This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/19/2014.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson is widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all-time, leading the “Showtime” Lakers to five NBA Championships. During Magic’s rookie campaign of 1979-80, he became the only rookie to win the NBA Finals MVP award, and his clutch performance is still regarded as one of the finest in NBA history. Earvin was voted to the NBA 50 Greatest Players in 1996 and elected to the Hall of Fame in 2002. We were told by our consignor that when originally purchased, a photo of Magic being guarded by Armond Hill of the Atlanta Hawks was included as supplemental documentation. Magic was said to be wearing this very shirt. Armond Hill played for the Hawks from the 1976-77 to 1980-81 season. Magic’s first two seasons with the Lakers were 1979-80 and 1980-81. By deduction, the photo must be from Magic’s rookie season of 1979-80 due to the lack of the NBA 35th Anniversary patch on Hill’s shorts. We were told that that this jersey is the one that Magic is wearing in this photo which is supported by the heavily faded Lakers purple mesh as well as team logo and number placement. On the center front tail is the “Tiernan” manufacturer’s tag. Across the front is “LAKERS” in yellow on white tackle twill. Player number “32” appears on both the front and back in white on yellow tackle twill. Player name “JOHNSON’ appears across the back in yellow on white tackle twill. The jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion, shows outstanding use, being faded from multiple washings and possible mislaundering which is typical of Lakers shirts of this era.