All language subtitles for They.Call.Me.Magic.S01E01.720p.WEB.h264-KOGi

Ready?

Are you glad your name's Magic Johnson?

I would think that
puts pressure on you right there.

Yeah.

Ladies and gentleman,
you know him, you love him.

Please say hello to Number 32,
Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson!

Here we go!

-Magic. Magic.
-Magic.

Magic Johnson, that's who I wanna be like.

Magic Johnson, the man,
the myth, the legend.

Magic Johnson was
about passing the basketball.

Doing so with flash, dash and sizzle.

Magic did it with a smile.
He did it with joy.

People became special around him.

They got their own kind of mythology
around themselves,

because they were on the team
with this mythological cat.

The way he played the game.

Magic's no-look passes made it seem
like he was clairvoyant, you know?

Everybody wants to credit Michael Jordan
for changing the NBA.

When Magic Johnson came in,
that's when the game changed.

I was a Chicago Bulls fan,
but I gotta say,

Magic Johnson was pretty good.

Here he is! Magic Man.

And you know that we're number one!

He was the brightest star
in the galaxy of stars.

That's saying quite a bit here
in Los Angeles.

He's still the most popular athlete
in Los Angeles.

He is beloved by everyone in this town.
Nobody doesn't like Magic.

It wasn't "Magic."
It was Earvin Johnson Jr.

And if you notice,
I went Earvin and Magic.

Those are two different personalities.

Magic loves the crowd,

loves the atmosphere
of being a basketball player.

Earvin likes to get away from that.

Earvin
and Magic are very different people.

Magic is just, like,
in front of the camera, the big smile,

laughing, loving the attention.

Earvin's quite impatient and, you know,

he's the one who's,
like, very controlling.

He put you through hell though, didn't he?

None of us call him Magic.
He is Earvin and sometimes something else.

Earvin don't like to lose.
He don't like to lose nothin'.

I don't care if it's checkers…

The thing about Earvin "Magic" Johnson,
he never wanted it easy.

And I'm sure in his life,
very few things came easy.

Everything came fast and good to you,

but it could easily be taken away,
just as fast.

He's Earvin.

I don't call him Magic,

'cause Magic is a character
that played basketball.

He's like a superhero.

If that's Magic, I guess that's what I am.

Earvin Johnson passes long!

Johnson drives to the net.
One of the best, perhaps the best,

all-around
college basketball player today.

The rumors say
that you've played your last college game

and that you're heading away
from Michigan State.

Yeah.

Scoot this up.

Yeah, I'd like to say
hello to all my teammates.

And what's happening?

I'd like to say good morning.
It's a hot morning.

And I'd like to say…

it's been rough, you know.

It's…

I've been going through a lot, you know.

Students, you know, the community,

everybody wanna know
what I'm gonna do, but--

Could Michigan State fans
lose their star player,

Earvin "Magic" Johnson?

With shouts of triumph or tears
of disappointment,

many believe Johnson is likely
to be the first pick

in this year's NBA draft.

The team's best positioned to get him
would be the Lakers or the Bulls.

I'll never forget how excited
everybody was about that draft.

Because we had a chance
to draft Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson.

You know, at the end
of the '78, '79 season,

two franchises flipped a coin
to see who got first pick.

So, the Lakers and the Bulls were headed
for a coin flip.

Magic's style
on the court would breathe new life

into Chicago, if he chooses
to leave college early to go pro.

I haven't had
a lot of time to think about it,

but I guess this is the deadline
so I had to…

give the answer up today.

Bill Sharman and I had a conversation.

Bill was GM of the Lakers,
and I said to Bill,

"Do you mind if we call the flip?"

Because we're having
our fans decide for us

whether we're gonna call heads or tails.

With NBA Commissioner
Larry O'Brien ready to toss the coin

and both teams waiting on the phone,
Bulls GM Rod Thorn made his call.

I had always been a tails guy.

Our fans told us, "Call heads."

Let's have Chicago's call.

-Chicago calls heads.
-Chicago calls heads.

In New York,
the commissioner flipped the coin.

For the Lakers, this was that one guy

that was going to change the destiny
of this franchise.

And when somebody gives you
a nickname, "Magic",

what do you expect?

We'll now make the flip.

Tails it is!

In the off-season,
some Laker prayers are answered.

Los Angeles has first rights to Magic now.

Okay, so next season…

I'll be-- Well, today,
I'll be applying for hardship.

I'll be turning pro.

It is now exactly 12:00 noon.

The draft is officially open.
I want to welcome all the fans

that are gonna join in
and help make this draft a success.

The first pick is the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers
select Earvin "Magic" Johnson,

Michigan State, 6'8'', 200 pounds.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson of Michigan State,

was chosen
by the Los Angeles Lakers today,

as the number one pick in
the National Basketball Association draft.

I am Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and--

But I was born Earvin Johnson Jr.

When I got drafted by the Lakers
and I got off the plane in LA,

oh, my goodness!

I had to come in
and prove I could play in the NBA

and lead the Lakers.

I really, really didn't want him to go.

He was 19 years old.

Going away from home, this would be
the first time away from the family.

And I just didn't know
what was gonna happen to my baby.

The LA Lakers had the number-one pick.
They took Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

And a young man who is so exciting.

He is a delightful personality.

He is lighting up all
of Southern California.

See this shit here? I bleed this shit.

If I was Superman,
this would be my "S" on my chest.

But I ain't Superman. I'm Snooperman,

and that's my symbol.

Laker gang.

I first heard about Magic in 1978.

When he was getting it in, in college.

And then the next year '79.

When the Lakers got Magic Johnson,
excitement ain't even the word.

Here we are.

I remember when he showed up,

there was a rumor
Earvin "Magic" Johnson was gonna come

to the Summer League game.

I'm on my way to the game,
and I said to our trainer-- I said,

"Well, how many people do they get?"

And he said, "Well, they only get
like a 100, 200 people at the game."

Place is full, 2,500
to 3,000 people, standing room only,

LA crowd, and he's walking.

And there are just nothing
but hundreds of kids following him.

You could just feel that something
different was going to happen.

You could feel it in the air.

I'll be definitely ready,

especially if the fans be
as beautiful as they were tonight.

Fans, gonna be here?

Cooper interview. Take one.

I'm sorry.

Michael Cooper. Los Angeles Lakers.
AKA Dark Gable.

AKA Lockdown Motherfucker. AKA Buck Naked.

We're sitting in the locker room,
and he hadn't gotten there yet.

So, we're sitting there.

This was gonna be my second year
with the Lakers.

And I knew something was up.

We knew that Magic was in the parking lot

because we could hear his boom box.

I had this big boom box
that I brought from Lansing, Michigan.

And I was playing
Parliament-Funkadelics at that time.

His favorite group was,
Parliament-Funkadelic.

But Kareem,
he liked the quiet music, you know?

You hear that music,
and all of a sudden, he walks in.

Flashlight

Kareem's a quiet man, so--
A man of few words.

So, he just looked at me and said,
"Rookie, cut that damn box off!"

He went around
and introduced himself to everybody,

and he goes, "Hey, I'm Magic."
He didn't say Earvin Magic. "I'm Magic."

I said, "Magic, I'm Coop. How you doing?"

And I said,
"Welcome to the NBA, motherfucker."

But when Magic got drafted by the Lakers,

NBA was not considered
a very glamorous league at that time.

The league was like a mom-and-pop league.

There wasn't a lot of money
flowing around in those days.

The National Basketball Association
in its 33rd season is troubled

by diminishing crowds
and declining television ratings.

Signs that fan interest may be waning.

That October of 1979,
the NBA was a mess.

The NBA was considered too drug-infested,
too Black,

and the games were on tape delay.

I remember watching games late night,
and they were repeats.

You had to tell your family,
"Don't tell me who won.

Don't tell me nothing
about the game."

It just wasn't popular enough
to be in prime time.

Dare to talk with the commissioner
of the NBA, Larry O'Brien.

What about the future of the NBA?

When we talked last year,
there were a lot of problems.

Frankly, I get a little bit frustrated
when I hear and read about it so often.

The league not only was losing money,
it was losing interest.

This was not a good week
for the National Basketball Association.

I mean, it was known as a thuggish league.

Violence in the
National Basketball Association

appears to be on the rise.

They let people in the NBA fight then.
You know?

When things happened, people fought.

The National Basketball Association today
suspended Los Angeles Lakers forward,

Kermit Washington.

I remember when Kermit Washington
hit Rudy Tomjanovich at the Forum.

Broke his jaw.
That was really one of the low points.

It's turning off a lot of white customers
that are coming to the game, you know?

Why?

I think there's a conflict between
the white and the Black, and

I don't enjoy going to the basketball
and seeing all Black players.

America was over 65, 70% white.

People were not willing to embrace
the product into their living rooms.

And there was talk
of certain teams even folding.

It was "survive."

Can we survive a, you know, another year?
Can we survive another week?

And now,
starting for your Los Angeles Lakers…

The Lakers at that time weren't thought
of as champions.

They were thought of as contenders.

West. West all alone.
Look at Russell come down.

And what a play by Russell!

I remember my first year in Los Angeles.

The Lakers were on the last page
of the newspaper. The last page.

We would get in the back of trucks

and go in the neighborhoods
with microphones.

"Come out and see the Lakers play.
Come out and see the Lakers play."

Since 1960, I mean,
the Lakers got beat six times in a row

by Bill Russell and the Celtics.

We lost so many times
in the Finals. I played nine Finals.

We won one time in nine Finals,

and it was probably
the most horrid feeling in my life.

I actually-- I wanted to quit basketball.

We just didn't have
the team that could win.

You know, we had a good team.
I played very well.

I won an MVP,
but we couldn't really contend

for the championship
without the right players on the court.

Is Magic Johnson
your favorite basketball player?

Not seeing no magic.

No.

That was one of the many questions heard

at the Forum as the Lakers
held their annual picture day

before leaving for Palm Springs
and training camp.

And their hopes are high
for the '79-'80 season.

When I got to training camp as a rookie,

I went in there--
At first I was so nervous.

Magic, you talk about
getting to know things

and making these adjustments.

What are the big adjustments
that you're making?

I think-- You know,
you got so many different…

plays and so many different combinations
you can go on offense.

And then on defense,
just trying to stay with your man

and then trying to learn some
of them hold moves. I'm--

When he first got there,
there was some friction

with this Magic Johnson.

Who's gonna be the leader?
Is it gonna be Kareem?

Is it gonna be Magic?

There's a tradition
of harassing the rookies in the NBA.

The older players get to be cruel
and unusual with the rookies.

Kareem said, "Hey,
I want Earvin Johnson to be my rookie."

I said, "Oh, okay." You know, I'm like,

"I'll do anything for you. You a legend.
You the best player in the NBA."

I had to have his newspaper at his door
at, like, 7:00, 7:30 in the morning.

Every time it was a time-out in practice,

he wants two waters and two Gatorades,
and it better be cold.

I said, "No problem."

So, Norm Nixon called me aside.

"Man, act like you been here
before. Relax a little bit."

He was a target, you know?
And he just had to be careful.

So, we're in practice.

I was boxing out Ron Boone.

All of a sudden, I look up
at the rim and the ball,

and he had hit me right
behind my head really hard.

And he was just smiling.

Ronnie Boone, he's a warhorse.

I don't think he's ever
missed a game in his life.

Ron was old-school.

As tough as they come. He'd look at you
and you'd say, "What did I do?"

Love him as a human being.

As a basketball player? Nasty fucker, man.

Ron would not back down to anybody.

And he probably wanted
to let the rookie know that the--

You know, "I've been here for 12 years,
so don't mess with me."

The next time, he's boxing me out.

Ron Boone?

Let's see what you got.

You think, first of all,
you drafted the wrong dude?

Okay. I got something for you.

So I ran in as fast as I could,
and I hit him as hard as I could.

He shouldn't have woke
that quiet bear up, see?

He woke me up.

So, Jerry West came over.

He pulled me aside
and he said, "Magic, I like that."

And I said, "Do you want Earvin Johnson
to play basketball,

or do you want Magic Johnson
to play basketball?"

I said, "I'd rather see
Magic Johnson play basketball."

You know, growing up
in a small town like Lansing, Michigan--

Let me tell you something.

Nobody really heard about Earvin Johnson.

I mean, who's Earvin Johnson?

A person coming from Lansing--
You had to prove yourself.

If you were really good,
you had to go out and prove a point

that this little boy
from Lansing, Michigan had game.

You know?

Lansing is a hardworking town.

You either worked in the car industry,

or you worked, really, for the state.
There's only two jobs.

My father worked for General Motors
for 30 years.

He was never late. Never missed a day.

And he worked
on the line with the welding.

So, his shirt would have holes
in 'em from all the sparks flying.

My mother worked for the school cafeteria.

They were both hardworking people,
blue-collar people.

My father was in the service.

And every time he came home,
he made a baby.

That's why we're all in a row.

Michael Johnson.

Larry Johnson.

-Pearl Johnson.
-Kim Johnson-Ray.

Evelyn Johnson.

I have six sisters, three brothers.
I'm the baby boy.

We used to call him Junebug.

I don't even know where that came from.

All I know, we--
They called him Junebug.

Junebug. That was when he was little.

He was so joyful all the time.

I think that was a fitting
nickname for him.

-I don't think he liked it.
-Oh, no.

That stuck with him
for a long time. Every now and then,

somebody that--
When he's home. "Hey, Junebug!"

Then, as he grew up,
we started calling him Earvin.

We used to have some games, man.

I tell you those one-on-one
games were just… hard.

We fought.

We both roughed each other up, you know,

'cause then neither one of us wanna lose,
you know.

And at a young age
he wouldn't let nothing get by, you know.

So we had our time
where we had to scrap and stuff

on the ground, and stuff during a game.

Arguing about who won and who-- you know.

But Earv was that go-getter, you know.

Whatever he wanted to do,
he was gonna do it.

Main Street School was the mecca
of Lansing, Michigan.

If you were the best player in Lansing,

you had to come to Main Street School.

That's where you gonna get the action at,
because guys were coming from all over.

If you lose a game, you might not
play again for another two hours.

'Cause guys is lined up, and they always
had their teams ready to go.

Whether you had to cheat
to win, or whatever,

you wanted to stay on that court.

I'ma pick the dudes
that gonna play their role,

so that we can win and stay out
on that court all day.

I played in the rain.
I played in the snow.

It didn't matter.

Sunup to sundown.

And then I started playing
against older boys,

and then I started playing against men.

Even my father and my uncle.

My father, my uncle fouled me,
but they said there was no foul,

so I had to play through that.

I didn't want him to be out there,
crybaby each time somebody hit him,

or bump him into the jaw, he'd cry.

They said, "Okay, he can hold his own,
and he's strong enough

and physical enough to--"

to handle the beating
that they were gonna give me.

And nobody outworked me
in the neighborhood.

I was on the court more than any kid.
I mean, it wasn't even close.

And I wanted it more.

One of my very best friends

wrote high school sports
for the Lansing State Journal.

And one December Friday night,
he called me and he said,

"Have you heard
of this kid Earvin Johnson?"

I was assigned
to cover Earvin's first game.

50 to 49. Earvin had 12 points,
ten rebounds and fouled out.

And so I get back to the office

and everybody wants to know
how this Earvin Johnson kid is.

I said, "Well, he's 6'5'' type kid.
He's gonna be a good player one day,

but he wasn't anything special
in that game.''

We beat 'em by one point,
on a rebound at the buzzer.

And my brother came into the locker room.

He says, "George, he might be an all-city
and maybe an all-stater.

He's no all-American."

But I thought, "Wait."

Somehow, fate had me
be assigned to the second game.

We went to play one
of the schools that's supposedly good

in the state of Michigan.

And we blew them out on their home court.

I always tell people, he had 36 points,
20 rebounds, 15 assists and 10 steals.

As a 15-year-old,
that was my first triple-double.

And my brother came up to me

and he says,
"George, he'll make you forget

about every other basketball player
we've had in this area."

It was the most
amazing performance I'd ever seen

by anybody, and he was his second game
of his high school career.

So the sportswriter came in
and he said, "Listen, man, I'm--

I haven't seen a performance
like that ever in my life."

-He says, "I wanna give you a nickname."
-"Earvin, we gotta call you something."

Somebody's called Biggie.
Somebody's called Dr. J.

How about Magic?

You know, you're like, "Yeah, right."

You know, you start laughing like,
"Yeah, yeah, okay that--"

My boys not gonna call me "Magic."
You know?

And within two months, everybody
in Michigan knew who Magic was.

When I first started
playing basketball in high school,

everybody started talking
about this guy from East Lansing.

Magic Johnson. Magic, Magic, Magic.

And I was like, "Magic? Man,
I need to watch this."

And I had heard about this kid, you know,
Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson.

I was like, "Who's this dude?
Earvin 'Magic' Johnson."

Never saw him, but just kept hearing
how great he was as a basketball player.

There he goes. Watch it for three…

"Have you seen this kid in Lansing?"

"This 15-year-old Black kid
from the Midwest.

They call him Magic. Have you seen him?"

Earvin Johnson,
you're a very sought-after player.

You shoot well, you pass well,
you dribble, score, assist.

We're trying to figure
out what you do best.

Do you know? We can't figure it out.

When the newspapers
really started getting involved,

and then he started
getting the big headlines--

You know, that's when he
basically became the pied piper.

Whatever game he was playing,
everybody wanted to go see it.

Everywhere we would go,
you could not find a seat any place.

You just could not find a seat.

I still remember the ticket scalping,
the extra police there for security.

It wasn't any kind
of ordinary stuff that he did.

He did stuff that I'd never seen
on a basketball floor before.

He's up and down the court.
Just behind his back,

throwing no-look passes.
Just doing everything.

Earvin was a fierce competitor.

God, he was competitive.

A lot of the other kids--
white kids, they wanted to beat him.

And I'll never forget
that they were playing Benton Harbor,

a tradition-rich basketball school
in Michigan history.

They practiced first,
and as they exit the floor

and it was our turn to go
onto the floor, a dude said,

"Which one of you dudes Earvin Johnson?

I just want you to know,
tomorrow you in trouble."

All my teammates were like,
"Man. He talking trash."

I said,
"You just wait till tomorrow night."

It was 9,000 people, sold out I think.

I remember one play in the game
and a guy stepped on the back of my foot,

so my shoe came off.

For the next two or three minutes,
I'm playing with one shoe on.

In that three minutes,
I made, like, five plays.

He still went down the court
with one shoe on

and did a dazzling move and scored.

Laid it in,
and the people were just going crazy.

It was just building.

And by the time
Benton Harbor coach called the time-out,

the place just erupted.

I said, "Look at the scoreboard."

That's all. I don't have
to talk trash. Just look up.

I never saw somebody's reputation

as a high school player grow as fast,
in all my years, in any sport.

I just knew he was not gonna go away.

I do know one thing,
that his mother was not real fond

of the nickname "Magic"
when he was given it.

How about the nickname
"Magic?" How'd you take to that?

Well, I really never liked that,
you know, because it had such a--

such an impact on him, you know.

People expect so much
from him because of that name.

We had a big press conference
at Everett High School.

It was the big news.

Every TV station within 50 miles was here.

All right.

Is there any questions
before I get started?

No, next year I will be
attending Michigan State University.

Michigan State University.

Earvin ''Magic'' Johnson
directing the Spartan Ballet Company

from East Lansing, Michigan.

Magic Johnson comes from the Lansing area,

which is something
we're all very proud of here.

The whole city recruited Earvin Johnson.
It wasn't just Michigan State.

That enthusiasm that he showed.

That electricity permeated
through the building.

It was--

It was mesmerizing.

Magic Johnson, he's a coach on the floor.

His play's under control.
He's got great hands.

A great passer. The way he goes,
so goes the Spartans.

They had a bad season the year before,
but most of the players were coming back.

Greg Kelser was there,
and I put Jay Vincent in that lineup,

and I put myself in the lineup. I said,

"Man, I think we can win the Big Ten."

I could not wait for the season to begin.

So we can enjoy
this chemistry and camaraderie.

And it clicked right away.

We were just having a good time.

We had a nice boom box
and record player in the locker room.

When he joined, that was his thing.

He took that over
so we just left it alone.

The one that we adopted,
the song by the Jimmy Castor Bunch,

is called "Potential."

Potential, spelled P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L.
And we used to spell that out.

Because our thought was
that we were a young club,

trying to reestablish ourselves.

So play to your potential
and see how many teams can beat you.

Earvin fashioned himself as a disc jockey.

You know, his moniker was EJ the DJ.

EJ the DJ.

EJ the DJ. Yeah, yeah.

You know, he would deejay on his off days,

and before every game he had
to get into a groove.

And boy did--
I don't know what music did to him,

but he'd go out and get a triple-double
like it wasn't nothing. You know, so…

And so then I started deejaying
at all the local clubs,

and I was getting paid
to be there to deejay.

And then it was the last day
before we left

to go home for Christmas break.

We go to this famous
nightspot called Dooley's.

-It was a party place.
-Everybody on campus went to Dooley's.

But it was just the place to be, to go.

But we were sheltered. We didn't hang out.
We didn't do those things.

This was our first time being grown-ups.

You know, away from home.
Hanging out, drinking, having a good time.

A young lady came in and said hi to us.

But right behind her was this beautiful,

beautiful young lady named Cookie
she introduced us to.

We said hello, I ran into my other friends
and, you know, danced and had a good time.

She walked away...

and I said...

"I got to get to know her."

Man, that's when "Jamaica Funk"
and "Ring My Bell" just had hit.

And I watched her on the dance floor.

And Cookie could dance.

So, Jay kept elbowing me,

saying, "Man, if you don't
get her phone number."

The lights came up.

Everybody was leaving.

And I started walking out.

And I stood right by the door
'cause I couldn't miss my opportunity.

And as I walked past him, he said,

"Hey, lemme get that phone number."

"I would like to get your phone number
so when we come back from Christmas break,

maybe we could go out or something."

I laughed at him and I said,

"You'll never remember my name
and remember to call me."

-I said, "I'm gonna call you."
-I gave him the number, and I said,

"Okay, but you'll never
remember who I am."

Indiana working the ball.
Forecourt. Bounce pass.

Michigan State
played a Christmas tournament.

I was sitting with my mother
watching the game, and I was like,

"Mom, that guy right there,
he asked me for my number when I left."

And I was like, "He'll never remember me."

And we laughed.
We had a good laugh about it.

I went back early because I had to finish
registering for some classes,

and I remember the day
that I walked into the room,

the phone started ringing.

Like, literally we were walking
in with our bags,

and the phone started ringing.
I picked it up, and it was him.

She said, "I never thought
you were gonna call me."

And I'm thinking, "How did he even know
that I just walked into my room?"

That we even came back
'cause we came back early.

I just played it off--

"Yeah, you know a brother know
these type of things."

She didn't know I was calling every day

about five times a day
trying to reach her.

And he found out
my birthday was January 20th.

And so then he asked me,

"Can I take you out for your birthday?"

You know, and I thought, "Oh, wow, okay."

I was really shocked, you know,
and excited about it.

I went home and told my father,

"I want to put on a suit to take her out
on my first date."

And he said, "Wow,
you must really like this girl.

How long you known her?"
I said, "Dad, I don't know her yet."

We had a great time at dinner,

and it was like we were
best friends instantly, you know.

We just-- Easy talking to each other.

We talked at the restaurant.

Then we went over to my uncle's house.

We sat there and listened to music,
and we talked some more.

Cookie was amazing.

And Cookie was serious about graduating,
so she was driven like I was.

For me, I was most impressed with
the fact of how down-to-earth he was.

He was so cool and so funny
and so normal, you know.

That's what I fell in love with.

The first few months was just incredible.

Cookie and I had the best time.

I stayed on the phone with Cookie
on the road all night.

Actually, we would fall asleep,

and the phone's off the hook, you know.

We would fall asleep
talking to each other.

It'd be 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

I think for him,
I was always just that place

where he could relax and be supported.

Whether he won, lost or, you know,
was really tired or sick.

Whatever I needed,
even before I needed it,

she would say,
"Hey, I know-- You look tired.

Come, just lay down on my bed.
I'm gonna just study."

I think that's what made me
fall in love with her too.

Because of those moments
at Michigan State,

we were building something together.

Him being the focal point

of Michigan State's basketball team,

it wasn't easy.

And the pressure he was under
once the season started.

You know, he was very strict
about his regimen before a game.

What he ate, and how he needed quiet--

Dark room, just his music.

And I would go to the basketball games and

sometimes I would
wait for him after the game.

But he always told me,
"Just go back to the dorms,

and I'll meet you there after the game."

There was no just hanging around talking
or going home.

Right then and there,
"I'll call you when I get home. Bye."

She said, "Well, why can't I wait

because all the other players'
girlfriends are waiting?"

I said, "Just go to the dorm,
and I'll see you afterward."

That was our first big argument.

Everybody was trying to talk to Earvin.

All the girls, "Earvin. I want Ear--"

No, not Earvin.
"I want Magic. I want Magic."

You know, there were girls everywhere.

I get in his car one day
and I see pictures on the floor

of him, you know,
taking somebody to their dance.

And I'm thinking, "What is this?"

And he says, "Oh, no.
It's just a friend of mine.

I just took her.
She broke up with her boyfriend."

And I thought, "No. I don't think that
that's what's going on."

-She was very hurt.
-Yeah.

-Very hurt.
-Hurt bad.

Because we knew how--

-We knew how she felt.
-We knew how she felt.

-We knew she loved.
-Right.

You know, they just really--
It really devastated her.

You know, she saw
that I was dating other people

so it wasn't a good look for me.

'Cause she said, "You moved on.

Okay, then I'ma start
dating other people."

And I didn't like that.

We got into an argument, and then I said,

"Listen. It can't be both of us.
You know, you can't date her and then me."

He's like, "I'm not dating her, but--"

And I said, "No, you gotta
choose one or the other."

And he said, "I'm not choosing."

So I said, "Well, I will. I'm out."

I remember back in those days
when I used to see him a lot.

And we were just standing there talking.
I says, "Earvin, do you know,

there's a 6'8" or 9" kid
somewhere in a gym in this country,

and he's got all your skills.

Is he gonna outwork you?"

A year later,
I'm talking to him somewhere,

and he says, "Hey, Coach.

Remember that story you told me
about somebody outworking me?"

He says, "I found him."

At the end of my freshman season,

they decide to invite the best
college basketball players

to represent the United States.

The first day of practice,
I'm watching him shoot,

and it's nothing but net,
like 30 times in a row.

I'm like, "Whoo.
Man, this dude can shoot."

I'm going into that game,
didn't know much about him.

Just knew he's
a talented basketball player.

And he was walking around

with a big music box on his shoulder,
everywhere he went.

That's when I saw Larry Bird up close.

We would get in the game
and start throwing no-look passes,

and he'd start hittin' 'em
long jump shots.

Earvin Johnson, look at that--

One time, I came down,
threw a no-look to Larry,

he got it, threw a no-look back to me,

and I laid it up.
And the people went nuts.

And, man, after that I went back
and told everybody,

"Larry Bird, he's for real."

The next season,

he would lead his team
to a 33 and 0 season.

33 and 0.

Now, we had to face a ton
of good guys in the Big Ten,

but we had never faced
one individual talent like Larry Bird.

Bird was an assassin.

He was a one-man wrecking crew
at Indiana State,

and Magic may--

They may have resented each other
early on 'cause they were competitors.

He was on the cover of
Sports Illustrated, Basketball Weekly.

All the basketball magazines.

He was named College
Basketball Player of the Year.

I still said, "Hey, probably
should've been me, but that's okay."

I'm sure he was.

As much as we could of each other.

The numbers that he was putting up
the first year was incredible.

It's hard when you can look in the mirror
and see a guy that played just like you.

His drive to win was just as high as mine.

He was a competitor
like I was a competitor.

At that time,
I don't think either of us thought

about what was gonna happen in the future.

It was just the start
of something I knew that--

that I was gonna be seeing him a lot.

Arkansas is on a 14-game winning streak

with 25 and 4 this season.

Indiana State 31 and 0.

In 1979, I was governor of Arkansas.

It was my first year.

And Arkansas made the tournament,
and they were playing Indiana State.

Nobody wanted to see Arkansas beat Indiana

except the people from Arkansas.

They wanted Bird and Magic in the final.

The point guard for Indiana State,
who was a senior and very good,

with time running out, he throws the ball
into his left hand,

heaves it up. It bounces off the backboard
and goes in, and they win.

It was an unbelievable game. I--

And I looked at the guy
sittin' with me, and I said,

"God now wants Magic and Larry Bird
to play in the final,

and who are we to defy God's will?"

It is Indiana State
against Michigan State.

I'm Bryant Gumbel,
and the fans here are going bananas.

The NCAA finals
between Michigan State and Indiana State

was basketball heaven.

Because you had two transcendent talents.

The Magic Man, Earvin Johnson,

against The Bird, Larry Bird,
of Indiana State.

You didn't turn on the TV unless
they was talking about Magic, Bird.

It was everywhere.

You had this Magic Man

against the hillbilly from French Lick,
Indiana, Larry Bird.

And both of 'em had a
completely different kind of appeal.

The country was divided
about who they were gonna cheer for.

And let's not kid ourselves,
the racial contrasts were there too.

White kid from Indiana in the country.

City, urban Black kid.

Hooking up for all the gold,
all the marbles.

Everything was about them

because there's a story about
opposites that attract, right?

You got a Black guy,
and you got a white guy. Opposites.

You got Michigan State,
and you got Indiana State.

Their style of play, opposites.

They were the two
best players in the country.

Only one can win, and only one
can walk away with the crown.

How many times do you get that
matchup for the championship?

Tonight the Spartan season
concludes with a tense matchup

against undefeated Indiana State.

This will mark Larry Bird's
final college appearance

and likely the same
for Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

Even as we broke up,
I continued to watch the games

and, you know, was a part of all of that

'cause I-- you know,
I was still in love with him.

And he wasn't really acknowledging
that he's dating the other girl,

so I kept thinking
maybe we'll get back together.

But by the time they went to the NCAA,

and I'm watching it on TV
and I look in the audience,

and I see his mom in the stands.

And she's right next to her.
And that just really crushed me.

Watching that game
and then seeing that girl

in the seat that I should've been in.

You know, just--
It was tough watching that.

It was really tough watching that.

Michigan State wins the tip-off
with Donnelly in the backcourt.

Taking control early, many think,
will be crucial to win this game.

We knew it was gonna be tough

but we had confidence that we
was gonna compete that night.

The game plan
was for us to double-team him

wherever he went.

Don't give him no room to maneuver.

Look, they have him sandwiched in.
Completely in, can't get him the ball.

He was such an incredible shooter,

we wanted to just get
right up in his chest

and not give him any airspace.

Surrounded me

and made me take tougher shots
than I usually did.

Johnson, three on one.

Here it comes. The alley-oop.
That's Greg Kelser.

Going into the second half,
we went up 16 points.

And then everything changed.

Earvin Johnson pushing for Michigan State,

and Magic Johnson has his third foul.

We had to fight through adversity

because Earvin got three fouls
in the first half.

A big guard in there,
along with a good-sized--

Foul is on Kelser, number four.

We were about to blow the game open.

Greg Kelser got his fourth foul
and they came storming back.

Bird.

52 to 46.

So, I knew I had
to make plays for us to win.

Johnson. Magic Johnson with the ball.

Last play of the game,
Earvin ends up with the ball.

He throws it over his head about
three-quarters court down the floor…

There's the pass!

…to Kelser,
who flushes it to end the game.

It's all over.

Michigan State University,
National Champions, 1979.

We were able to play to our potential,

and it was a gratifying moment.

But only one can make…

It was one of the toughest losses
I've ever taken, and it still is today.

Still the most-watched game
in college basketball history

some 40-some years after it was played.

The goal and dream
that I had set came to fruition,

and so on the plane ride
going back to Michigan State

I knew I was leaving.

I was ready mentally,
physically, to turn pro.

We did a lot of things in college that
I thought maybe would take four years,

and it happened in two,
so I guess I gotta go on to the next step.

And let's see what I can do in the NBA.

I'm giving up a lot, you know.

College is-- You're giving
up, you know, the students,

you know, the chance to have a lot of fun.

Just a lot of things, you know.

He went on to win the NCAA
and then, you know, the very next year

he opted to go to California.

So, I was determined to finish school

and get outta here and start a new life.

On the eve of his very first day,

I want you to know
that this man has a smile

that lights up a television screen
from here to Bangor, Maine.

I got butterflies in my stomach.

I'm just tryna make sure
I can settle myself down.

So you're watching the debut

of Magic Johnson
with the Los Angeles Lakers.

And Magic Johnson missing one underneath.

Loose ball, tangle of bodies.

Johnson comes free and he travels.

I can hear some basketball fans right now.

They're saying, "See,

Magic Johnson can't play
defense in the NBA."

About the second quarter or so
I did settle down.

Intercepted by Magic,
and here he comes from behind.

A fake. The pass. Here we go.

Five.

Johnson back to Kareem.

So, it has come down to this.
Ford sends it to Kareem.

Skyhook up,

and good! Lakers win! Score it!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has given
the Los Angeles Lakers a victory!

And Magic Johnson is out there celebrating

like they just won the NCAA Championship.

Magic starts running and jumping,
and we're all happy and stuff

but we're happy because we won the game.
Magic is happy because he could see it.

He saw the making of a championship team.

I get in the locker room, Kareem say,

"Rookie, don't ever do that again."

We got 81 more games.

You know, if we get
up to this emotional level

every time we win, you know,
we'll be wasted by Christmas time.

He pointed at me, so I pointed at him.

"If you ever hit a shot like that
81 more times,

I'ma jump in your arms 81 more times."

And all of a sudden, we started to win.

Someone that has captured
the imagination of the country

is this man, the Magic Man, Mr. Johnson.

He made it possible
for me to change my image

in that we started winning.
You know, I could start smiling.

He was exactly the player that we needed.

Cool is out. Enthusiasm is in.

And isn't it refreshing?

These guys care for each other.

-We're sort of a live group of guys--
-Homeboy.

He didn't have nothing but a T-shirt on.
Now look at him. He's in silk shirts.

Look at him.

When them Lakers started winning,

it united the city of Los Angeles.

So, everybody felt like he was their hero.

I fell in love with Magic Johnson
and what he did on the court.

And the charisma he had
out with his media and public.

Not only did Black America, not only
the young Black kids, Black teenagers

fall in love with Magic Johnson.

But white America was falling in love
with Magic Johnson.

Falling in love and looking up to
and feeling inspired by a Black male,

you know, was almost unheard of.

The Forum was in Inglewood.

I grew up 14 blocks away
and we got no tickets.

We gotta figure out a way to sneak in.
We were able to run down a tunnel.

And run past the guards, get into the--

you know, get into the Forum
and just kinda take seats.

Here we go again.

I've never seen nothing like that.

I've never seen anybody 6'9",
they were bringing the ball up the floor,

there was control in the tempo,
directing the offense.

Nobody played the game like he played it.

He was an oxymoron.
He could play any position.

He was a 6'9" point guard,

and there wasn't one around at the time.

Magic's hot and he knows it.

What a pass to Cooper who scores!

A no-look pass. But--

Earvin's gonna make
a fantastic no-look pass.

You know, look this way,
ball goes that way, behind the back.

Wraparound the world, score!

I'm no-looking to everybody, right?

Through the legs, behind the back.

Oh, man, and that crowd
would just go crazy.

Magic had swagger. Magic was cool.

You know,
he played with such joy, enthusiasm.

I mean, he was my favorite player.

The Lakers became my favorite team.

People looked up to him.

People admired him from both sides.

People wanted to be him.

Everybody knows this Magic,
the happy guy. The one who smiles.

I think they might think that,
you know, nothing ever goes wrong,

or he has no problems.

He just smiles every day and,
and everything and--

But I do have low points, and…

Earvin Johnson is another guy. You know.

Here's Magic over here,
and here's Earvin over here.

During the first year
I was definitely homesick,

so my phone bill was extremely high.

He would call us all the time,

you know, just about every day
or every other day.

I've never been without my family.

My father and my mother
always been at my games.

Always still only 15, 20 minutes away
from the college

so I could go home
and get a home-cooked meal.

I can't do that anymore.

I can't go get a hug
from my mother anymore

or just advice from my father
face-to-face anymore.

Here is the rookie sensation,
Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

Tough when you play away from home.

-Isn't it?
-Definitely.

Not hearing the home crowd
screaming for you.

The Forum was in Inglewood.

Earvin lived close to Inglewood.
He lived sort of an insulated life.

He would go home and go to his
little two-bedroom apartment.

I stayed in my apartment all the time
because I was scared.

I was still scared of LA
because LA was so big.

How's the social life out here?

I mean, I know you work hard,

-Yeah.
-but there's playtime too.

Right, there's playtime.

I was very much a guy who was guarded,

and Norm Nixon told me
to watch out for people.

Everybody was trying to…

get to know, you know, the athletes,
and so I say, "Okay."

You have to watch so much.

Then you have to find out with--

Are the people real?
Do they want you for you?

Can you go out and just
forget about ball, you know?

It's really hard. It's really hard.

Good luck to you
and to the Los Angeles Lakers.

-Nice being here.
-Thanks for being with us.

Mr. Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
Thank you, sir.

Here was this fresh young man
from Michigan,

and he couldn't trust people.

But that first year in Los Angeles,

Jerry Buss bought the team.

In 1979, Dr. Jerry Buss's dreams

of sports ownership became reality
when he spent a record $67.5 million

on the LA Lakers, the LA Kings
and their lucrative venue, the LA Forum.

He knew I was a long way from home,
and he said, "Hey, young man.

When we get back from training camp,

one Saturday I want you to come,
and we gonna stand on the sideline

of a USC game.

Once he-- we went
to the first USC football game,

that's when we started really hanging out.

We started having lunch and dinners
after the Laker games.

He would say meet him at this restaurant.

So I would go meet him there,
and we would break bread together, talk.

And then he just starts saying,
"Hey, come on over to the house.

You have the gate pad number.
You can come anytime you want.

And so I started going
over there all the time.

We played pool at his house for hours,
and he sort of filled the void.

I took him aside,
and I talked with him. And I said,

"Will you please look
out after my baby for me?"

Dr. Buss said, "Mrs. Johnson," he said,
"I will take care of him."

I felt more comfortable, you know,

knowing that he had someone
that he could talk to, someone that would,

you know, take care of him.

Well, it became extremely close.

He was like Jerry's surrogate son.

He was the apple of his eye,
that's for sure.

Johnson from outta nowhere.

The Suns took it easy. They had the layup.
And Magic Johnson just refused to give up,

comes back inside,
gives it to Kareem. That might do it.

Charisma,
that's what the young fella's got.

He's had an excellent rookie season.

The Los Angeles Lakers
are the new champions

of the Western Conference
as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pours in 38 points.

Magic Johnson adds 20.

I'm going crazy.

Like, I just won the NCAA championship
the year before,

and now I'm actually going
to the NBA Finals my rookie season.

It's been eight seasons
since the NBA championship has been a part

of the LA sports scene.

The style of the Lakers has always been
to make the play-offs

but somehow fold in or before the Finals.

I remember we kept pumping each other up,

"Okay. We gotta do this.
We gotta do that."

Well, earlier that week, the voting
for the Rookie of the Year came out.

I thought it would be close.
It wasn't close. I was shocked.

You know, when I learned
that Larry Bird had won by a wide margin,

I didn't like it.

Everybody always said
about me my first year,

"He can pass. He can run a team,
but Larry Bird is a much better scorer."

I was sitting there saying to myself,
"I can score, but that's not my role."

I didn't like hearing that all the time.

And so, you got me fired up going
into the NBA Finals.

Philadelphia beat the
Boston Celtics four out of five.

Julius Erving carried the load.
He averaged 25 a game.

The Doctor will be the man
they'll have to go to.

They had a real good team. Dr. J,
when they had Chocolate Thunder,

Darryl Dawkins.

Now, I was a Philadelphia 76ers fan.

I'd had a Dr. J poster on my wall.

I was pulling for Philly.
I was a Dr. J fan.

We all wanted him to
win a championship but not against us.

…underway.
Controlled by Dawkins who'll break free.

It was a back-and-forth,
up-and-down series.

We knew we had our hands full
with Philadelphia,

but the one thing that was going
in our favor was nobody

in the league could stop Kareem.

Kareem moving the other way,
Dawkins can't--

-He was just unstoppable.
-I spoke to the team. I told 'em,

"Listen, I'm gonna be ready to do my job."

Goes to Magic, lob to Kareem…

And so, in game five at the Forum,
it was nip and tuck.

A 2-2 series, this is a big game
because we can go up 3-2.

Kareem's hurt.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is injured.
There's no question about it.

In the middle of the third quarter,

Kareem has a sprain in his ankle.

Boy, they would be
in more than serious trouble without him.

We ended up closing out the game.
We're up 3-2 now.

Please. Give him some room here, please.

It was catastrophic.

Kareem was our captain,
and he was always there.

Consummate professional,
whether it was, you know,

had a migraine or not.
I think we were all hopeful.

If there was any way he could play,
he would play. We knew that.

The next morning, we're flying to Philly.

We get to the airport, and they said,
"Man, did you hear the news?"

I said, "What news?"

Our doctors let us know
that he was injured enough

that he wasn't gonna play game six.

We don't have the greatest scorer
in the history of the game with us.

How we gonna beat Philadelphia
without Kareem?

Everybody's sitting there, and
you could tell it was a lot of tension.

And everybody was, like, nervous.

Nobody was talking, which was strange.

How we gonna do this without our captain?

You know,
he's not even gonna make the trip.

This must really be bad.

They was all frustrated
and disappointed that he couldn't play.

So, I said, "I gotta do something."

Kareem used to get seat 1A.

There was only one person
who ever sat in 1A.

Kareem would sit in the first row

but Magic and I would sit
in the second row.

So, I'm in the second row,
and Magic sits in Kareem's seat.

He just turned around
and looked at everybody.

And goes,

"Have no fear,
Earvin Magic Johnson is here."

I'm 'bout to show you

and everybody on this team
what type of game I got.