Los Angeles Lakers Sign Magic Johnson To 25 Year Deal

There are short contracts. There are long contracts. And then there's the contract Magic Johnson received on June 26, 1981.

After just two seasons, Magic Johnson was already considered one of the most talented players the NBA ever had. It was that level of skill that granted Magic the the most extensive deal in NBA history, as Jerry Buss handed Magic a 25-year, $25 million contract to stick around with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The deal began in 1984, would have ended in 2009, and gave the Lakers' guard one million per season. 

Johnson became just the third player to earn a million-dollar annual salary, joining fellow L.A. teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Houston Rockets forward Moses Malone.

Though he had been given largest contract in the history of professional sports, Johnson was a long way from being happy. Only five months later, the franchise player asked to be traded and subsequently forced Buss to fire head coach Paul Westhead.



With the hiring of Pat Riley in Westhead's place, Johnson remained with the Los Angeles Lakers and helped them win multiple titles over the course of the decade. But by the time his contract became active, it was no longer the lucrative mega-deal that it was when he signed it. Players of all sports were now making $2-3 million a year, and his 25-year deal was preventing him from raking in the cash. He later renegotiated his deal and resumed make top dollar like everyone else.

Chicago Bulls Win 72 Games

April 21, 1996, the NBA's Chicago Bulls win, a still NBA record, 72 games.

The Bulls are the only team in NBA history to win 70 games or more in a single season.

Dennis Rodman (left) gives Michael Jordan (right) a fist bump in a Bulls game in 1996. Swing man Scotti Pippen (center) prepares to give Jordan a second first bump.

The Bulls also hold many other records including

·  Hold the record for most consecutive home games won (44 from 1994–95 through 1995–96).

·  Hold the record for most consecutive home games won, start of season, 37 in 1995–96.

·  Hold the record for most road games won and best overall road record in standard 41 road games, 33–8 in 1995–96.

·  Hold the record for the fewest points per game in a season after 1954–55 (81.9 in 1998–99).

·  Hold the record for the fewest points in a game after 1954–55 (49, April 10, 1999).

·  Hold the record for largest margin of victory in a NBA Finals game (42; defeated the Utah Jazz 96–54).

·  Hold the record for fewest points allowed in a NBA Finals game (54 against the Utah Jazz).

·  Highest defensive rebound percentage in a playoff game (.952 against the Golden State Warriors on April 30, 1975).

·  Dennis Rodman, most offensive rebounds in a NBA Finals game (11 twice against the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals).

And share several other NBA records including:

·  Share lowest free throw percentage by two teams in one game (.410 with the Los Angeles Lakers, February 7, 1968).

·  Share record for most personal fouls by two teams in one game (87 with the Portland Trail Blazers, March 16, 1984).

·  Share the No. 2 best overall win–loss home record with 39–2 (with the Cleveland Cavaliers), achieved in both 1995–96 and 1996–97.

·  Shared record: Will Perdue for fewest minutes played by a disqualified player in a playoff game (7 against the New York Knicks, May 14, 1992).

·  Shared record: Two teams with the fewest players to score more than ten points in a playoff game (4 with the Miami Heat, May 24, 1997).

·  Shared record: Highest free throw percentage by one team in a playoff game (1.000 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 19, 1992).

The Bulls are also one of the most winningest teams in NBA history earning six NBA Finals Championships, all while Jordan was on the team, for two three-peats from 1991-1993, and 1996-1998.

The Chicago Bulls are the third NBA franchise in Chicago, after the Packers–Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards) and the Stags (1946–50). The Bulls' founder, Dick Klein, was the only owner to ever play professional basketball (for the Chicago Gears). He served as the Bulls' president and general manager in their first years.

The team started in the 1966–67 NBA season, and posted the best record by an expansion team in NBA history. Coached by Chicagoan and former NBA star Johnny "Red" Kerr, and led by former NBA assist leader Guy Rodgers and forward Bob Boozer, the Bulls qualified for the playoffs.

Air Jordan and Derrick Rose have both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award while playing for the Bulls, for a total of 6 MVP awards. Jordan has earned five, while Rose, one.

But the awards for Bulls’ players don’t end their, the Bulls have had three Rookies of the Year awarded, including Jordan, Rose and Elton Brand in 2000.

They have had the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1995 with Tony Kukoc and 2005 with Ben Gordon as well as the NBA Coach of the Year in 1967, Johnny “Red” Kerr, 1871, Dick Motta, 1996 Phil Jackson and 2011 Tom Thibodeau.

The main rivalries for the Chicago Bulls are the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers and the Utah Jazz. All of whom became bigger rivalries during Jordan’s era with the Bulls.

The Bulls have retired four jersey’s in franchise history including guard Jerry Sloan’s number 4 jersey. Forward Bob Love’s number 10 jersey. Jordan’s iconic number 23 jersey as well teammates Pippen’s number 33 jersey.

As well jerseys have been retired for head coach Phil Jackson, who led the Bulls to all six Finals Championships, and franchise employees Johnny Kerr and Jerry Krause, the later the NBA Executive of the Year in 1988 and 1996.

As of 2012, the Bulls were estimated to be the third most valuable NBA franchise according to Forbes, with an estimated value of $800 million, earning an estimated $34.2 million in operating income in 2012.

UCLA Bruins End Perfect Season

On March 21, 1964, the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team beat Duke by a score of 98-83 to win the NCAA Division I championship, and complete their perfect 30-0 season.

John Wooden (center) with the 1964 NCAA Champions UCLA Bruins.

At the time, the Bruins became only the forth team in NCAA men’s basketball history to record a perfect season.  The other three were the 1953-54 Kentucky Wildcats, the 1955-56 San Francisco Dons and the 1956-57 North Carolina Tar Heels.  The win was just the start of head coach John Wooden’s wonderful run at UCLA that would see him win 10 NCAA championships over the next 12 years, and earn the nickname as “The Wizard at Westwood.”

Since the Bruins’ perfect 1963-64 season, five more teams have record undefeated seasons, however, three of those were UCLA teams from Wooden’s era.  The other two were recorded by North Carolina State in 1972-73 and Indiana in 1975-76.

UCLA has since gone on to win 10 more NCAA Tournaments including eight straight from 1967-1973, with their last win coming in 1995.

They were the NCAA Tournament runner up in 1980 and 2006. They reached the Final Four 18 times, including a 10-year span where they went every year; 1967-1976. Their last appearance came in 2011, when they were making their first appearance since consecutive appearances from 2006-2008. However, the UCLA Bruins are in the back in the mix again this year as they take on Tulsa tonight.

The Bruins have reached the NCAA Tournament 46 times since 1950, including 20 straight years from 1962-1981.

Michael Jordan Returns

On March 19, 1995, Michael Jordan returns to the Chicago Bulls to beat the Indiana Pacers. The return from Jordan to the NBA came after a 17-month retirement, in which he played baseball for the Chicago White Sox minor league team the Birmingham Barons.

Michael Jordan with the Chicago White Sox in Spring Training of 1994.

On March 18, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: "I'm back." The next day, Jordan donned jersey number 45 (his number with the Barons), as his familiar 23 had been retired in his honor following his first retirement. He took to the court with the Bulls to face the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, scoring 19 points.

The game had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.

Michael Jordan wearing the jersey No. 45 upon his return to the Chicago Bulls ii the March 19, 1995 game against the Indiana Pacers.

Although he hadn't played an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back. He then scored 55 points in the next game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995 (his first appearance at Madison Square Garden since retiring). Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls went 13–4 to make the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic.

Though at the end of Game 1, Orlando's Nick Anderson stripped Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan", after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number. Jordan averaged 31 points per game in the series, but Orlando prevailed in six games.

The return of the Jordan to the NBA was good for television and the league, but even greater for the Bulls. His “Airness” would lead the Bulls to their second three-peat championships from 1996-1998.

Jordan is talked about as one of the best players of all-time, and with good reason he won six NBA Championships, earning the NBA Finals MVP each time. He was named the NBA’s MVP five times, an All-Star 14 times, and the MVP of the All-Star game three times. He was a 10 time NBA scoring champion, and three times the NBA steals champ, he was also a two time NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.

He was nominated to the All-NBA First Team 10 times, Second Team once, All-Defensive First Team nine times, the All-Rookie First Team as well being named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985.

The Miami Heat has retired twice by the Bulls and Jordan/s no. 23 jersey once. He was named to the NBA’s 50 Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996.

In his career Jordan scored 32,292 points for an average of 30.1 points per game. Only he and Wilt Chamberlain have averaged 30 or more points per game over their entire career. He also pulled in 6,672 rebounds and 5.633 assists. Jordan still ranks third all-time in steals with 2,514 trailing John Stockton and Jason Kiss.

In August 2009, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit containing items from his college and NBA careers, as well as from the 1992 "Dream Team".

Jordan also won two Gold medals with Team USA at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.

After Jordan received word of his being accepted into the Hall of Fame, he selected Class of 1996 member David Thompson to present him. As Jordan would later explain during his induction speech in September 2009, growing up in North Carolina, he was not a fan of the Tar Heels, and greatly admired Thompson, who played at rival North Carolina State.

He was inducted into the Hall in September, with several former Bulls teammates in attendance, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoc.  Former coaches of Jordan's, Dean Smith and Doug Collins, were also among those present.

Magic Johnson Reaching NBA Milestone

On March 7, 1996, NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson becomes the second NBA player to reach 10,000 career assists.

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.

Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson (left) in 1991 backing down arguably the best player of all time, Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan (right).

Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. 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.

Johnson's career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, where he was the MVP twice. He also earned nine All-NBA First and one Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA's all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. He also led the NBA in steals twice in 1982-1983. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1980.

The Lakers retired his no. 32 jersey.

Johnson was a member of the "Dream Team", the U.S. basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. After leaving the NBA in 1992, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that traveled around the world playing exhibition games.

Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Magic was rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by ESPN in 2007. His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series were well documented.

Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur^, philanthropist^, broadcaster and motivational speaker.

Johnson was a part owner of the Lakers for several years, and was part of a group that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012.

Michael Jordan Sets Chicago Bulls Scoring Record

On Feb. 26, 1987, Michael Jordan's 58 points sets a new Chicago Bulls record for most points in a single game. While not his highest point total of his career for a single game, as he scored in the 60’s multiple times, including a 69-point game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1990.

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan in the 1987 NBA Dunk Contest.

This was however a highlight in Jordan’s career, which had many including winning six NBA Championships, being named the NBA Finals MVP all six times. He would win the regular seasons MVP five times, be named an All-Star 14-times, being named the MVP of the All-Star game three times. He was a 10 times NBA scoring champion, and three time NBA steals champion, being named to the All-NBA First team 10 times, NBA All-Defensive First team nine times and All-NBA Second team once. He was nominated to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and won the NBA Slam Dunk contest in back-to-back years in 1987 and 1988.

In 1988, Jordan was honored with the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first NBA player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and MVP awards in a career (since equaled by Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Kevin Garnett; Olajuwon is the only player other than Jordan to win both during the same season).

In addition he set both seasonal and career records for blocked shots by a guard, and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player.

He ranks third in NBA history in total steals with 2,514, trailing John Stockton and Jason Kidd.

Jordan finished his career with 32,292 points, 6,672 rebounds and 5,633 assists.

The NBA selected Jordan to the NBA’s 50 Anniversary All-Time Team, and his no. 23 jersey was retired by the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year – 1991 Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 Ranked No.1 by SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time

In International play Jordan earned two Gold Medals with the “Dream Team” in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He also won Gold on United State’s team in the 1992 FIBA Americas Championship and the 1983 Pan American Games.

In a 1999 ESPN poll, Jordan was ranked the greatest U.S. athlete of the Century.

Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald's, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the "Like Mike" commercials in which children wishing to be like Jordan sang a song.

Jordan’s legacy went outside of basketball as Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the Air Jordan.

One of Jordan's more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan's abilities and became convinced that "it's gotta be the shoes.

The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spate of "shoe-jackings" where people were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. Subsequently Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own division named the "Jordan Brand". The company features an impressive list of athletes and celebrities as endorsers. The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, Cincinnati, Cal, St. John's, Georgetown, and North Carolina A&T.

Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters.

A Nike commercial shown during the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball against a group of Martian characters. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated movie Space Jam, which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during his first retirement. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI.

In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Jordan Brand generates $1 billion in sales for Nike.

Chamberlain Breaks NBA Scoring Record

On Feb. 14, 1966, Wilt Chamberlain breaks NBA career scoring record at 20,884 points, which was previously held by Bob Petit, who played on the Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks. Chamberlain’s record breaking score came on the way to earning his second MVP award during his first full season on the Philadelphia 76ers.

During the 1965-1966 season Chamberlain averaged 33.5 points and 24.6 rebounds a game, leading the league in both categories. The totals were his sixth highest scoring season of his career as well his third highest rebounding season.

Chamberlain would go on to finish his career with 31,419 points, as he led the NBA in scoring seven times, field goal percentage nine times, minutes played eight times, rebounding eleven times, and assists once.

Despite being such a great scorer, Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free throw shooting, where he has the third lowest career free throw percentage in NBA history with 51.1% (based on a minimum of 1,200 attempts). Chamberlain claimed that he intentionally missed free throws so a teammate could get the rebound and score two points instead of one, but later acknowledged that he was a "psycho case" in this matter.

He committed surprisingly few fouls during his NBA career, despite the rugged play in the post. Chamberlain never fouled out of a regular season or playoff game in his 14-year NBA career. His career average was only 2 fouls per game, despite having averaged 45.8 minutes per game over his career. He had 5 seasons where he committed less than 2 fouls per game, with a career low of 1.5 fouls during the 1962 season, in which he also averaged 50.4 points per game. His fouls per 36 minutes (a stat used to compare players that average vastly different minutes) was a remarkable 1.6 per game.

Chamberlain was also responsible for several rule changes, including widening the lane from 12 to 16 feet, as well as changes to rules regarding inbounding the ball and shooting free throws.

Chamberlain is most remembered however for his 100-point game, which is widely considered the greatest basketball record of all-time. He is also only one of two basketball players, the other being Michael Jordan to have averaged at least 30 points per game over their entire career, but Chamberlain is the only player to average over 50 points a game for an entire season.

For his feats, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, ranked no. 2 in SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of All-Time and no. 13 in the ESPN list "Top North American athletes of the century" and voted the second best center of All-Time by ESPN behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on March 6, 2007.

Chamberlain’s record would hold up for over 15 years until Kareem Abdul-Jabar would break his record. After Abdul-Jabar broke Chamberlain’s record, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan have also surpassed his numbers, out ranking Chamberlain to fourth as they are second and third respectively behind Abdul-Jabar who is still the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer with 38,387 points.

Bryant Puts Up 81 On Raptors

On Jan. 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers scored 81 points in a single game. 

It is the second highest total in history behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point effort. Bryant's effort came in a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors.

The Lakers were trailing by double digits in the third quarter when Bryant really started to turn it on. He had a total of 55 points in the second half to help the Lakers win.

Bryant has put together a tremendous career becoming the youngest player in league history to score 30,000 career points and is the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. He currently ranks third and fourth on the league's all-time post-season scoring and all-time regular season scoring lists.

At one point it looked like Bryant would be a shoe in to take over the post-season scoring title, but with his injuries over the past two seasons and the Lakers failure to post a respectable win-loss record he might end up where he is currently.

Since his second year in the league, Bryant has been selected to start every All-Star Game. He has won the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011), tying him for the most All-Star MVP Awards in NBA history.

At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals as a member of the USA national team. Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the top NBA player of the 2000s.

Jordan Scores 20,000

On Jan. 8, 1993, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls picked up the 20,000^th point of his NBA career. The historic point came during a big win over the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the 620^th game of his career. Only Wilt Chamberlain had reached the milestone faster than Jordan.

Jordan finished his career 32,292 points, and is the third highest scorer all-time behind only Los Angeles Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabar with 38,387 points and Utah Jazz great Karl Malone who scored 36,928 in his career.

Despite not being the leagues All-Time leading scorer, Jordan is recognized as the best, or one of the best players to play the game.

“His Airness” as Jordan has been refereed to has won six NBA Championships, with three-peats in 1991-1993 and 1996-1998. He was the NBA Finals MVP in each of the NBA Championships they won. Jordan won the leagues NBA MVP in 1988, 1991-1992, 1996 and 1998.

Jordan was named an All-Star 14 times, and three times he was named the NBA All-Star game MVP in those games. He was also the NBA defensive player of the year in 1988, and the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985. He was a 10-time NBA scoring champion and a three-time NBA steals champion.

Jordan was named to the All-NBA First Team 10-times, and ALL-NBA Second Team once, his rookie year. He was nine-times named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Showing off his high-flying skills Jordan won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in back-to-back years in 1987-1988 beating out Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb for the honors.

On Nov. 1, 1994 the Chicago Bulls retired Michael Jordan’s no. 23 jersey, while he was on his first pseudo-retirement leave from the league

Jordan was named to the NBA’s 50^th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996, while he was still playing for the Bulls.

In 2009 Jordan was inducted into the NBA’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Mail Man's Streak Begins

On Dec. 18, 1991, former Utah Jazz great and Hall of Famer, Karl Malone also know as the “Mail Man” started a streak of 575 games scoring in double figures.

His streak would be the third longest in NBA history only behind Michael Jordan (840) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (787).

Malone would go on to finish his career as the second player on the All-Time scoring leader board for the NBA, only behind Abdul-Jabbar.

He would finish his career with 36,928 points in 1,476 games marking an average of 25 points per game.

During his career with the Jazz and Lakers, Malone would earn two MVP awards in 1997 and 1999 with the Jazz; he would be named to 14 NBA All-Star games, where he was named the MVP of the All-Star game twice.

He would also be named an 11-time All-NBA First Team player; two-time All-NBA Second Team player, one time All-NBA Third Team player. He would also earn defensive awards, being named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team three times from 1997-1999, the NBA All-Defensive Second Team once, and the NBA All-Rookie Team.

In 1996, Malone would be named to the NBA’s 50^th Anniversary All-Time Team.

In 2006, the Utah Jazz would retire Malone’s no. 32 jersey.

Malone would also help the United States to two gold medals in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 1996 Atlanta Olympics as part of the Dream Team and Dream Team II.

Bryant, Jamison Score 50

On Dec. 6, 2000, Antawn Jamison of the Golden State Warriors and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers each score 51 points in the game. It marked only the third time in NBA history that opposing players have scored at least 50 in a game. The previous time that happened was 38 years ago when Wilt Chamberlain scored 63 points and Elgin Baylor scored 50-points as the Bucks and Lakers played.

Jamison also scored 51 points in the game prior to the one he and Bryant both scored over 50.

While Antawn Jamison has gone on to be a NBA journeyman, Kobe Bryant has lit up the record books. Currently he is ranked fourth all-time in the NBA, with 31, 617 points. Bryant joins just four other players to score over 31,000 points in the NBA as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan are above him, and Wilt Chamberlain is behind him.

With Bryant on the comeback trail right now, he could possibly pass Jordan this year to take sole possession of third place in the NBA’s All-Time scoring leader list.