Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player who played point guard

Point guard

Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...

 for the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 of the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA). After winning championships in high school and college

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft

1979 NBA Draft

The 1979 NBA Draft was the 33rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 25, 1979, before the 1979–80 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...

 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.