Magic Johnson was a basketball player for the Lakers.
Earvin `` Magic '' Johnson Jr. ( born August 14 , 1959 ) is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) . He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons . After winning championships in high school and college , Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers . He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season , and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s . After protests from his fellow players , he retired again for four years , but returned in 1996 , at age 36 , to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time .