END OF THE MAGIC ERA : How Did the Pass Get Through? It Could Happen Only by Magic

Magic Johnson didn’t limit his magical moments to the big games. Everyone who ever watched him had their favorite plays.

There was one he made early in the 1980-81 season in Kansas City that has to rank with his greatest.

Few people were in the stands that night, the game was not televised, and the spotlight was elsewhere, shining on the city’s baseball team, which had made it into the World Series.

But early in that game, Johnson made a seemingly impossible, no-look pass, through three opposing players, into the hands of Jamaal Wilkes, who was waiting underneath the basket for an easy layup.

The play had no effect on the outcome of a one-sided game and was quickly forgotten.

Except by those fortunate enough to have seen it.