It seemed like old times: Magic Johnson dribbling down the lane, driving to the hoop and – whoa! – dishing off a no-look pass to Reggie Theus, who easily laid the ball into the basket.
Yet the setting wasn’t an NBA city but a rocking stadium in Rockford, Ill., and the word “Lakers” was nowhere to be found on Magic’s jersey. He’d left the NBA twice after testing positive for the HIV virus that causes AIDS, and now he was doing his own thing: coaching and starring on his own team, Magic Johnson’s All-Stars.
“The NBA was my life for 12-13 years,” Magic said after the team’s Dec. 1 victory over the Continental Basketball Association’s Rockford Lightning. “I miss it. I miss the competition. … Playing here, this is nice for me. I’m just having a good time.”
The All-Stars are a mixture of ex-NBA players like Theus and Lester Conner and young unknowns like Dion Brown. The team is in the middle of a five-game schedule against CBA teams, with showdowns coming up against the Quad City Thunder in Moline, Ill. (Feb. 8), the Grand Rapids Hoops in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Feb. 14), and the Oklahoma City Cavalry (Feb. 16). Magic’s still got the moves that made him maybe the NBA’s greatest playmaker; in the Rockford game he had just 17 points but a whopping 21 assists.
“I was happy because I was the floor general,” he said, adding, “You know, I play at local clubs with doctors and lawyers, but I still play my same game. They expect me to score a lot of points, but I don’t.”
In fact, Magic insists he could still play his same game in the NBA. “I’m ready to rumble,” he said.
But he also insists that his NBA playing days are over. “My wife would kill me, anyway,” he said. “We love taking trips. We love doing what we want to do now and enjoying my sons.”
In the meantime, Magic is enjoying getting those competitive juices flowing just for the fun of it. How would his All-Stars do in the NBA?
“With Michael 1/8Jordan 3/8, we’d win the championship.”
