A Very Game Marques Johnson Had More Difficult Struggle on His Mind

Marques Johnson had a lot to play for Sunday. His son.

Marques Kevin Johnson II is one week old today. He is home in Los Angeles and he is getting better after experiencing a problem with rapid breathing right after Jocelyn Johnson gave birth to him.

For a while, Marques Johnson’s heart was beating pretty fast, too. Young Marques Kevin threw quite a scare into his parents, almost enough to prevent his dad from playing in the All-Star game.

Johnson’s infant son and his wife were released from the UCLA Medical Center Friday, only hours before Johnson decided it was all right to go ahead and play a game of basketball.

“There was really nothing I could do if I was there,” Johnson said Sunday.

“For a while, I was real tentative if I would come or not. I really didn’t make up my mind until late that it was all right. There was no sense in hanging around.”

Marques Kevin Johnson II was delivered by natural childbirth with his dad present and taking pictures dressed in a hospital gown. Almost immediately, there were problems.

When doctors checked the respirator, Johnson said, they found that Marques Kevin’s heartbeat was much too rapid.

Finally, Marques Kevin’s heartbeat slowed, so Johnson brought his new son and Jocelyn home. After seeing they were comfortably settled, Johnson caught a 1:30 a.m. flight Saturday from Los Angeles and arrived here at 6:30 a.m.

When Johnson got to the hotel, his room reservation had been cancelled. He got that worked out.

By 8:30 a.m., Johnson was asleep in his room. He was still sleeping at 11 a.m., when the West All-Stars began practice. He didn’t show up.

“We didn’t have any idea what was going on with him,” James Worthy said. “I finally asked Riles (West and Laker Coach Pat Riley), but nobody was really talking about it.”

Johnson was the very last player to get in the All-Star game. He played 13 minutes and scored six points, but somehow statistics don’t seem so important in a situation such as the one Johnson faced.

No matter how long he played, Johnson said those 13 minutes on the court meant a great deal to him in some pretty emotional ways.

“It was a very welcome relief to come here and play in this game,” he said. “I was able to put what was happening at home temporarily aside. I couldn’t help thinking about it, but it’s been so chaotic. I’ve spent so much time at the hospital, this was a welcome relief for me.”

Adrian Dantley, an All-Star teammate, has been playing against Johnson since they were both in college and the game was Notre Dame against UCLA. Even though he has known Johnson for a long time, Dantley said Johnson showed him something Sunday.

“Marques is a great player who knows what he has to do,” Dantley said. “You’ve got to feel for a guy like that. He was out there, though, and I think the little he played was still probably good for him.”

This season and last, the All-Star break has not exactly been the best of times for Marques Johnson, but he has been able to pull through personal problems both times.

Johnson spent last year’s All-Star break at his parents house after news broke of his 1982 stay in a Minneapolis drug treatment clinic. Eventually, that story blew over and Johnson came back this season with one of his most satisfying first halves.

The Western Conference coaches selected Johnson to the All-Star team for the fifth time in his nine-year career. Johnson said he appreciated this one, maybe more than any of the other four.

“After I had made it before, I thought I could deal without the All-Star game,” he said. “I was younger and not as tolerant then. I didn’t realize the importance of these things. Years from now, I can sit back and say I was a five-time All-Star. I can enjoy a sense of history.”

Riley said Johnson appeared to be playing with more than a game of basketball on his mind.

“You could see it in his face,” Riley said.

Johnson could feel it in his heart. Neither Jocelyn nor he wanted to study Lamaze and had planned instead on a Caesarean birth, then decided on a natural birth.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I was pretty nervous going in there. It was a little different.”

So Johnson came here to play in All-Star game. He didn’t worry about jump shots or driving to the lane. He had other things on his mind. No matter how much he tried to think about something else, he wasn’t entirely successful.

Put a move on Moses Malone? No problem. Try to swipe the ball from Julius Erving? Can do.

But forget about Marques Kevin Johnson II?

“Now that’s pressure,” Johnson said like a proud father. Then he excused himself to call home.