had a great time at dinner, 00:33:51.257 --> 00:33:54.219 and it was like we were best friends instantly, you know. 00:33:54.303 --> 00:33:56.263 We just-- Easy talking to each other. 00:33:56.346 --> 00:33:58.348 We talked at the restaurant. 00:33:58.432 --> 00:34:00.475 Then we went over to my uncle's house. 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:03.312 We sat there and listened to music, and we talked some more. 00:34:04.438 --> 00:34:05.772 Cookie was amazing. 00:34:06.648 --> 00:34:12.529 And Cookie was serious about graduating, so she was driven like I was. 00:34:13.363 --> 00:34:17.534 For me, I was most impressed with the fact of how down-to-earth he was. 00:34:17.618 --> 00:34:21.622 He was so cool and so funny and so normal, you know. 00:34:21.705 --> 00:34:23.407 That's what I fell in love with. 00:34:23.613 --> 00:34:25.300 on the road all night. 00:34:25.383 --> 00:34:27.844 Actually, we would fall asleep, 00:34:28.845 --> 00:34:31.556 and the phone's off the hook, you know. 00:34:31.640 --> 00:34:33.934 We would fall asleep talking to each other. 00:34:34.017 --> 00:34:35.602 It'd be 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. 00:34:36.520 --> 00:34:40.857 I think for him, I was always just that place 00:34:40.941 --> 00:34:45.111 where he could relax and be supported. 00:34:45.195 --> 00:34:50.325 Whether he won, lost or, you know, was really tired or sick. 00:34:50.951 --> 00:34:53.328 Whatever I needed, even before I needed it, 00:34:53.411 --> 00:34:56.206 she would say, "Hey, I know-- You look tired. 00:34:56.289 --> 00:34:58.834 Come, just lay down on my bed. I'm gonna just study." 00:34:59.885 --> 00:35:02.721 I think that's what made me fall in love with her too. 00:35:06.191 --> 00:35:08.276 Him being the focal point 00:35:08.360 --> 00:35:10.987 of Michigan State's basketball team, 00:35:11.071 --> 00:35:12.405 it wasn't easy. 00:35:13.907 --> 00:35:17.285 And the pressure he was under once the season started. 00:35:17.619 --> 00:35:21.247 You know, he was very strict about his regimen before a game. 00:35:21.331 --> 00:35:24.876 What he ate, and how he needed quiet-- 00:35:25.585 --> 00:35:27.212 Dark room, just his music. 00:35:28.524 --> 00:35:31.485 And I would go to the basketball games and 00:35:31.769 --> 00:35:34.229 sometimes I would wait for him after the game. 00:35:34.313 --> 00:35:36.648 But he always told me, "Just go back to the dorms, 00:35:36.732 --> 00:35:38.484 and I'll meet you there after the game." 00:35:38.567 --> 00:35:41.945 There was no just hanging around talking or going home. 00:35:42.029 --> 00:35:44.615 Right then and there, "I'll call you when I get home. Bye." 00:35:45.365 --> 00:35:46.992 She said, "Well, why can't I wait 00:35:47.075 --> 00:35:49.870 because all the other players' girlfriends are waiting?" 00:35:49.953 --> 00:35:52.498 I said, "Just go to the dorm, and I'll see you afterward." 00:35:52.581 --> 00:35:54.082 That was our first big argument. 00:35:54.166 --> 00:35:56.543 Everybody was trying to talk to Earvin. 00:35:57.127 --> 00:35:59.463 All the girls, "Earvin. I want Ear--" 00:35:59.546 --> 00:36:02.549 No, not Earvin. "I want Magic. I want Magic." 00:36:02.633 --> 00:36:05.135 You know, there were girls everywhere. 00:36:05.636 --> 00:36:10.265 I get in his car one day and I see pictures on the floor 00:36:10.349 --> 00:36:16.188 of him, you know, taking somebody to their dance. 00:36:16.271 --> 00:36:18.941 And I'm thinking, "What is this?" 00:36:19.024 --> 00:36:21.401 And he says, "Oh, no. It's just a friend of mine. 00:36:21.485 --> 00:36:23.612 I just took her. She broke up with her boyfriend." 00:36:23.695 --> 00:36:27.574 And I thought, "No. I don't think that that's what's going on." 00:36:27.658 --> 00:36:28.909 -She was very hurt. -Yeah. 00:36:28.992 --> 00:36:30.828 -Very hurt. -Hurt bad. 00:36:31.411 --> 00:36:32.579 Because we knew how-- 00:36:32.663 --> 00:36:34.665 -We knew how she felt. -We knew how she felt. 00:36:34.748 --> 00:36:37.709 -We knew she loved. -Right. 00:36:37.793 --> 00:36:40.295 You know, they just really-- It really devastated her. 00:36:41.880 --> 00:36:44.133 You know, she saw that I was dating other people 00:36:44.216 --> 00:36:47.803 so it wasn't a good look for me. 00:36:47.886 --> 00:36:49.596 'Cause she said, "You moved on. 00:36:49.680 --> 00:36:51.223 Okay, then I'ma start dating other people." 00:36:51.306 --> 00:36:52.349 And I didn't like that. 00:36:52.432 --> 00:36:54.518 We got into an argument, and then I said, 00:36:54.601 --> 00:36:58.522 "Listen. It can't be both of us. You know, you can't date her and then me." 00:36:58.605 --> 00:37:00.399 He's like, "I'm not dating her, but--" 00:37:00.482 --> 00:37:02.776 And I said, "No, you gotta choose one or the other." 00:37:02.860 --> 00:37:04.194 And he said, "I'm not choosing." 00:37:04.278 --> 00:37:06.280 So I said, "Well, I will. I'm out." 00:37:13.745 --> 00:37:16.665 I remember back in those days when I used to see him a lot. 00:37:16.748 --> 00:37:19.877 And we were just standing there talking. I says, "Earvin, do you know, 00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:24.798 there's a 6'8" or 9" kid somewhere in a gym in this country, 00:37:26.216 --> 00:37:30.095 and he's got all your skills. 00:37:31.054 --> 00:37:32.931 Is he gonna outwork you?" 00:37:34.141 --> 00:37:37.144 A year later, I'm talking to him somewhere, 00:37:37.227 --> 00:37:38.812 and he says, "Hey, Coach. 00:37:38.896 --> 00:37:42.524 Remember that story you told me about somebody outworking me?" 00:37:43.025 --> 00:37:44.610 He says, "I found him." 00:37:48.447 --> 00:37:50.699 At the end of my freshman season, 00:37:50.783 --> 00:37:54.244 they decide to invite the best college basketball players 00:37:54.328 --> 00:37:56.246 to represent the United States. 00:37:58.165 --> 00:38:00.959 The first day of practice, I'm watching him shoot, 00:38:01.043 --> 00:38:04.463 and it's nothing but net, like 30 times in a row. 00:38:05.464 --> 00:38:08.133 I'm like, "Whoo. Man, this dude can shoot." 00:38:08.842 --> 00:38:11.178 I'm going into that game, didn't know much about him. 00:38:11.261 --> 00:38:13.263 Just knew he's a talented basketball player. 00:38:13.347 --> 00:38:14.347 And he was walking around 00:38:14.348 --> 00:38:17.601 with a big music box on his shoulder, everywhere he went. 00:38:17.684 --> 00:38:20.896 That's when I saw Larry Bird up close. 00:38:24.858 --> 00:38:28.362 We would get in the game and start throwing no-look passes, 00:38:28.445 --> 00:38:30.948 and he'd start hittin' 'em long jump shots. 00:38:31.573 --> 00:38:33.367 Earvin Johnson, look at that-- 00:38:33.450 --> 00:38:36.370 One time, I came down, threw a no-look to Larry, 00:38:36.453 --> 00:38:38.705 he got it, threw a no-look back to me, 00:38:38.789 --> 00:38:41.291 and I laid it up. And the people went nuts. 00:38:42.626 --> 00:38:45.045 And, man, after that I went back and told everybody, 00:38:45.129 --> 00:38:47.923 "Larry Bird, he's for real." 00:38:48.924 --> 00:38:50.342 The next season, 00:38:50.425 --> 00:38:53.887 he would lead his team to a 33 and 0 season. 00:38:53.971 --> 00:38:55.222 33 and 0. 00:38:56.557 --> 00:38:59.476 Now, we had to face a ton of good guys in the Big Ten, 00:38:59.560 --> 00:39:02.855 but we had never faced one individual talent like Larry Bird. 00:39:04.731 --> 00:39:06.108 Bird was an assassin. 00:39:06.191 --> 00:39:08.360 He was a one-man wrecking crew at Indiana State, 00:39:08.444 --> 00:39:10.404 and Magic may-- 00:39:10.487 --> 00:39:13.157 They may have resented each other early on 'cause they were competitors. 00:39:13.240 --> 00:39:17.202 He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Basketball Weekly. 00:39:17.286 --> 00:39:19.830 All the basketball magazines. 00:39:19.913 --> 00:39:21.874 He was named College Basketball Player of the Year. 00:39:21.957 --> 00:39:25.210 I still said, "Hey, probably should've been me, but that's okay." 00:39:25.294 --> 00:39:26.837 I'm sure he was. 00:39:27.754 --> 00:39:29.465 As much as we could of each other. 00:39:29.548 --> 00:39:32.759 The numbers that he was putting up the first year was incredible. 00:39:33.635 --> 00:39:39.016 It's hard when you can look in the mirror and see a guy that played just like you. 00:39:39.099 --> 00:39:42.644 His drive to win was just as high as mine. 00:39:43.312 --> 00:39:46.857 He was a competitor like I was a competitor. 00:39:47.608 --> 00:39:49.818 At that time, I don't think either of us thought 00:39:49.902 --> 00:39:51.987 about what was gonna happen in the future. 00:39:52.070 --> 00:39:54.323 It was just the start of something I knew that-- 00:39:54.406 --> 00:39:56.074 that I was gonna be seeing him a lot. 00:39:56.158 --> 00:39:58.452 Arkansas is on a 14-game winning streak 00:39:58.535 --> 00:40:00.329 with 25 and 4 this season. 00:40:00.412 --> 00:40:01.997 Indiana State 31 and 0. 00:40:02.080 --> 00:40:05.083 In 1979, I was governor of Arkansas. 00:40:05.167 --> 00:40:06.668 It was my first year. 00:40:06.752 --> 00:40:10.506 And Arkansas made the tournament, and they were playing Indiana State. 00:40:11.965 --> 00:40:15.260 Nobody wanted to see Arkansas beat Indiana 00:40:15.344 --> 00:40:17.262 except the people from Arkansas. 00:40:17.346 --> 00:40:19.515 They wanted Bird and Magic in the final. 00:40:20.474 --> 00:40:24.061 The point guard for Indiana State, who was a senior and very good, 00:40:24.144 --> 00:40:27.356 with time running out, he throws the ball into his left hand, 00:40:27.439 --> 00:40:30.651 heaves it up. It bounces off the backboard and goes in, and they win. 00:40:30.734 --> 00:40:32.319 It was an unbelievable game. I-- 00:40:32.402 --> 00:40:35.030 And I looked at the guy sittin' with me, and I said, 00:40:35.114 --> 00:40:40.035 "God now wants Magic and Larry Bird to play in the final, 00:40:40.619 --> 00:40:42.871 and who are we to defy God's will?" 00:40:47.334 --> 00:40:49.419 It is Indiana State against Michigan State. 00:40:49.503 --> 00:40:52.965 I'm Bryant Gumbel, and the fans here are going bananas. 00:40:54.216 --> 00:40:59.429 The NCAA finals between Michigan State and Indiana State 00:40:59.513 --> 00:41:01.348 was basketball heaven. 00:41:02.182 --> 00:41:05.310 Because you had two transcendent talents. 00:41:05.394 --> 00:41:06.937 The Magic Man, Earvin Johnson, 00:41:07.020 --> 00:41:08.981 against The Bird, Larry Bird, of Indiana State. 00:41:09.064 --> 00:41:11.775 You didn't turn on the TV unless they was talking about Magic, Bird. 00:41:11.859 --> 00:41:12.860 It was everywhere. 00:41:13.527 --> 00:41:15.487 You had this Magic Man 00:41:15.571 --> 00:41:19.908 against the hillbilly from French Lick, Indiana, Larry Bird. 00:41:19.992 --> 00:41:23.745 And both of 'em had a completely different kind of appeal. 00:41:24.955 --> 00:41:28.333 The country was divided about who they were gonna cheer for. 00:41:29.376 --> 00:41:32.754 And let's not kid ourselves, the racial contrasts were there too. 00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:36.216 White kid from Indiana in the country. 00:41:37.092 --> 00:41:39.511 City, urban Black kid. 00:41:39.595 --> 00:41:41.972 Hooking up for all the gold, all the marbles. 00:41:42.055 --> 00:41:43.807 Everything was about them 00:41:43.891 --> 00:41:47.144 because there's a story about opposites that attract, right? 00:41:47.227 --> 00:41:50.355 You got a Black guy, and you got a white guy. Opposites. 00:41:50.439 --> 00:41:52.983 You got Michigan State, and you got Indiana State. 00:41:53.066 --> 00:41:54.902 Their style of play, opposites. 00:41:56.487 --> 00:41:59.114 They were the two best players in the country. 00:41:59.990 --> 00:42:02.910 Only one can win, and only one can walk away with the crown. 00:42:02.993 --> 00:42:06.121 How many times do you get that matchup for the championship? 00:42:08.791 --> 00:42:11.960 Tonight the Spartan season concludes with a tense matchup 00:42:12.044 --> 00:42:13.921 against undefeated Indiana State. 00:42:14.004 --> 00:42:16.799 This will mark Larry Bird's final college appearance 00:42:16.882 --> 00:42:19.551 and likely the same for Earvin "Magic" Johnson. 00:42:21.762 --> 00:42:24.807 Even as we broke up, I continued to watch the games 00:42:24.890 --> 00:42:26.600 and, you know, was a part of all of that 00:42:26.683 --> 00:42:29.061 'cause I-- you know, I was still in love with him. 00:42:29.561 --> 00:42:33.315 And he wasn't really acknowledging that he's dating the other girl, 00:42:33.398 --> 00:42:35.984 so I kept thinking maybe we'll get back together. 00:42:37.361 --> 00:42:39.905 But by the time they went to the NCAA, 00:42:39.988 --> 00:42:43.117 and I'm watching it on TV and I look in the audience, 00:42:43.200 --> 00:42:45.119 and I see his mom in the stands. 00:42:45.202 --> 00:42:49.498 And she's right next to her. And that just really crushed me. 00:42:50.833 --> 00:42:53.752 Watching that game and then seeing that girl 00:42:53.836 --> 00:42:56.088 in the seat that I should've been in. 00:42:58.423 --> 00:43:00.926 You know, just-- It was tough watching that. 00:43:01.009 --> 00:43:03.428 It was really tough watching that. 00:43:03.512 --> 00:43:06.932 Michigan State wins the tip-off with Donnelly in the backcourt. 00:43:07.015 --> 00:43:10.477 Taking control early, many think, will be crucial to win this game. 00:43:10.561 --> 00:43:12.187 We knew it was gonna be tough 00:43:12.271 --> 00:43:14.590 but we had confidence that we was gonna compete that night. 00:43:14.870 --> 00:43:17.790 Don't give him no room to maneuver. 00:43:17.873 --> 00:43:21.502 Look, they have him sandwiched in. Completely in, can't get him the ball. 00:43:21.585 --> 00:43:23.879 He was such an incredible shooter, 00:43:23.963 --> 00:43:26.799 we wanted to just get right up in his chest 00:43:26.882 --> 00:43:28.634 and not give him any airspace. 00:43:28.717 --> 00:43:29.802 Surrounded me 00:43:29.885 --> 00:43:33.681 and made me take tougher shots than I usually did. 00:43:33.764 --> 00:43:36.100 Johnson, three on one. 00:43:36.183 --> 00:43:37.178 Here it comes. The alley-oop. 00:43:37.461 --> 00:43:40.589 Going into the second half, we went up 16 points. 00:43:42.257 --> 00:43:44.301 And then everything changed. 00:43:44.385 --> 00:43:47.137 Earvin Johnson pushing for Michigan State, 00:43:47.221 --> 00:43:50.349 and Magic Johnson has his third foul. 00:43:50.432 --> 00:43:51.725 We had to fight through adversity 00:43:51.809 --> 00:43:53.644 because Earvin got three fouls in the first half. 00:43:53.727 --> 00:43:56.647 A big guard in there, along with a good-sized-- 00:43:56.730 --> 00:43:59.566 Foul is on Kelser, number four. 00:43:59.650 --> 00:44:01.360 We were about to blow the game open. 00:44:01.443 --> 00:44:04.863 Greg Kelser got his fourth foul and they came storming back. 00:44:05.152 --> 00:44:08.280 So, I knew I had to make plays for us to win. 00:44:08.764 --> 00:44:11.850 Johnson. Magic Johnson with the ball. 00:44:12.711 --> 00:44:15.047 to Kelser, who flushes it to end the game. 00:44:18.709 --> 00:44:20.377 It's all over. 00:44:20.460 --> 00:44:26.258 Michigan State University, National Champions, 1979. 00:44:26.773 --> 00:44:30.026 It was one of the toughest losses I've ever taken, and it still is today. 00:44:32.946 --> 00:44:36.783 Still the most-watched game in college basketball history 00:44:36.866 --> 00:44:38.910 some 40-some years after it was played. 00:44:41.204 --> 00:44:44.707 The goal and dream that I had set came to fruition, 00:44:44.791 --> 00:44:49.128 and so on the plane ride going back to Michigan State 00:44:50.255 --> 00:44:51.548 I knew I was leaving. 00:44:51.631 --> 00:44:55.093 I was ready mentally, physically, to turn pro. 00:44:57.887 --> 00:45:02.475 We did a lot of things in college that I thought maybe would take four years, 00:45:02.559 --> 00:45:07.438 and it happened in two, so I guess I gotta go on to the next step. 00:45:08.147 --> 00:45:11.025 And let's see what I can do in the NBA. 00:45:12.819 --> 00:45:14.863 I'm giving up a lot, you know. 00:45:15.697 --> 00:45:18.700 College is-- You're giving up, you know, the students, 00:45:18.783 --> 00:45:24.038 you know, the chance to have a lot of fun. 00:45:25.623 --> 00:45:27.667 Just a lot of things, you know. 00:45:28.543 --> 00:45:33.339 He went on to win the NCAA and then, you know, the very next year 00:45:33.423 --> 00:45:35.842 he opted to go to California. 00:45:36.968 --> 00:45:38.803 So, I was determined to finish school 00:45:38.887 --> 00:45:41.890 and get outta here and start a new life. 00:45:49.355 --> 00:45:51.691 On the eve of his very first day, 00:45:51.774 --> 00:45:55.320 I want you to know that this man has a smile 00:45:55.403 --> 00:45:59.741 that lights up a television screen from here to Bangor, Maine. 00:45:59.824 --> 00:46:02.243 I got butterflies in my stomach. 00:46:02.327 --> 00:46:05.914 I'm just tryna make sure I can settle myself down. 00:46:07.040 --> 00:46:08.458 So you're watching the debut 00:46:08.541 --> 00:46:10.835 of Magic Johnson with the Los Angeles Lakers. 00:46:10.919 --> 00:46:13.213 And Magic Johnson missing one underneath. 00:46:14.422 --> 00:46:16.257 Loose ball, tangle of bodies. 00:46:16.341 --> 00:46:19.093 Johnson comes free and he travels. 00:46:19.177 --> 00:46:21.763 I can hear some basketball fans right now. 00:46:21.846 --> 00:46:23.014 They're saying, "See, 00:46:23.097 --> 00:46:25.850 Magic Johnson can't play defense in the NBA." 00:46:25.934 --> 00:46:28.770 About the second quarter or so I did settle down. 00:46:29.812 --> 00:46:32.857 Intercepted by Magic, and here he comes from behind. 00:46:32.941 --> 00:46:35.610 A fake. The pass. Here we go. 00:46:35.693 --> 00:46:37.278 Five. 00:46:37.362 --> 00:46:38.655 Johnson back to Kareem. 00:46:39.489 --> 00:46:43.076 So, it has come down to this. Ford sends it to Kareem. 00:46:43.159 --> 00:46:44.452 Skyhook up, 00:46:44.536 --> 00:46:47.455 and good! Lakers win! Score it! 00:46:47.539 --> 00:46:52.460 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has given the Los Angeles Lakers a victory! 00:46:52.544 --> 00:46:55.296 And Magic Johnson is out there celebrating 00:46:55.380 --> 00:46:58.091 like they just won the NCAA Championship. 00:46:58.174 --> 00:47:00.802 Magic starts running and jumping, and we're all happy and stuff 00:47:00.885 --> 00:47:04.931 but we're happy because we won the game. Magic is happy because he could see it. 00:47:05.014 --> 00:47:07.600 He saw the making of a championship team. 00:47:08.893 --> 00:47:11.229 I get in the locker room, Kareem say, 00:47:11.312 --> 00:47:14.107 "Rookie, don't ever do that again." 00:47:14.190 --> 00:47:15.817 We got 81 more games. 00:47:16.985 --> 00:47:20.655 You know, if we get up to this emotional level 00:47:20.738 --> 00:47:25.702 every time we win, you know, we'll be wasted by Christmas time. 00:47:25.785 --> 00:47:27.662 He pointed at me, so I pointed at him. 00:47:27.745 --> 00:47:30.582 "If you ever hit a shot like that 81 more times, 00:47:30.665 --> 00:47:33.585 I'ma jump in your arms 81 more times." 00:47:33.668 --> 00:47:36.171 And all of a sudden, we started to win. 00:47:36.254 --> 00:47:39.048 Someone that has captured the imagination of the country 00:47:39.132 --> 00:47:42.093 is this man, the Magic Man, Mr. Johnson. 00:47:42.177 --> 00:47:45.054 He made it possible for me to change my image 00:47:45.138 --> 00:47:48.224 in that we started winning. You know, I could start smiling. 00:47:50.852 --> 00:47:52.979 He was exactly the player that we needed. 00:47:53.646 --> 00:47:56.149 Cool is out. Enthusiasm is in. 00:47:56.232 --> 00:47:57.567 And isn't it refreshing? 00:47:58.109 --> 00:47:59.402 These guys care for each other. 00:47:59.485 --> 00:48:01.446 -We're sort of a live group of guys-- -Homeboy. 00:48:01.529 --> 00:48:04.699 He didn't have nothing but a T-shirt on. Now look at him. He's in silk shirts. 00:48:04.782 --> 00:48:05.909 Look at him. 00:48:06.659 --> 00:48:08.786 When them Lakers started winning, 00:48:08.870 --> 00:48:12.123 it united the city of Los Angeles. 00:48:12.207 --> 00:48:14.375 So, everybody felt like he was their hero. 00:48:14.876 --> 00:48:19.672 I fell in love with Magic Johnson and what he did on the court. 00:48:19.756 --> 00:48:23.885 And the charisma he had out with his media and public. 00:48:23.968 --> 00:48:27.472 Not only did Black America, not only the young Black kids, Black teenagers 00:48:27.931 --> 00:48:30.308 fall in love with Magic Johnson. 00:48:31.100 --> 00:48:34.646 But white America was falling in love with Magic Johnson. 00:48:35.939 --> 00:48:41.236 Falling in love and looking up to and feeling inspired by a Black male, 00:48:41.319 --> 00:48:42.862 you know, was almost unheard of. 00:48:44.614 --> 00:48:45.907 The Forum was in Inglewood. 00:48:45.990 --> 00:48:48.368 I grew up 14 blocks away and we got no tickets. 00:48:48.451 --> 00:48:51.871 We gotta figure out a way to sneak in. We were able to run down a tunnel. 00:48:51.955 --> 00:48:53.998 And run past the guards, get into the-- 00:48:54.082 --> 00:48:56.835 you know, get into the Forum and just kinda take seats. 00:48:56.918 --> 00:48:58.503 Here we go again. 00:48:59.546 --> 00:49:01.005 I've never seen nothing like that. 00:49:01.089 --> 00:49:04.050 I've never seen anybody 6'9", they were bringing the ball up the floor, 00:49:04.133 --> 00:49:07.345 there was control in the tempo, directing the offense. 00:49:07.428 --> 00:49:09.681 Nobody played the game like he played it. 00:49:09.764 --> 00:49:12.851 He was an oxymoron. He could play any position. 00:49:12.934 --> 00:49:14.686 He was a 6'9" point guard, 00:49:14.769 --> 00:49:16.729 and there wasn't one around at the time. 00:49:16.813 --> 00:49:18.606 Magic's hot and he knows it. 00:49:18.690 --> 00:49:20.692 What a pass to Cooper who scores! 00:49:20.775 --> 00:49:22.318 A no-look pass. But-- 00:49:22.402 --> 00:49:24.404 Earvin's gonna make a fantastic no-look pass. 00:49:24.487 --> 00:49:27.240 You know, look this way, ball goes that way, behind the back. 00:49:27.323 --> 00:49:29.284 Wraparound the world, score! 00:49:29.367 --> 00:49:32.245 I'm no-looking to everybody, right? 00:49:32.328 --> 00:49:34.706 Through the legs, behind the back. 00:49:34.789 --> 00:49:38.585 Oh, man, and that crowd would just go crazy. 00:49:38.668 --> 00:49:41.462 Magic had swagger. Magic was cool. 00:49:42.505 --> 00:49:47.594 You know, he played with such joy, enthusiasm. 00:49:47.677 --> 00:49:49.345 I mean, he was my favorite player. 00:49:49.429 --> 00:49:51.181 The Lakers became my favorite team. 00:49:52.307 --> 00:49:53.766 People looked up to him. 00:49:53.850 --> 00:49:56.769 People admired him from both sides. 00:49:56.853 --> 00:49:58.897 People wanted to be him. 00:50:07.363 --> 00:50:11.659 Everybody knows this Magic, the happy guy. The one who smiles. 00:50:12.452 --> 00:50:16.247 I think they might think that, you know, nothing ever goes wrong, 00:50:16.331 --> 00:50:18.333 or he has no problems. 00:50:18.416 --> 00:50:22.045 He just smiles every day and, and everything and-- 00:50:23.588 --> 00:50:27.342 But I do have low points, and 00:50:28.009 --> 00:50:31.930 Earvin Johnson is another guy. You know. 00:50:32.013 --> 00:50:35.183 Here's Magic over here, and here's Earvin over here. 00:50:37.143 --> 00:50:39.354 During the first year I was definitely homesick, 00:50:40.313 --> 00:50:43.107 so my phone bill was extremely high. 00:50:43.191 --> 00:50:45.318 He would call us all the time, 00:50:45.902 --> 00:50:48.696 you know, just about every day or every other day. 00:50:50.990 --> 00:50:53.368 I've never been without my family. 00:50:53.451 --> 00:50:57.205 My father and my mother always been at my games. 00:50:57.288 --> 00:51:01.000 Always still only 15, 20 minutes away from the college 00:51:01.084 --> 00:51:03.670 so I could go home and get a home-cooked meal. 00:51:03.753 --> 00:51:04.963 I can't do that anymore. 00:51:05.046 --> 00:51:08.508 I can't go get a hug from my mother anymore 00:51:08.591 --> 00:51:12.595 or just advice from my father face-to-face anymore. 00:51:12.679 --> 00:51:14.549 Earvin "Magic" Johnson. 00:51:14.832 --> 00:51:16.459 Tough when you play away from home. 00:51:16.542 --> 00:51:17.627 -Isn't it? -Definitely. 00:51:17.710 --> 00:51:19.796 Not hearing the home crowd screaming for you. 00:51:21.381 --> 00:51:23.091 The Forum was in Inglewood. 00:51:23.174 --> 00:51:26.344 Earvin lived close to Inglewood. He lived sort of an insulated life. 00:51:26.928 --> 00:51:29.806 He would go home and go to his little two-bedroom apartment. 00:51:30.306 --> 00:51:34.519 I stayed in my apartment all the time because I was scared. 00:51:34.602 --> 00:51:38.856 I was still scared of LA because LA was so big. 00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:40.984 How's the social life out here? 00:51:41.734 --> 00:51:43.319 I mean, I know you work hard, 00:51:43.403 --> 00:51:44.779 -Yeah. -but there's playtime too. 00:51:44.862 --> 00:51:46.447 Right, there's playtime. 00:51:47.699 --> 00:51:50.702 I was very much a guy who was guarded, 00:51:50.785 --> 00:51:53.913 and Norm Nixon told me to watch out for people. 00:51:54.539 --> 00:51:57.292 Everybody was trying to 00:51:58.042 --> 00:52:01.879 get to know, you know, the athletes, and so I say, "Okay." 00:52:01.963 --> 00:52:04.215 You have to watch so much. 00:52:04.299 --> 00:52:05.800 Then you have to find out with-- 00:52:05.883 --> 00:52:08.970 Are the people real? Do they want you for you? 00:52:09.053 --> 00:52:11.848 Can you go out and just forget about ball, you know? 00:52:11.931 --> 00:52:13.808 It's really hard. It's really hard. 00:52:14.767 --> 00:52:16.519 Good luck to you and to the Los Angeles Lakers. 00:52:16.603 --> 00:52:17.854 -Nice being here. -Thanks for being with us. 00:52:17.937 --> 00:52:20.106 Mr. Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Thank you, sir. 00:52:20.815 --> 00:52:24.861 Here was this fresh young man from Michigan, 00:52:25.445 --> 00:52:27.655 and he couldn't trust people. 00:52:28.865 --> 00:52:31.492 But that first year in Los Angeles, 00:52:31.576 --> 00:52:33.161 Jerry Buss bought the team. 00:52:34.954 --> 00:52:37.832 In 1979, Dr. Jerry Buss's dreams 00:52:37.916 --> 00:52:43.004 of sports ownership became reality when he spent a record $67.5 million 00:52:43.087 --> 00:52:47.383 on the LA Lakers, the LA Kings and their lucrative venue, the LA Forum. 00:52:51.095 --> 00:52:55.725 He knew I was a long way from home, and he said, "Hey, young man. 00:52:55.808 --> 00:52:59.270 When we get back from training camp, 00:52:59.354 --> 00:53:03.775 one Saturday I want you to come, and we gonna stand on the sideline 00:53:03.858 --> 00:53:05.193 of a USC game. 00:53:10.740 --> 00:53:13.409 Once he-- we went to the first USC football game, 00:53:14.452 --> 00:53:16.663 that's when we started really hanging out. 00:53:17.538 --> 00:53:21.125 We started having lunch and dinners after the Laker games. 00:53:22.210 --> 00:53:24.128 He would say meet him at this restaurant. 00:53:24.212 --> 00:53:28.132 So I would go meet him there, and we would break bread together, talk. 00:53:28.216 --> 00:53:31.844 And then he just starts saying, "Hey, come on over to the house. 00:53:32.470 --> 00:53:36.808 You have the gate pad number. You can come anytime you want. 00:53:37.392 --> 00:53:40.186 And so I started going over there all the time. 00:53:41.145 --> 00:53:47.360 We played pool at his house for hours, and he sort of filled the void. 00:53:48.152 --> 00:53:52.448 I took him aside, and I talked with him. And I said, 00:53:52.532 --> 00:53:56.035 "Will you please look out after my baby for me?" 00:53:56.119 --> 00:53:59.789 Dr. Buss said, "Mrs. Johnson," he said, "I will take care of him." 00:53:59.872 --> 00:54:02.125 I felt more comfortable, you know, 00:54:02.208 --> 00:54:08.548 knowing that he had someone that he could talk to, someone that would, 00:54:09.424 --> 00:54:11.467 you know, take care of him. 00:54:13.052 --> 00:54:15.597 Well, it became extremely close. 00:54:15.680 --> 00:54:18.891 He was like Jerry's surrogate son. 00:54:19.767 --> 00:54:21.686 He was the apple of his eye, that's for sure. 00:54:21.769 --> 00:54:23.605 Johnson from outta nowhere. 00:54:23.688 --> 00:54:29.027 The Suns took it easy. They had the layup. And Magic Johnson just refused to give up, 00:54:29.110 --> 00:54:32.113 comes back inside, gives it to Kareem. That might do it. 00:54:32.196 --> 00:54:34.198 Charisma, that's what the young fella's got. 00:54:34.282 --> 00:54:36.075 He's had an excellent rookie season. 00:54:36.159 --> 00:54:39.162 The Los Angeles Lakers are the new champions 00:54:39.245 --> 00:54:45.084 of the Western Conference as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pours in 38 points. 00:54:45.168 --> 00:54:47.170 Magic Johnson adds 20. 00:54:47.253 --> 00:54:48.463 I'm going crazy. 00:54:48.546 --> 00:54:51.799 Like, I just won the NCAA championship the year before, 00:54:51.883 --> 00:54:56.596 and now I'm actually going to the NBA Finals my rookie season. 00:54:57.639 --> 00:55:00.433 It's been eight seasons since the NBA championship has been a part 00:55:00.516 --> 00:55:02.060 of the LA sports scene. 00:55:02.143 --> 00:55:04.854 The style of the Lakers has always been to make the play-offs 00:55:04.938 --> 00:55:07.982 but somehow fold in or before the Finals. 00:55:09.234 --> 00:55:11.027 I remember we kept pumping each other up, 00:55:11.110 --> 00:55:13.238 "Okay. We gotta do this. We gotta do that." 00:55:13.321 --> 00:55:17.659 Well, earlier that week, the voting for the Rookie of the Year came out. 00:55:20.912 --> 00:55:23.665 I thought it would be close. It wasn't close. I was shocked. 00:55:25.500 --> 00:55:29.712 You know, when I learned that Larry Bird had won by a wide margin, 00:55:30.463 --> 00:55:31.464 I didn't like it. 00:55:33.591 --> 00:55:35.969 Everybody always said about me my first year, 00:55:36.052 --> 00:55:41.975 "He can pass. He can run a team, but Larry Bird is a much better scorer." 00:55:42.058 --> 00:55:46.562 I was sitting there saying to myself, "I can score, but that's not my role." 00:55:46.646 --> 00:55:48.815 I didn't like hearing that all the time. 00:55:50.525 --> 00:55:54.237 And so, you got me fired up going into the NBA Finals. 00:55:55.405 --> 00:55:58.074 Philadelphia beat the Boston Celtics four out of five. 00:55:58.157 --> 00:56:00.326 Julius Erving carried the load. He averaged 25 a game. 00:56:00.410 --> 00:56:02.704 The Doctor will be the man they'll have to go to. 00:56:02.787 --> 00:56:05.748 They had a real good team. Dr. J, when they had Chocolate Thunder, 00:56:05.832 --> 00:56:06.742 Darryl Dawkins. 00:56:06.749 --> 00:56:09.419 Now, I was a Philadelphia 76ers fan. 00:56:09.502 --> 00:56:11.713 I'd had a Dr. J poster on my wall. 00:56:11.796 --> 00:56:14.215 I was pulling for Philly. I was a Dr. J fan. 00:56:14.299 --> 00:56:17.885 We all wanted him to win a championship but not against us. 00:56:17.969 --> 00:56:22.265 underway. Controlled by Dawkins who'll break free. 00:56:22.348 --> 00:56:25.101 It was a back-and-forth, up-and-down series. 00:56:25.810 --> 00:56:28.438 We knew we had our hands full with Philadelphia, 00:56:28.521 --> 00:56:31.524 but the one thing that was going in our favor was nobody 00:56:31.608 --> 00:56:33.276 in the league could stop Kareem. 00:56:33.359 --> 00:56:34.861 Kareem moving the other way, Dawkins can't-- 00:56:34.944 --> 00:56:38.072 -He was just unstoppable. -I spoke to the team. I told 'em, 00:56:38.740 --> 00:56:41.075 "Listen, I'm gonna be ready to do my job." 00:56:41.159 --> 00:56:44.746 Goes to Magic, lob to Kareem 00:56:44.829 --> 00:56:48.583 And so, in game five at the Forum, it was nip and tuck. 00:56:48.666 --> 00:56:53.379 A 2-2 series, this is a big game because we can go up 3-2. 00:56:58.009 --> 00:56:59.052 Kareem's hurt. 00:56:59.135 --> 00:57:02.472 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is injured. There's no question about it. 00:57:02.555 --> 00:57:04.766 In the middle of the third quarter, 00:57:04.849 --> 00:57:06.935 Kareem has a sprain in his ankle. 00:57:07.018 --> 00:57:10.480 Boy, they would be in more than serious trouble without him. 00:57:10.563 --> 00:57:13.650 We ended up closing out the game. We're up 3-2 now. 00:57:13.733 --> 00:57:15.902 Please. Give him some room here, please. 00:57:15.985 --> 00:57:17.779 It was catastrophic. 00:57:17.862 --> 00:57:20.448 Kareem was our captain, and he was always there. 00:57:20.531 --> 00:57:22.450 Consummate professional, whether it was, you know, 00:57:22.533 --> 00:57:25.828 had a migraine or not. I think we were all hopeful. 00:57:25.912 --> 00:57:28.831 If there was any way he could play, he would play. We knew that. 00:57:29.749 --> 00:57:32.585 The next morning, we're flying to Philly. 00:57:32.669 --> 00:57:36.506 We get to the airport, and they said, "Man, did you hear the news?" 00:57:36.589 --> 00:57:37.590 I said, "What news?" 00:57:37.674 --> 00:57:41.678 Our doctors let us know that he was injured enough 00:57:41.761 --> 00:57:44.180 that he wasn't gonna play game six. 00:57:44.722 --> 00:57:48.977 We don't have the greatest scorer in the history of the game with us. 00:57:49.894 --> 00:57:52.689 How we gonna beat Philadelphia without Kareem? 00:57:53.189 --> 00:57:57.193 Everybody's sitting there, and you could tell it was a lot of tension. 00:57:57.277 --> 00:57:59.195 And everybody was, like, nervous. 00:57:59.279 --> 00:58:01.489 Nobody was talking, which was strange. 00:58:01.573 --> 00:58:03.116 How we gonna do this without our captain? 00:58:03.199 --> 00:58:05.159 You know, he's not even gonna make the trip. 00:58:05.243 --> 00:58:06.828 This must really be bad. 00:58:07.412 --> 00:58:11.332 They was all frustrated and disappointed that he couldn't play. 00:58:12.458 --> 00:58:14.544 So, I said, "I gotta do something." 00:58:15.378 --> 00:58:17.130 Kareem used to get seat 1A. 00:58:17.714 --> 00:58:20.341 There was only one person who ever sat in 1A. 00:58:21.509 --> 00:58:23.678 Kareem would sit in the first row 00:58:23.761 --> 00:58:26.639 but Magic and I would sit in the second row. 00:58:26.723 --> 00:58:30.101 So, I'm in the second row, and Magic sits in Kareem's seat. 00:58:30.184 --> 00:58:32.395 He just turned around and looked at everybody. 00:58:32.478 --> 00:58:34.522 And goes, 00:58:34.606 --> 00:58:37.358 "Have no fear, Earvin Magic Johnson is here." 00:58:39.152 --> 00:58:40.987 I'm 'bout to show you 00:58:41.070 --> 00:58:44.782 and everybody on this team what type of game I got.