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Until recently, Daddy was wondering himself if he could play anymore. But the doubt was put to rest one evening last summer. As recounted by the New York Post's Peter Vecsey, the basketball columnist who broke the news of Johnson's decision to return, Magic reluctantly accepted an invitation to play in one of the pickup games organized by Jordan while the Bulls star was in Hollywood last summer filming a movie for Warner Bros. In a game against a team that included Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Pooh Richardson, Magic scored 9 of his team's 11 points. On the ride home that night, Johnson told his friend, former N.B.A. player Lester Conner, "I needed this for myself. To know where I'm at. To know I can still play at this level against the best."
A FEW MONTHS LATER, JOHNSON was working out with the Lakers, who until last week were a young and talented but leaderless team stuck in third place in the Pacific Division. After a few practice sessions, the guard tandem of Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones, and later coach Del Harris and Laker executive vice president Jerry West, put a full-court press on Johnson, asking him to return, telling him that he was just what the team needed. Said Harris: "I don't care if I have to sleep outside his house. I want him." Perhaps the most important endorsement came from Cookie. "I told him that I give him my blessing," says Magic's wife. "He feels he's been cheated, and it's something that has been nagging at him. He's in great health, so I told him to go ahead and do it." In contrast to the reception he got in '92, Johnson has been showered with support this time around. "It made me feel really good getting all those letters and telegrams from guys that you know. [Former Laker coach] Pat Riley called me and woke me up, and he was so happy. He was the guy who was telling me all along that I shouldn't have stopped."
Last Monday Johnson signed a contract for $2.5 million for the second half of the season. At a news conference that day, he modestly claimed that he was "five steps slower." He said he was going to try to play not like the old Magic but like an old friend and rival: "I'll be doing my Larry Bird imitation now."
If the Lakers need Magic, so does Los Angeles, which has seen a devastating earthquake, a riot and the O.J. Simpson trial since Johnson left what Laker fans used to call Showtime. The Forum was sold out for Johnson's return for only the second time all season. The No. 1 Laker fan, Nicholson, was in Miami making a movie, but there were other luminaries: Rob Lowe, Jon Lovitz, Christopher Darden. When Magic came out for warmups, the crowd was on its feet, and when the p.a. system pumped up Randy Newman's old anthem I Love L.A., the crowd shouted out the chorus ("We love it!") in unison. Grinning from ear to ear was Laker assistant coach Michael Cooper, the man who left Magic's press conference in tears four years ago.