After Many Awards, Magic Can Get Oscar : Lakers: Johnson expects to pass Robertson for career assist record against Mavericks tonight.
Among the Lakers, the question is not whether Magic Johnson will break Oscar Robertson’s all-time assist record of 9,887 tonight against Dallas but how he’ll do it.
A no-look, behind-the-back dazzler on the break?
A routine kick-out to an open shooter?
And who will shoot it?
James Worthy?
Byron Scott?
Mychal Thompson?
In the dressing room, the kidding has also started.
Is anyone worried about Magic getting nine tonight?
In the Forum? He’ll get nine whether he plays or not.
He’ll get nine on the first nine Laker baskets, even if he scores some of them himself.
One way or another, it’s on for tonight. You have the Magic guarantee.
“Oh yeah, this is it,” he says, enthusiastically. “Monday is it. I’m going to get nine assists Monday.
“I want to do it at home. This is what I live for. This is the way you dream of doing it.
“I really can’t wait ‘til Monday. I’m like a little kid. I’m so happy it’s going to be at home, I can’t even begin to tell you, to share it with the fans, your friends.”
Was ever a party atmosphere more appropriate? The larger issues of the Laker regular season have been resolved. The guest of honor couldn’t enjoy the moment more. This isn’t the private Kareem Abdul-Jabbar enduring the hype en route to breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record in, of all places, Las Vegas.
“Kareem did it in Vegas,” Johnson says, counting his blessings anew. “He did it but you can just imagine what it would have been like in the Forum. It would have been a madhouse.
“If the opportunity is there, I’d like to do it on the break but you’ve just got to make it. I’d like it to be a no-look. The way it’s been going this year, I’ll be double-teamed (while posting up) and kick it out. That’s been my patented pass this year.
“I’d like James to do his Statue of Liberty dunk. What I’d like is for James to dunk it but to have it almost come out and ‘B’ (Scott) come in and finish it off.
“It’s just like me with Kareem. I felt like I deserved that assist, being with him so long, feeding him so long. Now I’d like it to be Byron and James.”
Scott, graciously, says he’d like it to be Worthy.
“James has been here a year longer than I have,” he said. “If Kareem was here, I’d want it to be Kareem. If Coop (Michael Cooper) was here, I’d want it to be Coop.”
The Lakers invited the Big O to attend but he declined, pleading the crush of business at his chemical company in Cincinnati. In a conference call last week, he said all the polite things, proclaiming his admiration for Johnson.
However, he previously told the Cincinnati Post that assists are now easier to come by--true enough since the NBA’s scorekeeping guidelines were loosened after his retirement. He figured the difference would have been worth another 6,000 assists and noted Johnson gets more help.
“Magic looks to his left and there’s James Worthy,” Robertson told the Post. “He looks to his right, there’s Byron Scott. I looked to my left, there was a guy who couldn’t hit a free throw. I looked to my right, there was a guy who couldn’t go to the basket.”
And the possibility of attending the game? “It’s a media thing,” Robertson said. “I don’t know why they want me out there. It’s Hollywood, man.”
Said Johnson: “You know me well enough to know I’m not going to get into that. I’m just happy to have the opportunity. If he can’t be there, I understand. He’s still a guy I idolized who helped me develop my game watching him.”
Rain can’t fall on this parade. But Magic Johnson is set to stop the reign.
More to Read
All things Lakers, all the time.
Get all the Lakers news you need in Dan Woike's weekly newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.