He’s Still Got It : Why Magic Was More Suited to a Comeback Than Jordan (or Anyone)

The comeback was barely two games old when Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, having just turned a basketball court into a stage that captivated the sports world, met again in a weight room that adjoins both locker rooms at the Forum, both headed for a news conference in another corner of the building.

Jordan greeted his friend late that Feb. 2, after the Bulls had dismantled the Lakers, with a message:

“You better get your ass in shape,” he said.

It was said in a humorous vein, not as harsh criticism, but Jordan was right, and Johnson knew it better than anyone.

By everyday standards, even those of his barnstorming team made up of former pros and college players, Magic was in fine condition, able to jog for miles and work with weights regularly. But this is the NBA, and a return at midseason meant the Lakers’ games and practices would have to double as his conditioning routine.

He was also catching Coach Del Harris’ system on the fly, getting four of the offensive sets down in time for the Jan. 30 debut, playing twice and then learning the plays for small forward and shooting guard in the next few days. That need to know the responsibilities for all the positions, if he was going to truly be as versatile as planned, compounded matters.

And yet, through all the adjustments, with Johnson still two or three weeks away from top shape and only now feeling comfortable with the playbook, he has rarely been anything less than impressive the first five games. Mostly, he has been better than any 36-year-old who spent 55 months on hiatus has a right to be.

The averages, as the Lakers prepare to return from the All-Star break Wednesday at the Forum against Atlanta: 17.8 points, 7.8 assists, 7.2 rebounds, 30.8 minutes.

The question: How has he done so well so soon?

--He didn’t leave to play baseball.

Jordan’s transition from superstar guard to double-A outfielder meant a change in his training routine. Hips and legs were strengthened so he could open up quickly to get around on the pitch. The jumping muscles did not stay toned and he returned last March with what Jerry Krause, the Bulls’ vice president of basketball operations called “loggy” legs.

Johnson left the Lakers but kept playing basketball. OK, so he must have watched “Pumping Iron” and become inspired, but he kept playing basketball.

“There hasn’t been that kind of erosion,” said Bill Bertka, the longtime Laker assistant coach. “He’s just packing a few more pounds and working with a few more years.”

So Johnson struggles with conditioning, but not much else. His shooting might have dropped to 42.9% after he made only five of 16 against the New Jersey Nets in the final outing before the break, but only six players in the league are averaging more than 7.8 assists. Jordan needed only five games back before scoring 55 points at New York, but he eventually finished at 41.1% in 17 regular-season games, easily a career low.

--He plays for the Lakers.

One of their strengths, even before Johnson’s arrival, was interchangeable parts. Cedric Ceballos has starred at one position and played two others. Sedale Threatt is proven at either backcourt spot. Eddie Jones can play shooting guard or small forward. Vlade Divac and Elden Campbell can be plugged in at center or power forward, George Lynch at either forward.

So when Johnson hit town, he stepped into a situation perfect for a versatile reserve, someone who could easily be moved around to create a mismatch or avoid an unfavorable matchup because most around him could also be moved. Thus, he can be a point guard when the Lakers want size, or center if they go small, all in the same night.

A minor point?

Hardly.

“It helps,” he said. “No question. A lot. The reason everything has happened for me is because of that. If I was just a power forward, believe me, them 19 [points] and what I did so far wouldn’t have been happening.”

--He still is treated as Magic Johnson.

It took about four games before opposing coaches and benches started reacting in obvious exasperation to Johnson getting most of the calls. In the fifth, last Wednesday at the Forum, the Nets watched him go to the free throw line eight times, more than anyone else on either team, even though nine others played at least as long.

Someone asked New Jersey Coach Butch Beard afterward if Johnson went right back to getting the star treatment from referees.

“What do you think?” he said rhetorically.

Johnson is averaging 9.2 trips a game to the line, a number that last season was topped by only two players, Shaquille O’Neal at 10.8, and David Robinson at 10.5. It has become a stealth weapon--the 82.6% means he is generating about 7 1/2 points a game on free throws alone. That’s one way to compensate for the 42.9% from the field.

By comparison, teammates Ceballos, in the top 10 in scoring, and Nick Van Exel are shooting 6.7 and 2.7 free throws a game, respectively.

Johnson has always been solid from the line--he was shooting 84.8% there at the start of his comeback. It’s just that he got there 6.5 times a game his first 12 seasons, nearly three times fewer than now. The increase can be attributed to his playing inside more--or to the fact that since he’s slower at 36, defenders can at least get a hand on him.

So what has this meant for all the Lakers?

Their offense has jumped from 101.6 points the first 42 games to 105.4 in the five since Johnson arrived.

--He coached.

Only five of the other 13 current Lakers--including Fred Roberts and Frankie King, both now on the injured list--were even in the NBA when Johnson previously played. only two had been teammates during the first tour, Divac and Campbell.

So there was a positive to that 5-11 record as the sideline boss two seasons back, including a franchise-record 10 consecutive losses, after all. If only for a brief run, he still learned the ways of the players, their talents and their temperaments. Today, six former charges are teammates: Anthony Peeler, who was on the injured list during Johnson’s entire coaching stint, Threatt, Lynch, Van Exel, Divac and Campbell.

“They’re paying off in the fact that I know these guys,” Johnson said. “I know what gets them going, what motivates them and what works and what doesn’t work.”

--He was helped by rule changes.

Between June of 1991, his last NBA action besides exhibition games, and January of 1996, the league cracked down on hand checking, fine-tuned the illegal defense regulations and moved in the three-point line.

“The hand-check rule definitely works in my favor,” he said.

That’s because the same defenders who once were able to keep a hand on his hip while coming up court or to push him out of the low post have lost the weapon. Now, when Johnson goes inside as a power forward, he often has superior quickness.

As for the complicated zone rules, it used to be that if Johnson went to the post, a second defender was able to run at him from another spot every 2.9 seconds. Now, the second defender can’t double-team until the ball heads inside, providing Johnson an extra moment to spin toward the basket or find an open man.

“Without a doubt,” Johnson said of the illegal-defense change. “It does benefit me.”

--He didn’t have major skills that would diminish.

Johnson never played the game above the rim or at warp speed. Just the opposite. His success was built on court vision, intelligence, passing, instincts. Things that might erode at 56, but not 36. In this case, definitely not at 36.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Magic’s Touch

Scoring Before Magic: 101.6

Scoring With Magic: 105.4

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Assists Before: 24.8

Assists With: 30.4

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Free Throws Before: 20-27

Free Throws With: 20-24

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Opponents’ Scoring Before: 100.1

Opponents’ Scoring With: 98.8

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Researched by Houston Mitchell