Magic Johnson Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played point guard for the Lakers for 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 announcing that
Ralph S. Johnson A daughter, Janet J. Rowe, died of cancer prior to her parents' deaths. In 2008, Purdue University conferred on Johnson an honorary doctorate in aeronautical engineering. Johnson donated one of his Lockheed PV-2s to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. Johnson's friend Billy Walker said on the aviator's death: "Captain Ralph S. Johnson was the Best of the Best. He was a mentor's mentor and left those of us in aviation an unparalleled legacy. For all of us, if we followed his example of personal values, we could solve much of what is wrong in our world.