Sports: Magic Kingdom
ORLANDO SHOWCASES THE MAGIC KINGDOM
The 1992 NBA All-Star game took place February in Orlando, FL, near a fantasyland known as Disney World. How appropriate. What unfolded could not have been scripted more perfectly by Hollywood's ten most hallucinatory minds. As the USA Today summed up in its headline, the 'Performance Was Pure Magic.'
From the spine-tingling crowd reaction to his introduction to the spectacular finale, Earvin Magic Johnson dazzled 70 million fans on national TV with a performance so heroic it defied belief. Some experts had doubts whether Magic would be able to keep up with the greatest cagers in the world. After all, he had retired from competition for three months after contracting the HIV virus. All Magic did was to unleash his patented fastbreaking, no-look- passing game enroute to 25 points, 9 assists and the MVP award.
The last 2:42 of the game was pure drama. Like punctuating his legendary career with exclamation points, he drilled three three- pointers, beating his rivals Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan one-on-one. His last shot, taken with 15 seconds left on a fallaway jumper, hit all net and provoked a thunderous uproar from the approving fans. 'I've been writing the script all weekend, and I couldn't come up with the ending,' Magic said afterwards. 'Finally, it said, 'Here's my ending. Period.''
That sensational performance, for the record, lead his West team to a 151-113 win over the East--the most lopsided win in a quarter century. 'How in the world could he lay off that long and play as well as that?' asked an incredulous Jud Heathcote. 'He's phenomenal.'
The good news is that we have not seen the last of Magic-- despite the moving ceremony by the Los Angeles Lakers retiring his No. 32. He intends to play in the Olympics in Barcelona, and he is considering making a comeback in the NBA. Ah, yes. There's also some unfinished business caused by Larry Bird's absence in the All-Star game. As Magic explains it, 'I got Isiah, that's one. I got Michael, that's two. The only one I didn't get was Larry. But I'll see him on the blacktop. We'll get to playing one-on-one on the playground, and I'll get him, too.'