Emotional Magic Johnson Recounts Final Minutes of His Last All-Star Game Alongside Michael Jordan: “After My Diagnosis”

1992 was a memorable year for the NBA, looking at a series of iconic moments that took place. One one the most celebrated moments was Magic Johnson’s NBA return in the All-Star game to play against Michael Jordan after he had previously retired because of his HIV diagnosis. With the All-Star Weekend in full swing, Magic decided this would be the perfect time to reminisce about that.

The 5x champion wanted to make his last All-Star game as memorable as possible, and he did that with the help of former NBA commissioner David Stern.  Ahead of the big game today, Magic tweeted, “The 1992 All-Star game is a core memory of mine! I owe so much to Commissioner David Stern for allowing me to play in the game and helping me change the world after my diagnosis.”

He shared a video of the last couple of minutes of the game, where he was making an impact all over the court. Johnson’s 25 points and 9 assists helped the West beat Michael Jordan’s Eastern All-Stars. He added, “Love the last couple minutes of the game, competing against my two good friends and NBA greats Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas.” 

This stellar performance got the Los Angeles Lakers legend an All-Star MVP, which is considered one of the best wins in NBA history. This was Johnson’s 12th and final All-Star appearance and he received a staggering 658,211 votes for this game. However, this was his last game in the NBA for almost 4 years.

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Johnson joined the Lakers again for some time in the 1995-96 season. He played 32 games and then retired again. Anyhow, this return of Johnson was not the most celebrated one. It was rather the All-Star game. All of this was possible only because of David Stern, who Magic considered to be an angel.

Magic Johnson believes the 1992 All-Star game “saved” him 

Stern was always very respectful to his players. He never missed a chance to celebrate legends like Johnson. To put it simply, the emotional LA champion said in Stern’s memorial service, “That game saved my life.”

Johnson has shown his gratitude to Stern on several other occasions as well. This gesture from the former NBA commissioner gave him a perfect farewell that he will always be grateful for.

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