Pooof! : Johnson Retires on His Terms This Time

Parting is such sweet sorrow . . . unless you happen to be really used to it.

Magic Johnson’s decision to retire a third time came without warning Tuesday afternoon--even Laker management was caught by surprise--and without the sadness that had accompanied the two previous announcements, an indication that a basketball legend with every imaginable accomplishment finally acquired the one thing that had eluded him:

The chance to leave on his own terms.

In November of 1991, he quit after testing HIV-positive. A year later, in the first comeback, he was pushed out by the circus atmosphere and peer-pressure questions of playing with an infectious disease.

In May of ‘96, he simply decided he’d had enough.

“I was satisfied with my return to the NBA, although I would have hoped we would have gone further into the playoffs,” Johnson said in a statement.

“But now I am ready to give it up. It’s time to move on. I am going out on my terms, something I couldn’t say when I aborted a comeback in 1992.

“The support generated throughout the league and from fans worldwide was tremendous, and I want to thank everyone. I also want to thank all Laker fans and the entire Laker organization, who has continually supported me, especially [owner] Jerry Buss, [Executive Vice President] Jerry West, [General Manager] Mitch Kupchak, Coach [Del] Harris and my teammates.

“This team has a great future, and I will be excited to sit courtside and root them on to a championship very soon. In announcing this decision now, I wanted to give the Lakers every advantage in planning their future and securing one of the much-talked-about free agents this summer.”

And possibly save them from a very difficult decision in the process. Because in order to land one of the A-list free agents--Shaquille O’Neal or Juwan Howard--the Lakers probably would have had to renounce the rights to the greatest player in team history, someone who remained immensely popular with fans even as he at times struggled trying to imitate the past.

“Our path is a little bit clearer now,” is how West put it.

When Johnson began his comeback Jan. 29, 4 1/2 years after last playing in a real game, it was the event of the NBA season. The Lakers, having won eight of their nine games before that night, carried on despite the media scrutiny their sixth man generated by winning 12 of the next 14 outings.

By the end of the regular season, they had gone 29-11 with Johnson mostly playing both forward spots, had increased their scoring from 101.6 in the pre-Magic days to 104.2 after the return, their shooting from 47% to 49%, their assists from 24.8 to 26 and dropped the points-against from 100.1 to 96.7. The last numbers may have been the most telling because defense was Johnson’s weakness and yet the Lakers seemed to be energized even there.

The Lakers seemed to be cracking too. Cedric Ceballos went AWOL. Nick Van Exel shoved a referee. Johnson bumped a referee. One game into the playoffs, Johnson questioned Harris’ offensive tactics. Van Exel followed suit soon thereafter. Johnson backed Harris in response but ripped Van Exel in the process. Van Exel, terribly frustrated, ended up in tears at what turned out to be the final shootaround, then skipped the season-ending team meeting along with Sedale Threatt and Pig Miller. It was a mess, and Johnson was in the middle.

The day after the season ended, he denied being one of the disruptive influences. The frustration of teammates said otherwise.

He said he wanted to come back, the Lakers being his No. 1 choice. He said he wanted to play more point guard, even though he would have had no chance of defending any ballhandler. He was positive about the future.

Eleven days later, he was positive he was ready to retire for good. Or at least until the notion of another comeback strikes him again.

Johnson, for whom the possibility of life-altering career decisions comes and goes on whims, started to contemplate this move in the last few days. Only family and the closest friends were involved in the discussions. Even Buss, whom Johnson calls a surrogate father, was not told of the impending decision.

Tuesday morning, Johnson was at the Forum to practice with his barnstorming team and gave West a wave from afar, giving no other indication that something was up. Tuesday afternoon, West returned from lunch to find a message from Lon Rosen, Johnson’s agent.

“It wasn’t exactly something that possibly wasn’t out there,” West said. “We’d heard rumors he was considering that. But it happened so abruptly that it caught everyone off guard here.”

The comeback ended with the 36-year-old Johnson playing 32 games with nine starts, averaging 14.6 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds. He recorded his 10,000th assist. He got to feel the playoffs again. He became a hero to some for playing while HIV-positive. He became a fallen hero to others.

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Magic Marker

A look at Magic Johnson’s numbers this season, compared to his career before the comeback:

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Category 1996 Career Minutes 29.9 36.9 FG% .466 .521 FT% .856 .848 3PT% .379 .298 Rebounds 5.7 7.7 Assists 6.9 11.4 Steals 0.8 1.9 Turnovers 3.2 3.9 Points 14.6 19.7

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Magic Johnson: Game by Game in 1996

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Date, Opp Min FG-FGA FT-FTA OR-T Ast Pts Res. Jan. 30, Golden St. 27 7-14 5-6 2-8 10 19 W Feb. 2, Chicago 32 6-13 1-2 2-3 3 15 L Feb. 4, Utah 31 3-8 15-18 2-7 6 21 W Feb. 6, Denver 33 3-5 10-12 2-9 12 16 W Feb. 7, New Jersey 31 5-16 7-8 3-9 8 18 W Feb. 14, Atlanta 39 5-9 4-8 1-10 13 15 W Feb. 16, Dallas 31 10-15 9-10 3-8 11 30 W Feb. 20, Clippers 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 W Feb. 24, Houston 11 1-2 0-0 0-1 3 2 L March 1, Washington 15 1-3 2-2 0-1 3 5 W March 3, Houston 26 4-10 6-10 4-7 5 14 L March 7, Sacramento 30 5-10 4-4 1-5 7 15 W March 8, Phoenix 32 4-7 4-4 2-6 8 12 W March 12, Portland 28 1-6 2-2 1-5 8 5 L March 14, Golden St 34 6-12 9-10 1-4 6 21 W March 15, Milwaukee 22 6-8 7-8 0-2 8 20 W March 17, Orlando 33 4-11 1-1 2-4 5 10 L March 19, Seattle 34 4-6 5-5 1-5 10 14 W March 21, Seattle 39 7-18 2-4 3-7 3 17 L March 24, Charlotte 39 9-12 9-10 0-8 5 28 L March 26, Orlando 36 4-8 4-4 0-4 7 14 W March 27, Miami 39 6-8 15-15 1-9 9 27 W March 29, Atlanta 42 6-17 4-4 1-10 9 16 W March 31, Toronto 34 5-12 9-10 1-4 6 19 W April 2, Charlotte 38 0-4 10-11 0-6 10 10 L April 3, Cleveland 39 8-13 7-7 2-8 4 26 L April 7, San Antonio 41 4-11 5-6 2-9 7 15 W April 9, Denver 26 3-13 6-8 1-8 2 14 L April 10, Minnesota 28 2-5 2-2 0-10 11 6 W April 12, Golden St. 26 4-7 2-2 1-2 9 10 W April 14, Phoenix 8 3-4 2-2 0-1 2 8 W April 21, Portland 33 1-7 4-6 1-3 10 6 W Totals 958 137-294 172-201 40-183 220 468 22-10 Averages 29.9 .466 .856 1.3-5.7 6.9 14.6 *Career 36.7 .520 .848 1.8-7.6 11.2 19.5

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*--Career totals include 1996 season.