Width	200
Caption	Bird during the 1985 Playoffs
Position	Forward
Number	33
Height ft	6 |height_in=9
Weight lbs	220
Birth date	December 07, 1956
Birthplace	West Baden, Indiana
Career start	1979
Career end	1992
Draft year	1978
Draft team	Boston Celtics
Draft round	1
Draft pick	6
College	Indiana State
Teams
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	21,791 (24.3 ppg)
Stat2label	Assists
Stat2value	5,695 (6.3 apg)
Stat3label	Rebounds
Stat3value	8,974 (10.0 rpg)
Letter	b
Bbr	birdla01
Highlights
Hof player	larry-j-bird

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, teaming with legendary center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale. Due to back problems, he retired as a player from the NBA in 1992. Bird was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. He served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, which he currently holds.

Early life

Larry Bird was born in West Baden, Indiana, the son of Georgia (née Kerns) and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird. He grew up in both West Baden and the adjacent town French Lick, which earned him the nickname "the Hick from French Lick" in his later basketball career. Financial troubles would plague the Bird family for most of Larry's childhood. Bird recalled how his mother would make do on the family's meager earnings: "If there was a payment to the bank due, and we needed shoes, she'd get the shoes, and then deal with them guys at the bank. I don't mean she wouldn't pay the bank, but the children always came first." According to Bird, his being poor as a child "motivates me to this day". Bird would often go to the gym early, shoot between classes, and stay late into the evening. He quit both football and baseball to focus on basketball.

Collegiate career

Bird received a basketball scholarship to Indiana University in 1974. However, he was overwhelmed by the size of the campus and number of students and was not mentally ready for this stage of life; according to Bird, "it didn't take long to realize that I was out of my cocoon." He dropped out of Indiana after 24 days, disappointing his mother. Bird returned home to French Lick where he enrolled in the nearby Northwood Institute before dropping out and getting a job with the Street Department (the department picked up garbage, repaired roads, removed snow, mowed lawns, etc.) for a year. He played AAU basketball for Hancock Construction and, after that year, decided to enroll at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where he was coached by Bob King.

King suffered a stroke prior to the 1978–79 season and assistant Bill Hodges, who had persuaded Bird to return to college basketball,

NCAA Career Statistics

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1976–77 | style="text-align:left;"| Indiana State | 28 || ... || 36.9 || .544 || ... || .840 || 13.3 || 4.4 || ... || ... || 32.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1977–78 | style="text-align:left;"| Indiana State | 32 || ... || ... || .524 || ... || .793 || 11.5 || 3.9 || ... || ... || 30.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1978–79 | style="text-align:left;"| Indiana State | 34 || ... || ... || .532 || ... || .831 || 14.9 || 5.5 || ... || ... || 28.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| ... | 94 || ... || 36.9 || .533 || ... || .822 || 13.3 || 4.6 || ... || ... || 30.3 |-

1979–1981: Immediate impact

The Boston Celtics selected the 6'9", 220-pound Bird 6th overall in the 1978 NBA Draft, even though they were uncertain whether he would enter the NBA or remain at Indiana State to play his senior season. Bird ultimately decided to play his final college season, but the Celtics retained their exclusive right to sign him until the 1979 NBA Draft, because of the NBA's "junior eligible" rule that existed at that time (allowing a collegiate player to be drafted when the player's original "entering" class was graduating and giving them one calendar year to sign them, even if they went back to college). Shortly before that deadline, Bird agreed to sign with the Celtics for a US $650,000 a year contract, making him at the time the highest-paid rookie in the history of the NBA. Shortly afterwards, the NBA draft eligibility rules were changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they were ready to sign. The rule is called the Bird Collegiate Rule.

Bird's impact on the Celtics was immediate. The Celtics were 29–53 during the 1978–79 season, but with Bird the team improved to 61–21 in the 1979–80 season, posting the league's best regular season record. Bird's collegiate rival, Magic Johnson, also had entered the NBA in 1979, joining the Los Angeles Lakers. In 1980, despite a strong rookie season from Johnson, Bird was named the league's Rookie of the Year and was voted onto the Eastern Conference All-Star team (an honor he would receive for each of his 12 full seasons in the NBA). For the 1980 season, Bird led the Celtics in scoring (21.3 points/game), rebounding (10.4 rebounds/game), steals (143), and minutes played (2,955) and was second in assists (4.5 assists/game) and three-pointers (58). Though Boston was beaten by the more athletic Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals that year, Bird's addition to the team had renewed the promise of Celtic glory.

Following Bird's first season, the Celtics acquired center Robert Parish and the 3rd pick in the 1980 NBA Draft via a trade with the Golden State Warriors (in exchange for the 1st and 13th picks in the draft). After the Warriors took Joe Barry Carroll with the 1st pick and the Utah Jazz chose Darrell Griffith second, the Celtics selected University of Minnesota power forward Kevin McHale. With Bird at small forward, the additions of Parish and McHale gave Boston one of the most formidable frontcourts in the history of the NBA. The three would anchor the Celtics throughout Bird's career.

In his second season, Bird led the Celtics into the playoffs, where they faced off for a second consecutive year with Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers. Bird helped the Celtics overcome a 3–1 deficit by winning the last 3 games by 2, 2, and 1 point margins, propelling them into the NBA Finals, where they defeated the Houston Rockets in six games with Bird averaging 15.3 points on .419 shooting, 15.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. It would be the first of three championships in Bird's career, as well as the first of his five Finals appearances.

1982–1987: MVPs, championships and the rivalry with Magic Johnson

The additions of Bird and Johnson rejuvenated the NBA, which had suffered from low attendance and minimal television interest through much of the 1970s. Immediately upon their entry into the league, the two players became repeating presences in the NBA Finals. Johnson's Lakers won the championship in 1980, Bird's Celtics captured the NBA title in 1981, and Johnson's Lakers wrested it back in 1982. Bird and Johnson first dueled in the 1979 NCAA title game; as professional basketball players, they would face off numerous times during the 1980s, including the NBA Finals of 1984, 1985 and 1987. Lakers versus Celtics, and specifically Bird versus Magic, quickly became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of professional sports.

In 1984, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in a seven-game Finals, winning game seven 111–102. Bird averaged 27.4 points on .484 shooting and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the award of Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). Bird was also named the league regular season MVP for that year. In 1985, however, the Lakers avenged the loss, defeating the Celtics in game 6 of the Finals in the Boston Garden. In a losing effort against Los Angeles, Bird averaged 23.8 points on .449 shooting, 8.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. That year, the NBA again named Bird the league MVP.

Boston would have another great season the next year, with help from another Hall of Famer, Bill Walton. Walton had been refused by the Lakers, and as a last chance, called Celtics president and general manager Red Auerbach. Auerbach was initially unwilling to take a risk on Walton, who had been plagued for years by foot injuries. But Bird, who happened to be in Auerbach's office at the time of Walton's call, urged him to sign Walton, saying that if Walton felt he was healthy enough to play, it was all Bird needed to hear.

With Walton backing up Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, the Celtics would return to the finals in 1986, albeit not against Johnson and the Lakers, who lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets. The 1986 Celtic team, which finished the regular season 67–15 and defeated the Rockets in six games, is generally considered to be the best of Bird's career. Bird again was named the Finals' MVP for that year, averaging 24 points on .482 shooting, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game for the series. He also won his third consecutive league MVP award, a feat matched only by the great Celtic center Bill Russell and the dominant Wilt Chamberlain, who played for Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

In 1987, the Celtics made their last Finals appearance of Bird's career, fighting through difficult series against the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons but as they reached the NBA Finals, the Celtics, plagued by devastating injuries, lost to a dominant Lakers team which had won 65 games during the season. The Celtics ended up losing to the Lakers in six games, with Bird averaging 24.2 points on .445 shooting, 10 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in the championship series. The Celtics would fall short in 1988 losing to the Pistons in 6 games in the Eastern Conference Finals as the Pistons made up from the heartbreak the previous season. Between them, Bird and Johnson captured eight NBA championships during the 1980s, with Magic getting five and Bird three. During the 1980s, either Boston or Los Angeles appeared in every NBA Finals.

Throughout the 1980s, contests between the Celtics and the Lakers—both during the regular season and in the Finals—attracted enormous television audiences. The first regular season game between the Celtics and the Lakers in the 1987–88 season proved to be a classic with Magic Johnson banking in an off balance shot from near the 3-point line at the buzzer for a 115–114 Lakers win at Boston Garden. The historical rift between the teams, which faced each other several times in championship series of the 1960s, fueled fan interest in the rivalry. Not since Bill Russell squared off against Wilt Chamberlain had professional basketball enjoyed such a marquee matchup. The apparent contrast between the two players and their respective teams seemed scripted for television: Bird, the introverted small-town hero with the blue-collar work ethic, fitted perfectly with the throwback, hard-nosed style of the Celtics, while the stylish, gregarious Johnson ran the Lakers' fast-paced "Showtime" offense amidst the bright lights and celebrities of Los Angeles. A 1986 Converse commercial for its "Weapon" line of basketball shoes (endorsed by both Bird and Johnson) reflected the perceived dichotomy between the two players. In the commercial, Bird is practicing alone on a rural basketball court when Johnson pulls up in a sleek limousine and challenges him to a one-on-one match.

Despite the intensity of their rivalry, Bird and Johnson became friends off the court. Their friendship blossomed when the two players worked together to film the 1986 Converse commercial, which depicted them as archenemies. Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony on February 4, 1993 and emotionally described Bird as a "friend forever."

1988–1992: The twilight years

In 1988, Bird had the best statistical season of his career, but the Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in five years, losing to the Pistons in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals. Bird started the 1988–89 season with Boston, but ended his season after six games to have bone spurs surgically removed from both of his heels. He returned to the Celtics in 1989, but debilitating back problems and an aging Celtic roster prevented him from regaining his mid-1980s form. Nonetheless, through the final years of his career, Bird maintained his status as one of the premier players in the game. He averaged over 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists a game in his last three seasons with the Celtics, and shot better than 45% from the field in each. Bird led the Celtics to playoff appearances in each of those three seasons.

Bird's body, however, continued to break down. He had been bothered by back problems for years, and his back became progressively worse. After leading the Celtics to a 29–5 start to the 1990–91 season, he missed 22 games due to a compressed nerve root in his back, a condition that would eventually lead to his retirement. He had off-season surgery to remove a disc from his back, but his back problems continued and he missed 37 games during the 1991–92 season. During the 1992 Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers Bird missed 4 of 7 games in the series due to his back problems.

}} In the summer of 1992, Bird joined Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and other NBA stars to play for the United States basketball team in that year's Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. It was the first time in America's Olympic history that the country sent professional basketball players to compete. The "Dream Team" won the men's basketball gold medal.

Following his Olympic experience, on August 18, 1992, Bird announced his retirement as an NBA player. He finished his career with averages of more than 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists per game, while shooting 49.6% from the field, 88.6% from the free throw line and 37.6% from three-point range. Following Bird's departure, the Celtics promptly retired his jersey number 33.

In 1989, Bird published his autobiography, with Bob Ryan. The book chronicles his life and career up to the 1989 NBA season.

NBA career after retirement

The Celtics employed Bird as a special assistant in the team's front office from 1992 until 1997. In 1997, Bird accepted the position of coach of the Indiana Pacers and said he would be on the job for no more than 3 years. Despite having no previous coaching experience, Bird led the Pacers to a 58–24 record—the franchise's best as an NBA team at the time—in the 1997–98 season, and pushed the Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year for his efforts, becoming the only person in NBA history to have won both the MVP and Coach of the Year awards. He then led the Pacers to two consecutive Central Division titles in 1999 and 2000, and a berth in the NBA finals in 2000.

Bird resigned as Pacers coach shortly after the end of the 2000 season, following through on his initial promise to coach for only 3 years. In 2003, he returned as the Pacers' President of Basketball Operations, where he oversees team personnel and coaching moves, as well as the team's draft selections. Bird promoted David Morway to general manager in 2008, but Bird still has the final say in basketball matters.

Head coaching record

|- | align="left" |IND | align="left" | |82||58||24||.707|| align="center" |2nd in Central||16||10||6||.625 | align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals |- | align="left" |IND | align="left" | |50||33||17||.660|| align="center" |1st in Central||13||9||4||.692 | align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals |- | align="left" |IND | align="left" | |82||56||26||.683|| align="center" |1st in Central||23||13||10||.565 | align="center" |Lost in NBA Finals |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" |Career | ||214||147||67||.687|| ||52||32||20||.615

Legacy

}}

Bird's humble roots led to his most frequently used moniker, "The Hick From French Lick". Other observers called him "The Great White Hope".

For the 2008 NBA Finals, which featured a rematch of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, Bird appeared in a split-screen advertisement with Magic Johnson (as part of the "There Can Only Be One" campaign which had played throughout the 2008 NBA Playoffs but to that point only featured players from the two teams competing in a given series) discussing the meaning of rivalries.

Bird was widely considered one of Red Auerbach's favorite players. He considered Bird to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Auerbach was so enamored with the player that he drafted him out of Indiana State and waited a year before Bird was eligible to suit up for the Celtics. During his introductory press conference, after Auerbach's contentious negotiations with agent Bob Woolf, Bird announced he "would have played for free." This was after Woolf asked for the most lucrative contract in NBA history, to which Auerbach was quick to point out that Bird hadn't played a game in the NBA yet.

Player profile

Bird, a versatile wing man who played the power forward and small forward positions, is considered one of the greatest players of all time, to which his twelve All-Star team nominations are a testament. The sharpshooting Bird made his name stepping up his performance in critical situations, and is credited with a long list of dominating games, buzzer beaters and clutch defensive plays. He won two NBA Finals MVP and three regular-season MVP awards. He won them all in a row, a feat only shared by Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.

Bird possessed an uncanny and unparalleled ability to anticipate and react to the strategies of his opponents. His talent for recognizing the moves of opponents and teammates prompted his first coach with the Celtics, Bill Fitch, to nickname him "Kodak", because he seemed to formulate mental pictures of every play that took place on the court.

Bird scored 24.3 points per game in his career on a high .496 field goal average, a stellar .886 free throw average (9th best all-time) and a 37.6 percentage on 3-point shots. Bird was also a good rebounder (10.0 rebound career average) and an excellent playmaker (6.3 assist career average). His multidimensional game made him a consistent triple-double threat; Bird currently ranks fifth all-time in triple-doubles with 59, not including the 10 he recorded in the playoffs. Bird's lifetime player efficiency rating (PER) is 23.5, 16th all-time, a further testament to his all around game. Additionally, he is the only 20, 10, 5 player in NBA history (points, rebounds, assists per game) with a lifetime PRA rating (points + rebounds + assists per game) of 40.6, which is 8th all-time. Bird was the first player in NBA history to shoot 50% or better on field goals, 40% on 3-pointers, and 90% on free-throws in a single NBA season while achieving the league minimum for makes in each category. Bird accomplished this feat three times and is second only to Steve Nash for seasons in the 50-40-90 Club.

Bird is also remembered as an excellent defender. While he was neither fast nor quick-footed, and could not always shut down an individual player one-on-one, he consistently displayed a knack for anticipating the moves of his opponent, allowing him to intercept passes and create turnovers. His 1,556 career steals ranks 27th all-time. Unspectacular but effective defensive moves, such as jumping into a passing lane to make a steal or allowing his man to step past and drive to the hoop, then blocking the opponent's shot from behind, were staples of Bird's defensive game. In recognition of his defensive abilities, Bird was named to three All-Defensive Second Teams.

Bird's competitive nature often emerged in nearly constant trash-talking on the court. Some notable examples follow:

During the three-point shooting contest on All-Star Weekend 1986, Bird entered the locker room, looked around without saying a word, then finally said, "I want all of you to know I am winning this thing. I'm just looking around to see who's gonna finish up second." He won the shooting contest.

During one game on Christmas Day against the Indiana Pacers, before the game Bird told Chuck Person that he had a Christmas present waiting for him. During the game, when Person was on the bench, Bird shot a three-pointer on the baseline right in front of Person. Immediately after releasing the ball, Bird said to Person, "Merry fuckin' Christmas!", and then the shot went in. This was no doubt inspired by Person (nicknamed the "Rifleman") stating prior to the game that "The Rifleman is Coming, and He's Going Bird Hunting."

Reggie Miller recalled his encounter with Larry Bird's legendary trash talking ability in his book "I Love Being The Enemy". Reggie tried to disrupt Larry's concentration when he was shooting free throws late in a game. Larry glared at him, made the first free throw and said, "Rook, I am the best shooter in the league right now. In the league. Understand? And you're up here trying to tell me something?" Then Larry buried the second free throw.

Late in a tied game against the Seattle SuperSonics, Bird told Supersonics forward Xavier McDaniel, who was guarding him, exactly where he would hit the game winning shot. After a timeout, Bird made two baseline cuts, then posted in the exact spot he had indicated to McDaniel, paused, turned, and shot it right in his face. On November 9, 1984, Bird was ejected along with Julius Erving in the third quarter after an on court scuffle. At the point of both ejections, Bird had outscored Erving 42 to 6. During the game, Bird had continuously informed Erving of their tallies with every chance he got to score. Bird denies this stating that it was "M.L. (Carr) talking trash from the bench" during that game. Eventually a shoving match ensued, then swings taken by both players, and finally a bench-clearing brawl.

NBA Career Statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 82 || 82 || 36.0 || .474 || .406 || .836 || 10.4 || 4.5 || 1.7 || 0.6 || 21.3 |- | style="text-align:left;" bgcolor="AFE6BA"| † | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 82 || 82 || 39.5 || .478 || .270 || .863 || 10.9 || 5.5 || 2.0 || 0.8 || 21.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 77 || 58 || 38.0 || .503 || .212 || .863 || 10.9 || 5.8 || 1.9 || 0.9 || 22.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 79 || 79 || 37.7 || .504 || .286 || .840 || 11.0 || 5.8 || 1.9 || 0.9 || 23.6 |- | style="text-align:left;" bgcolor="AFE6BA"| † | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 79 || 77 || 38.3 || .492 || .247 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| .888 || 10.1 || 6.6 || 1.8 || 0.9 || 24.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 80 || 77 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| 39.5 || .522 || .427 || .882 || 10.5 || 6.6 || 1.6 || 1.2 || 28.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" bgcolor="AFE6BA"| † | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 82 || 81 || 38.0 || .496 || .423 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| .896 || 9.8 || 6.8 || 2.0 || 0.6 || 25.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 74 || 73 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| 40.6 || .525 || .400 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| .910 || 9.2 || 7.6 || 1.8 || 0.9 || 28.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 76 || 75 || 39.0 || .527 || .414 || .916 || 9.3 || 6.1 || 1.6 || 0.8 || 29.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 6 || 6 || 31.5 || .471 || ... || .947 || 6.2 || 4.8 || 1.0 || 0.8 || 19.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 75 || 75 || 39.3 || .473 || .333 || bgcolor="CFECEC"| .930 || 9.5 || 7.5 || 1.4 || 0.8 || 24.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 60 || 60 || 38.0 || .454 || .389 || .891 || 8.5 || 7.2 || 1.8 || 1.0 || 19.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 45 || 45 || 36.9 || .466 || .406 || .926 || 9.6 || 6.8 || 0.9 || 0.7 || 20.2 |-class=sortbottom | style="text-align:left;" colspan=2| Career The marriage lasted only 11 months, but produced a daughter, Corrie, born on August 14, 1977.

In 1998, Corrie Bird appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and revealed that she was Bird's daughter from his first marriage though Larry had denied paternity until the mid 1980s. She discussed her longing to connect with her father, whom she had not seen in 17 years. Corrie's story was also shown on 20/20 and was run as an article in the September 4, 1998 issue of Sports Illustrated. Corrie, like her father, played basketball in high school and attended Indiana State University, graduating with a degree in elementary education.

In 2009, Boston University awarded Larry an Honorary Degree; Doctor of Letters.

On October 31, 1989, Bird married Dinah Mattingly. The couple have two adopted children, son Conner and daughter Mariah.

In popular culture

In October 2005, a man in Oklahoma City, Eric James Torpy, was convicted of shooting with intent to kill and robbery. He asked that his sentence be changed from 30 years imprisonment to 33 so that it would match Bird's jersey number. His request was granted. Bird has appeared in three movies, Blue Chips, released in 1994 by Paramount, the Warner Brothers film Space Jam with Michael Jordan and Bill Murray in 1996, and Celtic Pride with Dan Aykroyd, Daniel Stern, and Damon Wayans, which was also released in 1996.

Bird has appeared in several video games. In Bird plays opposite Julius Erving in a game of one-on-one. A sequel, , was a 1988 basketball video game.

The band Dispatch has a song called "Just Like Larry" about Larry Bird, who is their hometown hero from his days as a member of the Boston Celtics.

In a phone commercial when Larry Bird tells Tweety Bird that they are not related, Tweety not only comments on them having the same last name but that they "look an awful lot alike".

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds

Footnotes

References

External links

nba.com historical playerfile

Larry Bird biography provided by hoophall.com

Sportscentury's 30th greatest athlete of all time provided by ESPN.com

NBA.com: Where Legends Are Born

NBA History

CNN/Sports Illustrated: A Player for the Ages

1979 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year

Career Stats, courtesy of basketball-reference.com

Videos of Larry Bird on mReplay.com

Larry Bird Statistics

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Indiana Category:Boston Celtics draft picks Category:Boston Celtics players Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Indiana Pacers executives Category:Indiana Pacers head coaches Category:Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball players Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:People from Orange County, Indiana Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Small forwards Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

Width	250
Caption	Pete Maravich from his days at LSU
Position	Guard
Height ft	6 | height_in = 5
Weight lbs	200
Number	44, 7
Birth date	June 22, 1947
Birthplace	Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
Death date	January 05, 1988
Death place	Pasadena, California
Career start	1970
Career end	1980
Draft year	1970
Draft round	1
Draft pick	3
Draft team	Atlanta Hawks
College	LSU
Teams
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	15,948
Stat2label	PPG
Stat2value	24.2
Stat3label	Assists
Stat3value	3,563
Letter	m
Bbr	maravpe01
Highlights
Hof player	peter-p-pete-maravich

Peter "Pistol Pete" Press Maravich (June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988) was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University (LSU) and played for three NBA teams until injuries induced him to retire in 1980. He is still the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game. Maravich died suddenly at age 40 during a pick-up game as a consequence of a previously undetected congenital heart defect. One of the youngest players ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich was cited by the Hall as "perhaps the greatest creative offensive talent in history". In an April 2010 interview, Hall of Fame player John Havlicek said "the best ball-handler of all time was (Pete) Maravich."

Early life

Pete Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, a small steel town in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Maravich amazed his family and friends with his basketball abilities from an early age. He enjoyed a close but demanding father-son relationship that motivated him toward achievement and fame in the sport. His father, Press Maravich, a former professional player-turned-coach, showed Maravich the fundamentals starting when he was seven years old. Obsessively, Maravich spent hours practicing ball control tricks, passes, head fakes, and long range shots.

This dedication and inventiveness manifested itself in early success: Maravich played high school varsity ball at Daniel High School in Central, South Carolina a year before being old enough to attend the school. While at Daniel from 1961 to 1963, Maravich participated in the school's first ever game against a team from an all-black school. In 1963, his father, departing from his position as head basketball coach at Clemson University, joined the coaching staff at North Carolina State. The Maravich family's subsequent move to Raleigh, North Carolina allowed Pete to finish his high school career at Needham B. Broughton High School. His high school years also saw the birth of his famous moniker. From his habit of shooting the ball from his side, as if he were holding a revolver, Maravich became known as "Pistol" Pete Maravich.

Playing career

College

While Maravich would tell friends later in life he always desired to play basketball for West Virginia University and was all set to be a Mountaineer, his father was the varsity coach at LSU and his father offered the "Pistol" a spot at LSU. In his first game on the LSU freshman team Maravich put up 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists against Southeastern Louisiana College.

In only three years playing for his father at LSU, Maravich scored 3,667 points — 1,138 points in 1968, 1,148 points in 1969 and 1,381 points in 1970 while averaging 43.8, 44.2 and 44.5 points per game. In his collegiate career, the 6' 5" (1.96 m) guard averaged an incredible 44.2 points per game in 83 contests and led the NCAA in scoring in each of his three seasons.

Maravich's longstanding collegiate scoring record is particularly impressive when two other factors are taken into account. First, Maravich played before the advent of the three-point line. His long-distance shooting skill thus produced far fewer points than would have been the case in a later era. Years later former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown charted every college game Maravich played, taking into consideration all shots he took. Brown calculated that at the NCAA rule of a three-point line at , 9-inches from the rim, Maravich would have averaged thirteen 3-point scores per game, lifting the player's career average to 57 points per game. Second, NCAA rules at the time of Maravich's collegiate career prohibited freshmen from taking part in varsity competition, preventing Maravich from adding to his career record for a full quarter of his time at LSU. During this first year, Maravich scored 741 points in freshmen competition.

More than 35 years later, many of his NCAA and LSU records still stand. Maravich was a three-time All-American. Though he never appeared in the NCAA tournament, Maravich played a key role in turning around a lackluster program that had posted a 3–20 record in the season prior to his arrival.

At Louisiana State University, Maravich was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

NCAA career statistics

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1966–67 | style="text-align:left;"| Louisiana State | 19 || ... || ... || .452 || ... || .833 || 10.4 || … || … || … || 43.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1967–68 | style="text-align:left;"| Louisiana State | 26 || ... || ... || .423 || ... || .811 || 7.5 || 4.0 || … || … || 43.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1968–69 | style="text-align:left;"| Louisiana State | 26 || ... || ... || .444 || ... || .746 || 6.5 || 4.9 || … || … || 44.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1969–70 | style="text-align:left;"| Louisiana State | 31 || ... || ... || .447 || ... || .773 || 5.3 || 6.2 || … || … || 44.5 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan=2|Career | 83 || ... || … || .438 || ... || .775 || 6.5 || 5.1 || … || … || 44.2

Professional

After departing LSU in 1970 (he left after the NIT tournament and did not graduate, and therefore can never be inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame), Maravich was the third selection in the first round of that year's NBA player draft and made league history when he signed a $1.9 million contract — one of the highest salaries at the time — with the Atlanta Hawks. He wasted little time becoming a prime time player by averaging 23.2 points per game his rookie season and being named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. After spending four seasons in Atlanta, Maravich was traded to the New Orleans Jazz for 8 players, where he peaked as an NBA showman and superstar. He made the All-NBA First Team in 1976 and 1977 and the All-NBA Second Team in 1973 and 1978. He led the NBA in scoring in the 1976–77 season with 31.1 points per game. Prior to the 1979–80 season, Maravich moved with the team to Utah. He was waived by the Jazz on January 18, 1980 and was quickly picked up by the Boston Celtics where he played the rest of the season alongside Larry Bird and made the playoffs.

A leg injury suffered during the 1977–78 NBA season ultimately prompted his retirement two years later in 1980. Pete Maravich was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in May 1987. At age 39, he was one of the youngest players ever inducted.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1970–71 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 81 || … || 36.1 || .458 || … || .800 || 3.7 || 4.4 || … || … || 23.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1971–72 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 66 || … || 34.9 || .427 || … || .811 || 3.9 || 6.0 || … || … || 19.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1972–73 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 79 || … || 39.1 || .441 || … || .800 || 4.4 || 6.9 || … || … || 26.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1973–74 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 76 || … || 38.2 || .457 || … || .826 || 4.9 || 5.2 || 1.5 || .2 || 27.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1974–75 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 79 || … || 36.1 || .419 || … || .811 || 5.3 || 6.2 || 1.5 || .2 || 21.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1975–76 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 62 || … || 38.3 || .459 || … || .811 || 4.8 || 5.4 || 1.4 || .4 || 25.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1976–77 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 73 || … || 41.7 || .433 || … || .835 || 5.1 || 5.4 || 1.2 || .3 || 31.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1977–78 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 50 || … || 40.8 || .444 || … || .870 || 3.6 || 6.7 || 2.0 || .2 || 27.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1978–79 | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 49 || … || 37.2 || .421 || … || .841 || 2.5 || 5.0 || 1.2 || .4 || 22.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1979–80 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah/Boston | 43 || … || 22.4 || .449 || .667 || .867 || 1.8 || 1.9 || .6 || .1 || 13.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan=2|Career

On January 5, 1988, Pete Maravich collapsed and died at age 40 of a heart attack while playing in a pickup basketball game in the gym at the First Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena with a group that included James Dobson of Focus on the Family fame. Maravich had flown out from his home in Louisiana to tape a segment for Dobson's radio show that aired later that day. Dobson has said that Maravich's last words, less than a minute before he died, were "I feel great." An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a rare congenital defect; he had been born with a missing left coronary artery, a vessel which supplies blood to the muscle fibers of the heart. His right coronary artery was grossly enlarged and had been compensating for the defect.

"He'll be remembered always", former LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown said on hearing the news of Maravich's death.

Maravich is buried at Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Legacy

At his death, Pete Maravich was survived by his wife, Jackie, and his two sons Jaeson, who was 8 years old, and Josh, aged 5. Only the previous year, Pete had taken Jaeson to the 1987 NBA All-Star Game in Seattle, Washington and introduced him to Michael Jordan.

Since Maravich's children were very young when he died, Jackie Maravich initially shielded them from unwanted media attention, even not allowing Jaeson and Josh to attend their father's funeral. However, a proclivity to basketball seemed to be an inherited trait. During a 2003 interview, Jaeson told USA Today that, when he was still only a toddler, "My dad passed me a (Nerf) basketball, and I've been hooked ever since...My dad said I shot and missed, and I got mad and I kept shooting. He said his dad told him he did the same thing."

Despite some setbacks coping with their father's death and without the benefit his tutelage might have provided, each eventually was inspired to play high school and collegiate basketball, Josh at his father's alma mater, LSU.

Memorabilia

Maravich's untimely death and mystique have made memorabilia associated with him among the most highly prized of any basketball collectibles. Game-used Maravich jerseys bring more money at auction than similar items from anybody other than George Mikan, with the most common items selling for $10,000 and up and a game-used LSU jersey selling for $94,300 in a 2001 Grey Flannel auction. The signed game ball from his career-high 68 point night on February 25, 1977 sold for $131,450 in a 2009 Heritage auction.

Honors, books and films

After Maravich's death, Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer signed a proclamation officially renaming the LSU home court the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

In 1991, a biographical film dramatizing his 8th grade season entitled, The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend, was released.

In 1996, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History by a panel made up of NBA historians, and coaches. He was the only deceased player on the list. At the 1997 All-Star Game, at halftime, in Cleveland, he was represented by his two sons.

In 2001, a comprehensive 90-minute documentary film debuted on CBS entitled, .

In 2005, ESPNU named Maravich the greatest college basketball player of all time.

In 2007, two biographies of Maravich were released:

* MARAVICH by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill, and

* Pistol by Mark Kriegel

Video game depictions

Is a legend in every NBA Live game made.

In NBA Ballers with a flashback haircut.

In NCAA March Madness as "LSU PG #12" on the All-Time LSU team.

In ''NBA Street Vol. 2 and NBA Street V3

In NBA Street Showdown

In NBA 2K7

In NBA 2K8

In NBA 2K9

In NBA 2K10

In NBA 08

Collegiate awards

The Sporting News College Player of the Year (1970)

USBWA College Player of the Year (1969, 1970)

Naismith Award Winner (1970)

The Sporting News All-America First Team (1968, 1969, 1970)

Three-time AP and UPI First-Team All-America (1968, 1969, 1970)

Led the NCAA Division I in scoring with 43.8 ppg (1968); 44.2 (1969) and 44.5 ppg (1970)

Averaged 43.6 ppg on the LSU freshman team (1967)

Scored a career-high 69 points vs. Alabama (); 66 vs. Tulane (); 64 vs. Kentucky (); 61 vs. Vanderbilt () Holds LSU records for most field goals made (26) and attempted (57) in a game against Vanderbilt on

All-Southeastern Conference (1968, 1969, 1970)

#23 Jersey retired by LSU (2007)

In 1970, Maravich led LSU to a 20–8 record and a third place finish in the National Invitation Tournament

Collegiate records

Points, career: 3,667 (three seasons)

Highest scoring average, points per game, career: 44.2 (3,667 points/83 games)

Points, season: 1,381 (1970)

Highest scoring average, points per game, season: 44.5 (1,381/31) (1970)

Games scoring 50 or more points, career: 28

Games scoring 50 or more points, season: 10 (1970)

Field goals made, career: 1,387

Field goals made, season: 522 (1970)

Field goal attempts, career: 3,166

Field goal attempts, season: 1,168 (1970)

Free throws made, game: 30 (in 31 attempts), vs. Oregon State, :*Tied by Ben Woodside, ND State, on

NBA awards

NBA All-Rookie Team

All-NBA First Team (1976, 1977)

All-NBA Second Team (1973, 1978)

Five-time NBA All-Star (1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979)

Led the league in scoring (31.1 ppg) in 1977, his career best

Scored a career-high 68 points against the New York Knicks on Feb. 25, 1977

#7 jersey retired by the Utah Jazz (1985)

#7 jersey retired by the Superdome (1988)

NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996)

#7 jersey retired by the New Orleans Hornets (2002), even though he never played for them—one of only four players to have a number retired by a team they did not play for.

NBA records

Free throws made, quarter: 14, Pete Maravich, third quarter, Atlanta Hawks vs. Buffalo Braves, Broken by Vince Carter on

Free throw attempts, quarter: 16, Pete Maravich, second quarter, Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls, Broken by Ben Wallace on

Second pair of teammates in NBA history to score 2,000 or more points in a season: 2, Atlanta Hawks ()
Maravich: 2,063
Lou Hudson: 2,029

Third pair of teammates in NBA history to score 40 or more points in the same game: New Orleans Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets,
Maravich: 45
Nate Williams: 41
David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets also scored 40 points in this game.

Ranks 4th in NBA history — Free throws made, none missed, game: 18—18, Pete Maravich, Atlanta Hawks vs. Buffalo Braves,

Ranks 5th in NBA history — Free throws made, game: 23, Pete Maravich, New Orleans Jazz vs. New York Knicks, (2 OT)

See also

List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 60 or more points in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season scoring leaders

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career scoring leaders

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career free throw scoring leaders

References

Further reading

Brown, Danny (2008).Shooting the Pistol: Courtside Photographs of Pete Maravich at LSU .Louisiana State University Press ISBN 978-0-8071-3327-9

External links

Pete Maravich Official Site

NBA Historical Bio

ESPN bio

Pete Maravich Memorial at Find A Grave

Pete Maravich's Greatest Achievement

Category:1947 births Category:1988 deaths Category:American basketball players Category:American basketball players of European descent Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Pennsylvania Category:LSU Tigers basketball players Category:Sportspeople from Pennsylvania Category:American sportspeople of Serbian descent Category:Atlanta Hawks draft picks Category:Atlanta Hawks players Category:Boston Celtics players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:American evangelicals Category:New Orleans Jazz players Category:Utah Jazz players Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:American Christians Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

Caption	Magic Johnson in 1987
Name	Earvin "Magic" Johnson
Width	200
Position	Point guard/Power forward
Number	32
Birth date	August 14, 1959
Birthplace	Lansing, Michigan
Height ft	6
Height in	9
Height footnote
Weight lbs	255
Weight footnote
Career start	1979
Career end	1996
Draftyear	1979
Draftround	1
Draftpick	1
College	Michigan State
Teams
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	17,707 (19.5 ppg)
Stat2label	Rebounds
Stat2value	6,559 (7.2 rpg)
Stat3label	Assists
Stat3value	10,141 (11.2 apg)
Bbr	johnsma02
Letter	j
Highlights
Hof player	earvin-magic-johnson

Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). 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 he had HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996 to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.

Johnson's career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA's all-time leader in assists per game, with an average of 11.2. Johnson was a member of the "Dream Team", the U.S. basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1992.

Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, were well documented. Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, and motivational speaker.

Amateur career

Early years

Earvin Johnson Jr. was born to Earvin Sr., a General Motors assembly worker, and Christine, a school custodian. Johnson grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and came to love basketball as a youngster, idolizing players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes, and practicing "all day". despite the belief of Johnson's mother, a Christian, that the name was sacrilegious.

Michigan State University

Although Johnson was recruited by several top-ranked colleges such as Indiana and UCLA, he decided to play close to home. His college decision came down to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in East Lansing. He ultimately decided to attend Michigan State when their coach Jud Heathcote told him he could play the point guard position. The talent already on Michigan State's roster also it drew him to the program.

Johnson did not initially aspire to play professionally, focusing instead on his communication studies major and on his desire to become a television commentator. Playing with future NBA draftees Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent and Mike Brkovich, Johnson averaged 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game as a freshman, and led the Spartans to a 25–5 record, the Big Ten Conference title, and a berth in the 1978 NCAA Tournament.

During the 1978–79 season, Michigan State again qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game and faced Indiana State University, which was led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Professional career

Rookie season in the NBA (1979–80)

Johnson was drafted first overall in 1979 by the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson said that what was "most amazing" about joining the Lakers was the chance to play alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the team's 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center who became the leading scorer in NBA history. Despite Abdul-Jabbar's dominance, he had failed to win a championship with the Lakers, and Johnson was expected to help them achieve that goal. Johnson averaged 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game for the season, was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Team, and was named an NBA All-Star Game starter.

The Lakers compiled a 60–22 record in the regular season and reached the 1980 NBA Finals, in which they faced the Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by forward Julius Erving. The Lakers took a 3–2 lead in the series, but Abdul-Jabbar, who averaged 33 points a game in the series, sprained his ankle in Game 5 and could not play in Game 6. He also became one of four players to win NCAA and NBA championships in consecutive years.

Ups and downs (1980–83)

Early in the 1980–81 season, Johnson was sidelined after he suffered torn cartilage in his left knee. He missed 45 games, Johnson returned before the start of the 1981 playoffs, but the Lakers' then-assistant and future head coach Pat Riley later said Johnson's much-anticipated return made the Lakers a "divided team". The 54-win Lakers faced the 40–42 Houston Rockets in the first round of playoffs, where Houston upset the Lakers 2–1 after Johnson airballed a last-second shot in Game 3.

During the off-season, Johnson signed a 25-year, $25 million contract with the Lakers, which was the highest-paying contract in sports history up to that point. At the beginning of the 1981–82 season, Johnson had a heated dispute with Westhead, who Johnson said made the Lakers "slow" and "predictable". After Johnson demanded to be traded, Lakers owner Jerry Buss fired Westhead and replaced him with Riley. Although Johnson denied responsibility for Westhead's firing, he was booed across the league, even by Lakers' fans. During the championship series against the Sixers, Johnson averaged 16.2 points on .533 shooting, 10.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Johnson later said that his third season was when the Lakers first became a great team, and he credited their success to Riley.

During the 1982–83 NBA season, Johnson averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 assists, and 8.6 rebounds per game and earned his first All-NBA First Team nomination. With Johnson's teammates Norm Nixon, James Worthy and Bob McAdoo all hobbled by injuries, the Lakers were swept by the Sixers, and Malone was crowned the Finals MVP.

Battles against the Celtics (1983–87)

In Johnson's fifth season, he averaged a double-double of 17.6 points and 13.1 assists, as well as 7.3 rebounds per game. The Lakers won the first game, and led by two points in Game 2 with 18 seconds to go, but after a layup by Gerald Henderson, Johnson failed to get a shot off before the final buzzer sounded, and the Lakers lost 124–121 in overtime. Johnson later described the series as "the one championship we should have had but didn't get".

In the regular season, Johnson averaged 18.3 points, 12.6 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game and led the Lakers into the 1985 NBA Finals, where they faced the Celtics again. The series started poorly for the Lakers when they allowed an NBA Finals record 148 points to the Celtics in a 34-point loss in Game 1. However, Abdul-Jabbar, who was now 38 years old, scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Game 2, and his 36 points in a Game 5 win were instrumental in establishing a 3–2 lead for Los Angeles. said the Finals win was the highlight of their careers.

Johnson again averaged a double-double in the 1985–86 NBA season, with 18.8 points, 12.6 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game. In the next season, Johnson averaged a career-high of 23.9 points, as well as 12.2 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game, The Lakers met the Celtics for the third time in the NBA Finals, and in Game 4 Johnson hit a last-second hook shot over Celtics big men Parish and Kevin McHale to win the game 107–106. The game-winning shot, which Johnson dubbed his "junior, junior, junior sky-hook",

Repeat and falling short (1987–91)

Before the 1987–88 NBA season, Lakers coach Pat Riley publicly promised that they would defend the NBA title, even though no team had won consecutive titles since the Celtics did so in the 1969 NBA Finals. Johnson had another productive season with averages of 19.6 points, 11.9 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game. known as the "Bad Boys" for their physical style of play. After the teams split the first six games, Lakers forward and Finals MVP James Worthy had his first career triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists, and led his team to a 108–105 win. Despite not being named MVP, Johnson had a strong championship series, averaging 21.1 points on .550 shooting, 13.0 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game.

In the 1988–89 NBA season, Johnson's 22.5 points, 12.8 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game and the Lakers reached the 1989 NBA Finals, in which they again faced the Pistons. However, after Johnson went down with a hamstring injury in Game 2, the Lakers were no match for the Pistons, who swept them 4–0.

Playing without the retired Abdul-Jabbar for the first time, Johnson won his third MVP award after a strong 1989–90 NBA season in which he averaged 22.3 points, 11.5 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game. Johnson performed well during the 1990–91 NBA season, with averages of 19.4 points, 12.5 assists, and 7.0 rebounds per game, and the Lakers reached the 1991 NBA Finals. There they faced the Chicago Bulls, led by shooting guard Michael Jordan, a five-time scoring champion regarded as the finest player of his era. Although the series was portrayed as a matchup between Johnson and Jordan, Bulls forward Scottie Pippen defended effectively against Johnson. Despite two triple-doubles from Johnson during the series, finals MVP Jordan led his team to a 4–1 win.

HIV announcement and Olympics (1991–92)

After a physical before the 1991–92 NBA season, Johnson discovered that he had tested positive for HIV. In a press conference held on November 7, 1991, Johnson made a public announcement that he would retire immediately. He stated that his wife Cookie and their unborn child did not have HIV, and that he would dedicate his life to "battle this deadly disease". At the time, only a small percentage of HIV-positive people had contracted it from heterosexual sex, and it was initially rumored that Johnson was gay or bisexual, although he denied both. and in 2004 was named as ESPN's seventh most memorable moment of the past 25 years. Many articles praised Johnson as a hero, and former U.S. President George H. W. Bush said, "For me, Magic is a hero, a hero for anyone who loves sports."

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Despite his retirement, Johnson was voted by fans as a starter for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game at Orlando Arena, although his former teammates Byron Scott and A. C. Green said that Johnson should not play, and several NBA players, including Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, argued that they would be at risk of contamination if Johnson suffered an open wound while on court. Johnson led the West to a 153–113 win and was crowned All-Star MVP after recording 25 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. The game ended after he made a last-minute three-pointer, and players from both teams ran onto the court to congratulate Johnson. During the tournament, which the USA won, Johnson played infrequently because of knee problems, but he received standing ovations from the crowd, and used the opportunity to inspire HIV-positive people. Johnson retired permanently, saying, "I am going out on my terms, something I couldn't say when I aborted a comeback in 1992." In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly, with whom he had one son, Earvin III;

Media figure and business interests

In 1998, Johnson hosted a late night talk show on the Fox network called The Magic Hour, but the show was canceled after two months because of low ratings. He runs Magic Johnson Enterprises, a company that has a net worth of $700 million; Johnson has also worked as a motivational speaker. before becoming a studio analyst for ESPN's NBA Countdown in 2008. In 1994, Johnson became a minority owner of the Lakers, having reportedly paid more than $10 million for part ownership. He also held the title of team vice president. Johnson sold his ownership stake in the Lakers in October 2010. In 2006 Johnson created a contract food service with Sodexo USA called Sodexo-Magic.

Politics

Johnson is a supporter of the Democratic Party—in 2005, he publicly endorsed Phil Angelides for governor of California, and in 2007 he supported Hillary Clinton for president of the United States. In 2010 Johnson endorsed Barbara Boxer in her race for re-election.

HIV activism

to discuss federal assistance for those with AIDS.]]

After announcing his infection in November 1991, Johnson created the Magic Johnson Foundation to help combat HIV, although he later diversified the foundation to include other charitable goals. In 1992, he joined the National Commission on AIDS, but left after eight months, saying that the commission was not doing enough to combat the disease.

HIV had been associated with drug addicts and homosexuals, He has advertised GlaxoSmithKline's drugs, and partnered with Abbott Laboratories to publicize the fight against AIDS in African American communities. holds the Finals record for assists in a game (21), He holds the All-Star Game single-game record for assists (22), and the All-Star Game record for career assists (127).

For his feats, Johnson was voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time by the NBA in 1996, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. ESPN's SportsCentury ranked Johnson #17 in their "50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century" In 2006, ESPN.com rated Johnson the greatest point guard of all time, stating, "It could be argued that he's the one player in NBA history who was better than Michael Jordan."

Rivalry with Larry Bird

Johnson and Larry Bird were first linked as rivals after Johnson's Michigan State squad defeated Bird's Indiana State team in the 1979 NCAA finals. The rivalry continued in the NBA, and reached its climax when Boston and Los Angeles met in three out of four NBA Finals from 1984 to 1987. Johnson asserted that for him, the 82-game regular season was composed of 80 normal games, and two Lakers–Celtics games. Similarly, Bird admitted that Johnson's daily box score was the first thing he checked in the morning. The rivalry was also significant because it drew national attention to the faltering NBA. Prior to Johnson and Bird's arrival, the NBA had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings. With the two future Hall of Famers, the league won a whole generation of new fans, drawing both traditionalist adherents of Bird's dirt court Indiana game and those appreciative of Johnson's public park flair. Sports journalist Larry Schwartz of ESPN asserted that Johnson and Bird saved the NBA from bankruptcy. Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony in 1992, and described Bird as a "friend forever"; during Johnson's Hall of Fame ceremony, Bird formally inducted his old rival.

Works

Biographies

Johnson's autobiography is Other biographies include: (German) (German) (In ESPN SportsCentury)

Instructional

Updated version of

See also

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

References

External links

nba.com historical playerfile

Magic Johnson Bio, NBA Encyclopedia, Playoff Edition

Basketball Hall of Fame biography

Magic Johnson Foundation

Magic Johnson Official Website

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball coaches Category:African American basketball players Category:African American sports executives Category:AIDS activists Category:American health activists Category:American motivational speakers Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Michigan Category:California Democrats Category:HIV-positive people Category:Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association owners Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Lansing, Michigan Category:Point guards Category:United States men's national basketball team members