Magic: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson

by Roland Lazenby

The definitive biography of the basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, from the highly respected, career sportswriter and author of Michael The Life .

Magic Johnson is one of the most beloved, and at times controversial, athletes in history. His iconic smile lifted the dowdy sport of American professional basketball from a second-tier sport with low ratings into the global spotlight—a transformation driven by Magic’s ability to eviscerate opponents with a playing style that featured his grand sense of fun. He was a master entertainer who directed the Los Angeles “Showtime” Lakers to the heights of both glory and epic excess, all of it driven by his mind-blowing no-look passes and personal charm.

Then, in 1991, at the height of his charismatic power, Johnson shocked the world with a startling cautionary tale about sexually transmitted disease that pushed public awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Then out came his confession of unprotected sex with hundreds of women each year, followed by his retirement, an attempted return, and a proper farewell on the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

Longtime biographer Roland Lazenby spent years tracking the unlikely ascension of Johnson—an immensely popular public figure who was instantly scandalized but who then turned to his legendary will to rise again as a successful entrepreneur with another level of hard-won success. In Lazenby’s portrayal, Johnson’s tale becomes bigger than that of one man. It is a generational saga spanning parts of three centuries that reveals a great deal, not just about his unique basketball journey but about America itself.

Through hundreds of interviews with Johnson’s coaches, representatives past and present, teammates, opponents, friends, and loved ones, as well as key conversations with Johnson himself over the years, Lazenby has produced the first truly definitive study, both dark and light, of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jr.—the revolutionary player, the icon, the man.

Genres: Sports, Biography, Basketball, Nonfiction

818 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2023

About the author

Roland Lazenby is an American sportswriter and educator.

Lazenby has written more than five dozen nonfiction books, mainly about basketball and American football. He has also contributed articles to magazines and newspapers.

Lazenby's book Bull Run! was named Sports Book of the Year for 1997 by the Independent Publishers Association.

Lazenby studied at Virginia Military Institute and Hollins University, and has been a member of Virginia Tech's Department of Communication and Radford University's School of Communication. A group of students from his media writing class compiled the book April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers (2007), an account of the Virginia Tech massacre. Lazenby served as editor.

In 2005, Lazenby and Andrew Mager created Planet Blacksburg, a student organization that focuses on new media, journalism, and publishing.

Reviews

[Katie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Magic: The Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson I have gained even more respect for the man. A good son and friend, Hall of Fame basketball player, smart businessman, and an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention, which I believe is his most significant role. While I grew up watching him play basketball, at least in the later stages of his career, I still learned a ton about him from this biography.

At 800 some pages, it's certainly a thorough look at his life. I was amazed at how the author was able to dig up so much info about his junior high and high school playing days. A good amount of family history dating back quite a few generations is also included. Some key takeaways I got from reading this biography are Magic is an active listener, placing value on others' opinions, and he really has a great supportive system when it comes to family, friends, coaches, etc.. His basketball talent was going to take him far but those other things were contributing factors to his success. He keeps a positive attitude at all times and uses disappointments and devastating news to fight harder which is truly admirable.

Highly recommend this biography.

Thank you Celadon Books for sending me an advance copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.

[Rebecca Reeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To see that kind of showboating basketball leaves the impression that it is all easy and natural, all God’s perfect gift. All …fun.”

But in the pages of this book there are plenty of stories, plenty of details to show that all was not fun for the people involved, yet will be extremely entertaining for readers.

Here’s a book that really surprised me with how interesting it was. I enjoy collegiate and pro sports, but fiction (from historical to YA) is my go-to genre. I received an unsolicited advance copy, and going into this book, I was actually concerned that I’d have to say hey, you chose the wrong person for an ARC. But my preconceived idea was the only thing that was wrong. This author’s style of writing turned 704 (e-book) pages into a fast-paced tale of athletic skill, pride, jealousy, competition, love, and self-destructive excess.This was a 5 star read. Why? The author never spent too long on anyone one day or month or year or scandal, but just kept up a fast pace, unfolding astounding research in a conversational tone, uncovering all sorts of facts that truly propelled me through the pages.

No, the behavior of the real people mentioned in this book is not all admirable- far from it; I knew that much before I started reading. So what made it so enjoyable for me? It is much more than the story of just one famous athlete. It’s an entire era of excess with some incredible inside information about the world of sports in general, and plenty of information about assorted scandals. Everything is documented and indexed. Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for this experience!!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Magic: The Life of Earvin 'Magic' Johnson" is a carefully researched biography that follows the journey of the basketball star from his early days to his career with the Lakers. My love for basketball was ignited by those exciting Lakers vs. Pistons games in the 80s, so naturally, I was drawn to this book. After reading it, my respect and admiration for Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson grew even deeper. The book presents Johnson not just as a Hall of Fame player, but also as a devoted son, loyal friend, successful entrepreneur, and advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness. It provided me with fresh insights into his upbringing, including his experiences in junior high and high school surrounding race relations..

The biography is split into two parts: Johnson's upbringing and his professional career. The first part explores his formative years in junior high & high school, while the second part delves into his time with the Lakers, highlighting his unique relationship with Dr. Jerry Buss, as well as his partnerships and rivalries with basketball legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas.

Roland Lazenby expertly covers Johnson’s HIV diagnosis and its impact in the book. This period was a pivotal moment in Johnson’s life, as he had just settled down and gotten married when he received the diagnosis. Lazenby also examines Johnson’s resilience in the face of adversity. Additionally, the book addresses important social issues such as the growth of basketball in America, the AIDS epidemic, and Magic's contributions to entrepreneurship and community initiatives.

If you share my passion for basketball, I highly recommend this book; it offers an inspiring look into the life of one of the sport's most iconic figures.

[Kearney Rhind · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's exhaustive for sure, definitely too long. The parts of the book talking about basketball were great, both before and during his NBA tenure. A lot of the anecdotes included were puzzling at best, and eye-rolling at worst.

[Tara Cignarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson by Roland Lazenby
Overall Grade: B+
Depth and Content: A-
Story and details: B
Best Aspect: This book is huge and covers every detail. An interesting, detailed history.
Worst Aspect: This book is huge and covers every detail. Way too much detail at times it felt tedious.
Thanks to Celadon Books for my gifted paperback

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched, and very well-written. It really explains how much Magic changed the NBA. The section covering his HIV diagnosis and announcement is by far the most compelling part of the book.

[Alexis Meservey]

4.7/5 very informative!

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Authoritative. Will take Gen X basketball fans back to a time when basketball was fun.

[Maliika Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic: The Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson is the most comprehensive biography of Magic Johnson's life from his youth through his final playing days with the Lakers I have ever read. I have read books and watched documentaries on Magic and never read so much detail about his junior high, high school, and college years than you get in this biography. The author does an excellent job of weaving the story of Magic's role in calming race relations at his high school and his discomfort at first with the role he was forced into. The book honestly is two books in one. The Young Magic portion could be a young adult book that would inspire generations.

The author researched Magic lineage from the late 1790s to the present in fantastic detail. I was not expecting such information, but I wanted to let you know that I appreciate this included. Magic comes from a line of survivors, special people. I better understand who Magic's parents are as people and how their differences made him the great man he is today.

The Laker years included some nuggets I didn't know as well, but some other sections did feel repetitive. I was able to review the areas I knew quickly. I love the insights into the Dr. Buss & Magic relationship, but I also knew some of this information.

The book does include some information from his post-playing years and after his AIDS diagnosis, but not as much as the younger years of his life.

I highly recommend this book, but please know it is long and can feel that way sometimes, but it's still a great read.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the plus side, Lazenby does a good job documenting Johnson's playing career. I didn't know just how integral of a role Magic played in reducing racial tensions as a high school student--a true mark of a hero. When it's covered, Lazenby shows Johnson to be a shrewd businessman, in particular the movie theater business.

I understand the bulk of this book is going to be about Johnson's life in basketball--it's why I read this. Reducing the 30-year period after Johnson's aborted 1992 comeback to 47 pages, however, diminishes the story. Magic's remarkable life didn't stop after his HIV diagnosis. I'm interested in learning more about Johnson's business activities, and more examples of how his "gospel of business and markets and free enterprise" promoted economic development for black communities (a philosophy that also underpinned Jim Brown's Black Economic Union). I'm interested in learning more about his post-NBA relationships with his former peers. I'm interested in learning about Magic as a husband and father, and how he compares to the example set by his parents. The author lists a trove of potential material to mine on pg 759. Lazenby clearly had the sources to help him extrapolate on these topics even if Magic didn't cooperate with this book. That he chose not to is a disservice to the subject matter.

The book is good, but doesn't measure up to the author's biography on Jordan.

[Brian Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I knew every Magic Johnson story but this one surprised me with some details on some things I did not know. It was a 30 hour audiobook so it had lots of time!

The book didn’t shy away from Magic’s bad decisions in life and sometimes that was hard to hear about my childhood hero. Magic doesn’t shy away from these things either though.

A lot of these Magic stories or events I remember like they were yesterday. I’m kind of disappointed it’s over.

[Davis Grohl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too hagiographic for my taste

[Christopher Heaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put this one down. Fascinating account of Magic Johnson's eventful life. Well written, well researched & well organized.

[Cameron Beams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review - Magic: The Life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson
12/13/2024

A wild ride that capped off my Showtime Lakers study as of late, a gargantuan and comprehensive look at what I can fully assure you is the catalyst of single most important time for the history of the NBA.

Lazenby has been a recurring name that I've encountered in my now approaching a decade of fascination with the non-fiction sports genre, yet this is the first time I was able to delve into any of his work. His works on other subjects such as Michael Jordan and Jerry West have evaded me to this point, however will be on the menu after finishing the opus that is Magic. I usually find it hard to put into words how to express enjoyment of a biography as the majority of the time it is simply a 1:1 replication of the subject of the piece, however the a certain tone and voice is established early in this work and allows me to look forward to my future studies of Lazenby's work. I bring all of this up to establish that a review or rating of mine when it comes to biographies is usually based off my pure enjoyment of the piece rather than the substance that is found within.

The actual contents within Magic range for everything from the ancestral American history of Earvin "Magic" Johnson's family all the way to the business proceedings facing present day Johnson. Incredible research was done in the making of this piece to a point of almost annoyance on my end. This is not to take away anything from what Lazenby laid out in Magic, as I found the heavy majority of the work to be engaging and enjoyable, however certain subjects feel like they drag out in ways that may have been able to be glossed over a little more. Nearly the entire first half of piece is dedicated to the upbringing and history of Magic and his family before him, ranging from his lineage descending from a family drowned in the horrific time of United States slavery, all the way to Magic's relationships with factors such as the Dart family or Magic's seemingly initial right-hand man Charles Tucker back in Lansing, Michigan. I believe it's fair to argue that both of the previous topics were necessary in the writing of the piece (as this is the quintessential second-hand look at Magic Johnson's life, which Lazenby essentially describes in the acknowledgements section of the book), however I found myself sheepishly disengaging at certain points just because of the sheer amount of information I was taking in.

Previous to reading Magic, I had just completed Jeff Pearlman's Showtime for the first time in nearing a decade. A heap of crossover is of course displayed on both sides where I feel I retained information from both sides as both author's perspective and way of approaching the subject matter feel unique (of course many a factor due to Pearlman's work being much more focused on the era at large rather than specifically Johnson's life). Lazenby has an excellent way of establishing what the current matter is surrounding the supporting pieces of Magic Johnson's life at the time and always having it reverb and steer back towards how it affected and focused back on Magic. I highly recommend you read these two as I did back to back, as when you're getting through Magic you'll hear a certain story or reference back to something as small as the Lakers acquiring a role player or a reference to Magic's on again off again girlfriend and now wife Cookie that you can point back to and put together any missing pieces of the puzzle that you were not able to gather from one or the other.

I'd argue the majority of these in-depth looks at players or seasons especially when it comes to a sport like basketball essentially devolves into an observation of a player's game by game stat line that almost feels like a crutch at time (I can give a pass to certain pieces where that is essentially the whole point, see Sam Smith's The Jordan Rules ), but Lazenby does an excellent job at avoiding these topics to convey a message. Sure this does occasionally plague bits and pieces, especially when reviewing Magic's time at Michigan State University and his playing days with the Lakers, where a series or crucial stretch in the regular season will be watered down to a stat line occasionally a few times in one paragraph, however Lazenby is very keen on incorporating how a certain sequence of events is what allows said line or statistic to be important to the subject at hand.

My only other real criticism I can seek when it comes to this book is the portion of Magic's playing days as a Laker seems like it goes by far too fast in the grand scheme of the book. This is of course just personal preference as a basketball fanatic who initially fell in love with these types of books because I loved hearing and learning more about the stories and legends of the game through words on a page, but I can give it a pass because it's pretty clear and obvious this piece had a goal of focusing far more on the lesser known days of Magic Johnson and for that I can applaud and respect. In fact I'd say this is one of the more accessible basketball books for non-hoops fanatics and for people who may focus their interests on other aspects of life like say religion, bits of history near the earlier parts of the book, or celebrity and glamorous lifestyles that is (rightfully) a very heavy focus when it comes to all discussion and presentation of Magic Johnson.

Magic is a piece that opened other perspectives on my end about the life of one of the greatest basketball players who's ever walked this Earth. I knew a whole lot about the life and career of Magic Johnson, but this book introduced me to aspects I had zero idea about, of which were passionately researched and intentionally put in for readers like me who knew the finest of lines when it comes to the basketball portion of Magic's life but not of the public and extremely private aspects of the life of Earvin Johnson. This is a book for fans of so many different topics and I highly encourage you to try it out despite the intimidating page count of 778, it'll be well worth it.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Magic Johnson fan, or just a fan of basketball from that era, you will definitely enjoy this one. It's a VERY comprehensive biography about Magic (it's quite long, so be prepared) that really helps you understand what he's about. The book focuses more on his early years in Lansing - with a big focus on his high school and college playing days. It also spends a lot of time on his days with the Lakers. I grew up as a fan of the Detroit Pistons during their "Bad Boys" period, so I loved reading about all those epic showdowns between Magic and Isiah Thomas, Magic and Larry Bird, and Magic and Michael Jordan. Definitely a must read for any Magic fan.

[Eric C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lengthy read due to providing of background and insight into/from those in Magic's life, inside and outside of the basketball world. It paints a picture of how people and situations, seen and unseen, help shape us and provide a foundation for us. It also reinforces the "life lessons" that can be learned from participating in and being involved in team sports.

[Jason Orthman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very long book but worth the effort. Shows the incredible drive and larger than life positivity of ‘Magic’ that drove his success through school, college, NBA and then his business career. Another book just on his business career would be invaluable too.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lazenby has written some excellent NBA biographies, and this one about Magic joins the list. I had never heard about his family’s background and experiences in the south and the challenges he faced helping to integrate his school at a young age. It continues on nicely from there. Worth reading.

[Jason Gewirtz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and well-told look into Magic's life and career but this read like a notebook dump. Could have been 300 pages shorter and just as effective.

[Jeff Wait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man. A little lengthy at times, but otherwise a perfect biography. Incredibly well-researched to give a holistic view of the complicated life of Magic.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

So boring. It gave the back story of every single person he can across. Book could gave been 300 pages. Such a struggle to read.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic became a very long journey for me. It’s one of those books that turn into a “book of the year.” When I started reading it in May, I couldn’t imagine it would take me this long. As a non-native English speaker, I’m not sure whether the difficulty of reading it should affect my score for the book or not. You know, I’m a big fan of biographies, and it’s pretty hard to make me lower my rating if the book is a solid, well-researched one where the author did a lot of work digging into the life of the hero.

Magic is a massive book, almost 800 pages. Roland Lazenby did a strong job analyzing Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s life. We can follow him closely from his childhood to the end of his basketball career. Lazenby collected a huge number of interviews with eyewitnesses — friends, coaches, businessmen, basketball players. We see Magic’s life through many different perspectives. Sometimes it feels like too many interviews, as if we keep circling back to the same questions. The same situation is described first by one person, then by another, and then again by someone else.

When I pick up a fresh biography written about someone who’s already older, I expect it to cover not only the main years but also expand beyond them. Lazenby did a great job analyzing Magic’s professional basketball career, but, as so often happens, almost the entire book tells the story only up until the end of that career. Just one last chapter is dedicated to his post-basketball years. Maybe my expectations were wrong, weren’t they? Most people probably expect a sports biography to focus on the athlete, not the businessman. But Magic isn’t only an athlete. He’s also a successful businessman who earned far more millions in business than in sports.

What I love about biographies is that through the life of one person I also learn the history of a period, a society, a country, a company — or in this case, a basketball team: the Los Angeles Lakers. I learned more about the Showtime era of the Lakers.

I think Magic is a powerful book, though also very hard to read. And that’s my main complaint about Roland Lazenby: why such long and difficult sentences? But I’m not sure it’s fair to judge the book for that, because if I were a native English speaker, maybe it would have been easier. It made me reflect on how to choose books for myself. Anyway, I don’t regret daring to read this one. It was a long, tough, but fascinating journey.

My score: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic book on the life and career on and off the court of Earvin "Magic" Johnson. At first I thought this book might be a 1-star rating as it takes a while to get going. You have to have a little patience with this book as it's 778 pages ... and the first 250 or so are on his high school career or before. Or his parents. Or his grandparents. Or..the Civil War???? Yep, there's about 10-15 pages that are on the Civil War. A good editor might have said, "Look...that's important, but...nobody that picked up this book wants to read about the Civil War for 10-15 pages." The start really drags on during the era of him at high school and probably 100 pages could have been cut. The author really "empties his notebook" and many of the quotes are repeated again and again and again.
Good news!! It gets better from around page 275 on. When it starts talking about his two years at Michigan State the book gets down to why most people picked this one up - basketball. Around page 350 it starts talking about his days as a Laker, but then you realize the book still has over 400 pages - plenty of time to talk about all his years from 1980-1991 as a Laker, his press conference where he announced he had HIV, his many comebacks and his days becoming a successful businessman and spokesperson for HIV. All the championship years, games are discussed, some a little quicker than others, but they're all here. The author does great research, as I learned some stuff I hadn't learned in other books dealing with Magic. There are stories with Kareem, Jay Vincent, Greg Kessler, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, Norm Nixon, Pat Riley, Paul Westhead, Mychal Thompson, Larry Bird (duh), Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Gary Vitti, Jerry Buss and many many more. This is the definitive book on Magic, but be patient reading it for the first third of it.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I would probably realistically give this book 3.5 stars but there is no option to do that, so I gave it 4. This is a comprehensive biography (nearly 800 pages worth) regarding the life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson. It’s honestly probably too comprehensive in some ways. I understand the author’s efforts to provide readers with as much family and upbringing background as possible about Johnson, but some of this is too detailed, particularly regarding the upbringing of his parents. In the same token, some parts of the book go into great detail with regards to certain NBA seasons in Magic’s career, while others almost read as a mere footnote until the NBA Finals come about. I also felt that not enough of the book was dedicated to Magic’s fight with HIV as well as his life post-basketball in comparison to how much we learned about his upbringing, again it seemed almost like a footnote when it is a large part of his life and legacy. Overall, this is a good read, but it could be at least 200 pages shorter without losing important and relevant information and seems to prioritize some of the wrong details of Magic’s life.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name of the book is “Magic.” The events on this book come from college basketball in Michigan. And it’s for Michigan State University, a very large and well known for many things.

Yes, the University is a very good for g learning and then getting a degree (maybe many decrees there)

“The Life of Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson --- comes out at MSU. And tells us what he did as a basketball. There a plenty of things he did since he began playing the game when he was third grade. Even when he was in the early days of going to school, people could see that he would be a very good basketball.

This book is NOT the usual collection of just games and who won/lost. The book goes through a lot of pages with many different themes. The pages of the last half of the book go into ways we don’t find in the usual have in books. And often the amount of money in this business is often a big topic.

The book has 782 pages. And there are some words that we probably don’t know. And of course there are several words that we have heard a lot in the questions of sports.

[John Schorg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of one of the great basketball players of all time that nearly runs aground in its efforts to portray the life of Magic Johnson as an avatar for many of the serious social trends in this country's history. For nearly 800 pages, we are asked to make links that might make more sense if we had spent the same five years the author did in working on this project. Despite all the gas, the author must be credited for not shorting on the sorrier aspects of Johnson's life, particularly the circumstances that led to him getting HIV. At heart, though, this works best as a story about a man who was extremely gifted at excelling on the basketball court. Nothing more...

[David Barney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a big Magic Johnson fan. This was a fun read. I have read other books about Magic Johnson and knew he was very sexually active, but this book really stated that he had an addiction to sex. I also enjoyed reading about his time with the Dream Team, yet I wished more had been written about his time with the Dream Team. His relationship with Larry Bird in the book was good. Once again, I wish more had been written about that. It was good to learn more about his business dealings and how it is assisting communities and individuals. Basketball fans will really enjoy the book... unless you are a Celtics fan.

[Nikki]

I am big Los angles lakers fans so when I got opportunity to read Magic the life of Earvin Magic Johnson I was so excited to read the book about greatest point guard, and I really like the book talking about his history is like his basketball career routine is done after basketball that he owns the part of the Dodgers and the football team to it all the stuff that he went through with having HIV, I thought this book was so good!!! If you a basketball fan you needs to read this book about one of the greatest Laker player to ever play the game of basketball.