Word: magically
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...asking him to return, telling him that he was just what the team needed. Said Harris: "I don't care if I have to sleep outside his house. I want him." Perhaps the most important endorsement came from Cookie. "I told him that I give him my blessing," says Magic's wife. "He feels he's been cheated, and it's something that has been nagging at him. He's in great health, so I told him to go ahead and do it." In contrast to the reception he got in '92, Johnson has been showered with support this time...
Last Monday Johnson signed a contract for $2.5 million for the second half of the season. At a news conference that day, he modestly claimed that he was "five steps slower." He said he was going to try to play not like the old Magic but like an old friend and rival: "I'll be doing my Larry Bird imitation...
...Lakers need Magic, so does Los Angeles, which has seen a devastating earthquake, a riot and the O.J. Simpson trial since Johnson left what Laker fans used to call Showtime. The Forum was sold out for Johnson's return for only the second time all season. The No. 1 Laker fan, Nicholson, was in Miami making a movie, but there were other luminaries: Rob Lowe, Jon Lovitz, Christopher Darden. When Magic came out for warmups, the crowd was on its feet, and when the p.a. system pumped up Randy Newman's old anthem I Love L.A., the crowd shouted...
When Harris signaled for Johnson to replace Elden Campbell after 2:21 of the first quarter, the crowd again rose and cheered for Magic's first game as a Laker since June 12, 1991. Even though he missed his first shot, it was just like old times--an assist (the 9,922nd of his career), a right-handed running shot, a left-handed hook and then, with four minutes left in the first quarter, the real indication that he was back. Johnson faked a pass, and defender Latrell Sprewell was so fooled that Magic simply sashayed past him and laid...
...second half was more of the same, and when the game ended with the ball in Magic's hand, he pumped his fist and flashed that smile. Even more telling than Johnson's individual stats was the team's assist total for the game--an N.B.A. season-high 44. It was Magic's generosity that was contagious, not his illness. The Lakers also set some sort of record for expressions of gratitude. Center Vlade Divac, one of the few current Lakers who had played with Magic, said, "I feel like he never left." Owner Buss was so effusive that...