In 1979, a rookie named Elvin Johnson was selected by the Lakers with the first pick, and began his legendary purple-gold dynasty career.
Because of his immeasurable basketball strength, giving people a magical feeling of turning decay into magic, everyone called him Magic Johnson.
Rookie FMVP
When Johnson joined the Lakers, the Lakers' number one star was Abdul-Jabbar. Although Johnson has been famous since his college days, he has not yet proven himself in the NBA.
Still, God will always give those geniuses a stage to perform, and Johnson's stage is in the finals.
The Lakers reached the Finals in Johnson's rookie season, their opponent is Dr. J.'s 76ers, in the first 5 games, the Lakers led 3-2, in these games, Abdul-Jabbar is the protagonist.
But before Game 6, Abdul-Jabbar chose to recuperate for a few days due to a serious ankle injury, and everyone aimed for the final seven-time battle, but the magician let this seven-snatching not come.
Johnson played as a center in the game, replacing Abdul-Jabbar, and Johnson, who changed to center, did not adapt in the slightest, but played extremely well, and finally he contributed 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to help the Lakers win the championship. With this super-god performance, Johnson was elected FMVP, becoming the first person in history to win an FMVP as a rookie, and also the youngest FMVP.
Performance moments
Since then, the magician has become the new darling of the alliance.
Young and promising, the status of the team is suddenly second only to Jabbar Johnson, began to drift a little, he and the then head coach Westhead because of the problem of the offensive system conflict, and finally the team made concessions, sacked the head coach, assistant coach Riley became the new head coach.
Because of this incident, fans began to resent the magician, although his performance on the court was still outstanding, but he still missed the All-Star.
But Magic's gorgeous performance in the playoffs made fans change their minds about him, and in his third season in the league, Magic once again won the championship and FMVP.
On the other hand, the new head coach Riley also fully trusts the magician, letting him unleash his basketball talents. Since then, the Lakers have begun to play a pleasing basketball that is different from other teams in the league, and such basketballs are known as "performance moments".
Early retirement
As Abdul-Jabbar grew older, Johnson's status on the team continued to rise, and in the 1986-1987 season, the Magic completely replaced Abdul-Jabbar as the leader of the Lakers.
This season, Johnson won the regular season MVP, and once again led the Lakers to the championship and was elected FMVP.
In the 1987-88 season, the Lakers won consecutive championships, and the better-performing James Worthy stole Johnson's FMVP.
In the following three seasons, although Abdul-Jabbar retired, the Lakers still maintained the strength of a strong team under the leadership of the Magician. But the Pistons and Bulls in the East rose one after another, and they beat Johnson's Lakers with better performances and took the championship.
What's worse is that in 1991, Johnson unfortunately became an HIV carrier and became a feared object on the court, and the magician at this time had no choice but to announce his retirement, which was a great regret for the players themselves and the fans.
Despite retiring early, the magician still completed the feat of 9 finals in 12 seasons and 5 championships.