Magic Johnson

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	The L.A. Lakers in the 1980’s were a basketball powerhouse with household names such as James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kurt Rambis who would doubt it. They had class and displayed it on the court. Kareem could pull up for his patented sky hook, they could dish to Worthy for the dunk and Rambis could pull down a rebound, but without a certain Magic there would be no showtime in L.A. A certain young player who had it all, a flashy smile and a great no look pass. That certain player was a true point guard, Earvin Johnson Jr. There are five magic parts to Earvin Johnson Jr.’s life.

	On August 14, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan, Christine and Earvin Johnson gave birth to their third child, a beautiful baby boy named Earvin Jr. Earvin Jr. was born into the middle of a family of seven children. Quincy, Larry and Pearl were older and Kim and the twins, Evelyn and Yvonne were younger. This whole family squeezed into three small bedrooms and one bathroom. "The place turned into a real madhouse before school every morning, when we all lined up to use the bathroom. You learned to be quick." said Earvin once. (Johnson, p.4) Both of Earvin’s parents played high school basketball. Earvin played basketball a bunch with his older brother Larry. (Brenner, p.44) Earvin would wake up early and play basketball before school started. "People thought I was crazy," Earvin remembered. "It would be seven-thirty and they’d be going to work and say, ‘There’s that crazy June Bug, hoopin’." (Lovitt, p.5) June bug was what many people called him, but his parents called him Junior and his friends called him E.J. (Johnson, p.4) When it snowed Earvin would go out and shovel the court. Earvin meet Jay Vincent, a child the same age of Earvin, who displayed the same love for basketball. The two became best friends. (Brenner, p.44)

	Earvin was suppose to go to Sexton High, but since of busing Earvin was forced to go to Everett a mostly white school. The Lansing School Board had to bus some kids to Everett to mix the races and to stop the growth at Sexton. Earvin lived a half of a mile away from Sexton and a mile and a half away from Everett. Pearl and Larry hated Everett and Larry was always in fights. The only Johnson who didn’t have to go to Everett was Quincy who was already in high school when the board made it...

... middle of paper ...

...discusses safe sex.

	 Earvin Johnson Jr. has had five magic parts in his life. Earvin is and always be a great role model. He is so classy on and off the court. His fun loving attitude is a great example of what we all should be. His courage to speak out and help others deal with AIDS and HIV is amazing. From June Bug to Magic, Earvin Johnson Jr. will always be a great man.

	



Bibliography

Brenner, Richard J. Jordan*Johnson. New York: East End Publishing, 1989

Haskins, James. Sports Great Magic Johnson Revised and Expanded. Springfield:Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1992

Lovitt, Chip. Magic Johnson. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1991

Johnson, Earvin "Magic." My Life. New York: Random House, Inc., 1992

The Fifty Greatest Players in NBA History: Magic Johnson. www.nba.com/. NBA 	Properties, Inc., 1996



*Reader these next two documents were not used in the product, but are good resources of information.

"Johnson, Magic." World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia Standard Edition. 		Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1997

"Magic Johnson." www.caphis.usc.edu/~yungkail/magic.html

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