"At that time, Michael wasn't enjoying himself anymore," Johnson said in 1996. "See what happened, Larry [Bird, who was in his last season] and I left and we left him. He's the one sitting there.

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird defined basketball greatness. You can’t have a serious conversation about NBA history without those three names coming up.

Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson shaped basketball history in different but equally powerful ways. Magic was the trailblazer, the first NBA star to turn endorsement deals into serious cash. He ...

His dislike stretched further — to Magic Johnson — and it had everything to do with who Magic chose to keep close. "He'd had this rivalry with Isiah Thomas," Sam Smith wrote in The Jordan Rules.

And here you had Magic, who's been known as an all-around player, and we wanted to play in a one-on-one situation," Jordan emphasized why the matchup came about.

The lasting tributes to Muhammad Ali, in Kentucky, and Joe Frazier, in Philadelphia, are included on a list of 10 topped by Magic Johnson, with his fellow basketball greats Larry Bird and Michael ...