Magic: This Is for Good

Once more for posterity:

“I’m retired,” Magic Johnson said Wednesday. “It’s over. It’s done.”

No, really.

“I did what I set out to do,” he insisted, speaking at another news conference at the Forum to announce another retirement from the Lakers.

“I had a wonderful time. It was a great experience, a lot of fun. My son saw me play. I did it for myself as well, to prove that I could still do it. And I think I did it for everybody who has something, whether it’s HIV or AIDS or anything else.

“This is not a sad day or a bad day. It’s a good day. God blessed me to be able to come back, and God will continue to bless me after this is over. It’s over now, and I’m happy about it. So there it is.”

Well, sort of. There is also the rest of the explanation for the decision that was so sudden it even caught management by surprise when it came the day before.

Call it a preemptive strike, before dramatic confrontations could materialize. Before the Lakers may have made the decision for him and before his considerable latitude hindered the development of Nick Van Exel.

Both were strong possibilities. Johnson becomes a free agent July 1 and had said on several occasions he wanted to stay with the only pro home he has known, but his presence would take up as much as $3.75 million of the salary cap, depending on the outcome of a hearing with the league. To land one of the mega-stars, the Lakers might have had to renounce his rights, effectively cutting him loose.

Under that scenario, Johnson would have had to go elsewhere to play in 1996-97. He preferred to retire now, as a Laker.

“If I would have come back, I knew I would probably have to come back somewhere else, and I am a Laker and I can’t do that,” he said. “I’m L.A. I’m an L.A. person. I love L.A. I’m not going anywhere. This is where I should end up, and this is where I’m ending my career.”

The situation was just as delicate with Van Exel, the starting point guard but not the primary ballhandler whenever Johnson was on the court at point forward. And that was last season. Next season, Johnson wanted to play more in the backcourt, as much as 50% of his minutes.

“What? I’m whining and I’m doing this and that?” Johnson said, reacting to the criticism he received for those comments and others. “The whole thing about it is, Earvin Johnson is good with the ball in his hands. That’s where I’m good at, and that’s where I make a team good at because I’m a creator. I’m a guy that needs the ball to be able to do something. So if they want to say that I was whiny because I didn’t have it or I wanted the ball, that’s up to them.

“It was never a confrontation between Nick and I. It never will be. Nick is like a little brother to me. It never was a situation with [Coach] Del Harris and myself or the players. It’s just a situation that Earvin Johnson knows where he’s good at and what he can do, and I’ve got to have the ball. I didn’t have it, so I told people I wanted it because that’s where I’m good at. So they took it like I was whining. If they want to write that, that’s fine. I didn’t win five championships or go to the championship [round] nine times out of 12 years or play as long as I have in this league without knowing where I’m good at and how I can help a team.”

Today, it’s a moot point.

Johnson did, however, concede there was some friction between himself and some players.

“The gap between the ages, it’s a big difference,” he said. “Maybe I couldn’t adjust to them or maybe they couldn’t adjust to me. Maybe it just didn’t happen, it just didn’t work. It’s not all their fault, it’s not all my fault. Maybe it just wasn’t right for the two of us. Maybe I just came at a different time, that now it’s changed and I can’t adjust, because it’s got to be some on me too.”

Before hitting the door--the one that leads back to the front office since he will probably become a part-owner again--Johnson acknowledged regrets at withdrawing from the Olympic derby, a decision he made in March to guarantee he’d be fresh for a training camp that he will now only watch.

There’s always some regular season in the future. Even Michael Jordan said he wouldn’t be surprised if Johnson played again.

“Me either,” Magic responded.

Then he laughed that big laugh. He was joking . . . probably.

“It is over,” he said. “Definitely. For sure.”

So there it is.