Magic Johnson
American basketball player and entrepreneur (born 1959)
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He is widely regarded as the greatest point guard of all time and one of the greatest basketball players in history. Johnson spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning a national championship with the Michigan State Spartans in 1979, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers, then led the team to five NBA championships during their "Showtime" era. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. He retired again after fellow players protested his return, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
Known for his extraordinary court vision, passing abilities, and leadership, Johnson was one of the most accomplished and influential players in basketball history. He received three NBA Most Valuable Player awards, three NBA Finals MVP awards, nine All-NBA First Team designations, and twelve All-Star Game selections. He led the league in regular-season assists four times.
“Magic Johnson” enters the record as american basketball player and entrepreneur (born 1959). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Magic, Johnson and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Magic Johnson” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Magic, Johnson and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q134183. The first chronological checks are 1959, 1979, 1991 and 1992.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Magic Johnson”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Magic Johnson primary sources, Magic Johnson archive and Magic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Magic Johnson”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Magic Johnson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.