Magic Johnson Through the Years:

1977-78: Led Michigan State to a 25-5 record as a freshman as Spartans won their first Big Ten title in 19 years. 1979: Led Michigan State to NCAA title, beating Larry Bird and Indiana State in championship game. Entered NBA draft after sophomore year and Lakers made him the No. 1 selection. 1980: Led Lakers to NBA championship and was named playoff MVP. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar injured, Johnson played center in sixth game of NBA finals against Philadelphia and he had 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. 1981: Missed 45 games of season because of torn cartilage in left knee. 1982: Won his second playoff MVP award as Lakers defeated 76ers in six games in finals. 1983: Broke Jerry West’s Laker season record with 829 assists. 1984: In first final matchup against Boston’s Larry Bird, Celtics win title in seven games. 1985: After eight failures against Celtics in finals, Lakers win Game 6 in Boston Garden for Magic’s third NBA title. 1986: Handed out 5,000th assist on March 13, 1986. 1987: NBA title No. 4 in six games against Celtics. Johnson joined Willis Reed, Moses Malone and Bird as the only players to be named MVP of regular season and playoffs. Only other guards to win NBA were Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson. Magic averaged career-high 23.9 points. 1988: Lakers become first team to repeat as NBA champion in 20 years. Magic beats his hometown team, the Detroit Pistons, in finals. Unforgettable moment, Dec. 11, 1987:Magic banked in 20-foot shot at buzzer to beat Celtics in Boston Garden. 1989: Named MVP for second time, but suffered hamstring injury in finals against Pistons and Lakers are swept. Led league in free-throw percentage (.911). 1990: Won his third MVP award, All-NBA for eighth year in a row, All-Star game MVP. Set Laker record with 24 assists. Scored career playoff-high 43 points in Games 4 and 5 of Western Conference finals against Phoenix. 1991: Lakers reached NBA finals for ninth time in Johnson’s 12 seasons. Magic brokeOscar Robertson’s career assist record with his 9,889th on April 15th at Forum. Finished career with 9,921 assists.