Magic Johnson's 1996 Comeback: A Clash of Young Versus Old
There’s no question that Magic Johnson’s career numbers speak for themselves. From 1979-1991 he was without a question one of the top three players in the league year in and year out. During his twelve full seasons he revolutionized the point guard position and helped lead the Lakers to ten conference finals, nine NBA Finals, and five NBA Championships.
In 1991 he led the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the up and coming Chicago Bulls. Despite the Bulls dismantling of the Lakers (largely due to injuries to Worthy and Scott), it seemed as though the Lakers and Bulls were going to be meeting each other in finals for years to come. Of course this would not come to pass as Magic would shock the world with an announcement that he was HIV positive. At the time, Magic and others believed that his only choice was to retire from the game. Knowing what we know now about HIV, Magic could have gone on playing for years without harming himself.
Magic considered a comeback before the 1992-1993 season and even joined the Lakers for the pre-season in Hawaii. I remember watching with excitement the Lakers play during pre-season of that year. They were better than ever. Magic rejuvenated the team and his fans with his love and enthusiasm for the game. I was already talking trash to bandwagon Bulls fans about how Magic was coming back to exact his revenge on the Bulls in the 1993 Finals.
Everything seemed too good to be true…that is until Magic cut himself in a pre-season game. From there the media did its normal deal and made something big out of nothing. The Nail in the coffin came when Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone told the New York Times that he did not feel comfortable playing with Magic and feared that he could contract HIV from playing with him. My only question for Karl would have been: Didn’t you just play with him for an entire summer during the 1992 Olympics? I think Malone was really just afraid of what Magic and the Lakers had in store for the rest of the NBA. Amid the controversy, Magic once again retired from the Lakers and returned to his post as a commentator with NBC Sports.
Fast forward to 1996 and the Lakers have an up and coming NBA team led by Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac. During the 1994-1995 season that team snuck up on the rest of the league, winning 48 games and upsetting the loaded Seattle Sonics in the first round of the playoffs. The next year the team was failing to live up to the expectations that they had set for themselves in the previous season. The team was still on pace to make the playoffs, but was only winning at a slightly above .500 tilt (21-18). What the young Lakers needed was a shot in the arm. This would come in the form of Magic Johnson.
Magic would return to the Lakers as a 6th man on January 30, 1996 against the Golden State Warriors. After not playing in an NBA regular season game for almost five years, Johnson came back and had a tremendous impact on the team. The Lakers planned to use Magic as a back up power forward/6th man for the young Laker squad. In his first game back he played 27 minutes, scored 19 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists. He would have his down points (such as the drubbing he and his young teammates took at the hands of the mighty 72 win Chicago Bulls), but for the most part had the Lakers rolling.
They were 13-5 in his first 18 games back with the team when the jealousy of the younger players started to set in. Cedric Ceballos, an All-Star the year before, became upset that he had to give up some of his minutes to Magic and decided to take out his frustrations partying on a lake in Arizona. Despite the Lakers victory against the Western Conference leading Seattle Sonics, Ceballos bailed on the team, upset that he only played 12 minutes and scored 2 points while Magic played 34 minutes, had 14 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. With Ceballos missing and controversy hanging over the teams head, the Lakers would end up losing their game two nights later (against Seattle again). Ceballos would join the team again in Orlando (where they upset them at home…a big deal considering Orlando was undefeated at home up until that point), but the team was never the same. Guys like Nick Van Exel started to join Ceballos in their jealousy of Johnson. The team was winning, yet the young guys were too worried about their minutes and who the leader of the team was to enjoy it. The Lakers got through the regular season going 22-10 during Magic’s return. But by the time the playoffs rolled around the fight over team leadership had torn the team apart. Despite having home court advantage in the first round, the Lakers would eventually lose to the defending champion Houston Rockets in four games. Realizing that he wasn’t cut out for playing with young players Magic left the Lakers for good. In the summer of that year, the Lakers would acquire Shaquille O’neal and Kobe Bryant, so the memory of Magic and the controversy in which he left in quickly became yesterday’s news.
It pains me that no one ever discusses Magic’s 1996 comeback and the impact he had on that young Laker team. It pains me even more that no one talks about how a man almost 37 years of age who hadn’t played pro ball in five years came back and immediately played almost 30 minutes per night and got a struggling team rolling. He was beating players younger, more in shape, and more athletic than him with his basketball IQ and enthusiasm for the game. His simple give and gos and hook shots, had all of the young high flyers around the league flustered. But in the end, those same moves also had his young teammates up in arms. To this day, I wonder how things would have turned out if his young teammates would have embraced him. Maybe the Lakers would have made a run in the playoffs that year. Maybe he would have stuck around for Shaq’s arrival and helped the team get to the promise land quicker than they did. This will all remain a mystery. For now, take a look at some of Magic’s highlights from the 1996 season:
In 1991 he led the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the up and coming Chicago Bulls. Despite the Bulls dismantling of the Lakers (largely due to injuries to Worthy and Scott), it seemed as though the Lakers and Bulls were going to be meeting each other in finals for years to come. Of course this would not come to pass as Magic would shock the world with an announcement that he was HIV positive. At the time, Magic and others believed that his only choice was to retire from the game. Knowing what we know now about HIV, Magic could have gone on playing for years without harming himself.
Magic considered a comeback before the 1992-1993 season and even joined the Lakers for the pre-season in Hawaii. I remember watching with excitement the Lakers play during pre-season of that year. They were better than ever. Magic rejuvenated the team and his fans with his love and enthusiasm for the game. I was already talking trash to bandwagon Bulls fans about how Magic was coming back to exact his revenge on the Bulls in the 1993 Finals.
Everything seemed too good to be true…that is until Magic cut himself in a pre-season game. From there the media did its normal deal and made something big out of nothing. The Nail in the coffin came when Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone told the New York Times that he did not feel comfortable playing with Magic and feared that he could contract HIV from playing with him. My only question for Karl would have been: Didn’t you just play with him for an entire summer during the 1992 Olympics? I think Malone was really just afraid of what Magic and the Lakers had in store for the rest of the NBA. Amid the controversy, Magic once again retired from the Lakers and returned to his post as a commentator with NBC Sports.
Fast forward to 1996 and the Lakers have an up and coming NBA team led by Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac. During the 1994-1995 season that team snuck up on the rest of the league, winning 48 games and upsetting the loaded Seattle Sonics in the first round of the playoffs. The next year the team was failing to live up to the expectations that they had set for themselves in the previous season. The team was still on pace to make the playoffs, but was only winning at a slightly above .500 tilt (21-18). What the young Lakers needed was a shot in the arm. This would come in the form of Magic Johnson.
Magic would return to the Lakers as a 6th man on January 30, 1996 against the Golden State Warriors. After not playing in an NBA regular season game for almost five years, Johnson came back and had a tremendous impact on the team. The Lakers planned to use Magic as a back up power forward/6th man for the young Laker squad. In his first game back he played 27 minutes, scored 19 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists. He would have his down points (such as the drubbing he and his young teammates took at the hands of the mighty 72 win Chicago Bulls), but for the most part had the Lakers rolling.
They were 13-5 in his first 18 games back with the team when the jealousy of the younger players started to set in. Cedric Ceballos, an All-Star the year before, became upset that he had to give up some of his minutes to Magic and decided to take out his frustrations partying on a lake in Arizona. Despite the Lakers victory against the Western Conference leading Seattle Sonics, Ceballos bailed on the team, upset that he only played 12 minutes and scored 2 points while Magic played 34 minutes, had 14 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. With Ceballos missing and controversy hanging over the teams head, the Lakers would end up losing their game two nights later (against Seattle again). Ceballos would join the team again in Orlando (where they upset them at home…a big deal considering Orlando was undefeated at home up until that point), but the team was never the same. Guys like Nick Van Exel started to join Ceballos in their jealousy of Johnson. The team was winning, yet the young guys were too worried about their minutes and who the leader of the team was to enjoy it. The Lakers got through the regular season going 22-10 during Magic’s return. But by the time the playoffs rolled around the fight over team leadership had torn the team apart. Despite having home court advantage in the first round, the Lakers would eventually lose to the defending champion Houston Rockets in four games. Realizing that he wasn’t cut out for playing with young players Magic left the Lakers for good. In the summer of that year, the Lakers would acquire Shaquille O’neal and Kobe Bryant, so the memory of Magic and the controversy in which he left in quickly became yesterday’s news.
It pains me that no one ever discusses Magic’s 1996 comeback and the impact he had on that young Laker team. It pains me even more that no one talks about how a man almost 37 years of age who hadn’t played pro ball in five years came back and immediately played almost 30 minutes per night and got a struggling team rolling. He was beating players younger, more in shape, and more athletic than him with his basketball IQ and enthusiasm for the game. His simple give and gos and hook shots, had all of the young high flyers around the league flustered. But in the end, those same moves also had his young teammates up in arms. To this day, I wonder how things would have turned out if his young teammates would have embraced him. Maybe the Lakers would have made a run in the playoffs that year. Maybe he would have stuck around for Shaq’s arrival and helped the team get to the promise land quicker than they did. This will all remain a mystery. For now, take a look at some of Magic’s highlights from the 1996 season:
4 comments:
Man, great point about how the arrival of Shaq and Kobe completely drew the attention away from Magic's final retirement. I never to this day pondered the notion of Magic ushering in Shaq and Kobe, a true passing of the torch. To me, when we got Shaq, my world as a Laker fan got thrown into upheaval and the sublime idea of Magic playing with Shaq just got lost in the mix.
And is it just me, or do Magic's numbers from that year sound like those of a certain other versatile point-forward currently playing for the Lakers (#7)?
Also, I never realized how detrimental the attitudes of Ceballos and NVE were to the good of that particular year's team. I just thought they ran out of gas and got beat by a better team.
In any case, great post and if I may, allow me to link to a tangentially relevant post that I wrote a while back on my blog Bandwagon L.A.: Our Lakers
Check it out.
what a great post. this sent shivers down my spine. the second video - the one against the nets - is amazing. one great lob for an alley-oop, another great assist and a clutch three. phew.
who needs cedric ceballos, eh?
You're right, and it's a damn shame. That first game back was one of the more remarkable sports performances I've seen, and for exactly the reasons you mention.
Thank you just thank you
What a season what a player
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