Magic Johnson Report

Michael Jordan, in his prime, was thought of as one of the greatest basketball champions of all time. A shooting guard, standing at six-six, Jordan was able to out play anyone in his position. He started his career at the University of North Carolina, where he helped his team win a national championship. He then was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984-85 season. While playing for the Bulls, Jordan received many awards such as, MVP, five championships, Olympic gold medals, slam dunk contests, and many more defensive and offensive awards. Jordan simply dominated the nineties and left the game as a NBA Finals winner in 1998.

Michael Jordan had a passion for Basketball. It was not something he did to fill up his spare time; it was a goal that he knew would be his channel to influence the world. When we follow our passion, we would paint the world in very bright colors. It is important to know that our passion is our DNA, which would be the channel through which we make a mark in our world. Michael Jordan’s passion still speaks because he has influenced many generations of young people in the game of Basketball.

Attention Grabber: His Airness , Air Jordan, MJ what basketball player comes to mind when you hear this name? By the show of hands who All Knows who Michael Jordan is? Well if you didn’t I’m going to inform you on who he is and his rise to becoming one of the world’s best players.

Michael Jordan helped bring basketball to the international audiences, the 1992 USA Olympic basketballs team went undefeated and swept the Olympics and became the dream team.

During the 1980s and 1990s the new HIV disease began to emerge in society and with it came harsh stereotypes and discrimination against those who contracted it. Simultaneously, one of the most talented and influential point guards in basketball was dominating the sport: Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Throughout his career Johnson gained three Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards and was admitted into the Basketball Hall of Fame (“Magic Johnson”). However, on November 7, 1991, Johnson announced his diagnosis of HIV and his retirement from the National Basketball Association (NBA). Following this abrupt and unexpected event, Johnson became one of the leading figures in the fight against AIDS. The Magic Johnson Foundation was founded and is still dedicated to educating communities about AIDS. The charitable and influential work Johnson contributed to the research of AIDS revealed him as not just an extraordinary basketball player but also as an extraordinary human being (“Magic Johnson”). A few years after Johnson’s diagnosis, he released his autobiography, My Life. My Life describes the childhood and competitive basketball years of Johnson as well as his announcement of contracting HIV. In the article, “New and Noteworthy Paperbacks”, by Laurel Graeber, reviewer Harvey Araton describes Magic Johnson’s autobiography, My Life, as “best when he shares his insights about his coaches and fellow players” (Graeber). The article has positive things to say about Johnson’s autobiography such

Wilt Chamberlain was a 7’1 gentleman who had a big heart for other things except basketball. He never really had an interest in playing any kind of sports; he’s adopted, so the family he has been with all his life have never really told him that he could be good at anything he does. Wilt never told anyone this until he got in high school but he was always drawing something. Like a flower or a person, the one thing Wilt loved to draw was a Lion. That’s only because the lion is the king of the jungle and everyone knew about the lion but nobody knew about young Wilt Chamberlain.

“After God and my father, I respect Larry Bird more than anyone,” said basketball legend, Earvin “Magic” Johnson. With the odds set against him, a country boy from the basketball hotbed of Indiana, Bird was able to make a name for himself and has left an impact on the basketball world like no other. Creating an image was hard for Bird; he dropped out of Indiana University after just twenty-four days because he was unable to adjust to the crowded university culture. Bird worked as a garbage man after he dropped out, forgoing his basketball career to spend time at home. Bird loved his time as a garbage man, where he learned to enjoy the simpler parts of life. Bird’s father committed suicide during this time, forcing him

The coach(George Fox) said Magic had to be more tolerant of his teammates. George worked the kids asses off to get everything to become a habit. Earvin got his nickname shortly after this when a sportswriter came to the locker room after a game and asked Earvin if he could give him the nickname Magic. Earvin was embarrassed of the name at first and was surprised when it caught up to him. The sportswriter wrote about Earvin “Magic” Johnson and the name became state known.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr is known to be one of the most influential people in the history of sports, business, and so much more. He is a former basketball player, entrepreneur, activist, and is currently the head of the Lakers’ Basketball Operations. He has won a Gold Medal in the Olympics playing for the 1992 “dream team”, won 3 NBA MVP awards and has been a very successful businessman venturing into a variety of industries. Earvin Johnson Jr would begin his life on August 14th 1959 in Lansing, Michigan which is the same place where he would reside during his early years. Johnson would grow up with six other siblings and his parents in Lansing, Michigan.

Michael Jordan attended Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. High School is where Michael Jordan’s journey to stardom began, but the beginning of Michael Jordan’s High School career got off to a rocky start. As a High School sophomore he was cut from the varsity basketball team, and instead his 6’7’’ friend Leroy Smith made the team. Varsity head coach, Fred Lynch decided that the varsity team needed Leroy Smith’s size, and thought Michael at 5’ 10’’ was too short and needed to develop his skills in order to be a reliable contributor to the varsity team. Michael had no choice but to play on the junior varsity team, which greatly frustrated him, because he felt like he was good enough to make the varsity team. ‘’It was embarrassing

The press was in tears and the fans were shocked and could not digest what they have heard. “Mostly I remember how horribly sad everybody was accept for Magic and it just seemed as though he was putting on a good smile, putting on a good fight but everyone else believed there, we were going to lose him” David Stern (1991). Magic after started to look for treatment and started to live healthy. He was working out again and would occasionally try to play one on one with his old teammates but no one wanted to get close to him or even talk to him. People started to treat him different but his old coach, Pat Riley started to work him out again like the old days. That changed his mind set and later returned to the NBA to play in the 1992 All-star game which he won the all-star MVP. But at the same time some of the players did not feel comfortable playing with or against Magic Johnson. “The fact of the matter is, if you got the Aids virus, it would be hard for me to play as hard as I’m capable of playing, and if people can’t respect my decision, that’s tough” Karl Malone, Utah Jazz

Magic Johnson had an amazing passion for basketball. He started playing young and he would practice all day. He grew up watching Bill Russell since he was his favorite player, but he idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes and would practice so his game would resemble them. He became a dominant junior high player and that is when he started to think about having a future in basketball. Also growing up Magic Johnson took on racial confrontations because he moved to Everett High School which was mainly a white school. His teammates would ignore him during practice and not even pass him ball and he would get racial remarks thrown at him during games. Even though he had many troubles at his time playing basketball in high school, it didn't stop him from leading his team winning the state championship with a 27-1 record while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds during his last season of high school basketball

Earvin Johnson was a famous basketball player and is now a business owner with HIV. Magic Johnson was born on august 14 1959 in Lansing,Michigan.He was a basketball player from Michigan State.Earvin was standing at an outstanding height at 6 feet 9 inches.He loved to play basketball.After Magic Johnson played for the lakers for 2 years his world came crashing down.When he went to a press conference he announced that he had tested positive with HIV.He retired and started a businesss.HIV

Earvin “Magic” Johnson is known to be one of the greatest athletes on and off the court. This is showcased in his autobiography, My Life, which follows Johnson’s life mostly through the 80s and early 90s. The 1980s is known to many people as NBA’s best decade. This era featured a combination of the best style of basketball, as well as some of the greatest players of all time. Magic Johnson headlined this elite group of players. Because of the immense amount of talent in the game at this time period, basketball was emerging as a big part of a lot of people’s lives. Basketball was growing in popularity and was becoming one of America’s favorite sports to watch. Magic Johnson only made this sport that more exciting. Also, in the late 80s and early 90s, the HIV virus was a topic of much uncertainty and fear to the world (Layman). Basketball served to be a great source of entertainment to keep the disease off of people’s minds, and to root for something. When Magic Johnson actually announced that he had the virus, the world learned more about the disease and admired Johnson for his braveness. This incredible announcement showed the world that there is hope for this terrible virus. Through this event, Johnson displayed what a great human being he really is. Magic Johnson is displayed to be this great person, hard-working athlete, and very confident in his autobiography, My Life. Jonathan Rowe, a critic of the book, writes, “He came across as a dedicated athlete and a good fellow”

Johnson had many achievements/awards in high school. First of all he had got the nickname of junebug. The reason he obtained this name is because he used to hop all around from one court to the next. When Johnson was a freshman in highschool he lead the spartans his school team to their first big ten title in over nineteen years("Earvin 'Magic' Johnson"). Only when he was in high school Michigan State he had clinched the national collegiate athletic association title. This offer was for him to turn professional whenever he graduated from college. Next, into his college career he went to Michigan State University. He had the most points in college for being only 20 years of age. Johnson had signed a 25 million dollar 25 year contract with the lakers on june 1981. He had problems with all his teammates but putting all of that to aside he continued to do really well averaging 18.6 points and 9.5 assists per game during, the years of 1981-1982("Earvin Johnson, Jr.") . He had won multiple mvp awards due from his great skills. Now going into the NBA were his biggest achievements was. Johnson had averaged 23.9 points per game, and due to this he had led the lakers to 65 wins and beats the NBA’s best record. He had won mvp at the end of his regular season, which he thought was well deserved from his actions("Earvin Johnson, Jr."). Into the NBA finals he had