Happy birthday! 50 sparkling nuggets of Magic minutia

In honor of Magic Johnson's 50th birthday (it's Friday!), here are 50 pieces of Magic trivia:

1. Magic grew up in Lansing, Mich., the sixth of 10 children born to Earvin Johnson Sr. and Christine.

2. Earvin Jr. was first called "Magic" when he was a star at Everett High School. He was given the nickname by a sportswriter from the Lansing State Journal after he had witnessed a 36-point, 16-rebound, 16-assist performance from the 15-year-old Johnson.

3. His mother, Christine, a devout Christian, thought the nickname "Magic" was blasphemous.

4. As a high school senior, Johnson led Everett to a 27-1 record and the state title while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds.

5. Despite being recruited by UCLA and Indiana, Johnson wanted to attend college close to home, so he enrolled at Michigan State in East Lansing.

6. As a college freshman, Magic averaged 17 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists and led the Spartans to a 25-5 record and the Big Ten Conference title.

7. The 1979 NCAA Championship game between Michigan State and Larry Bird's Indiana State team earned record television viewing numbers -- a 24.1 Nielsen rating and 35.11 million viewers (nearly a fourth of American televisions tuned in).

8. The Utah Jazz would have selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft if it hadn't traded its first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers three years earlier as compensation for the free-agent signing of Gail Goodrich.

9. The Chicago Bulls lost a coin flip to the Lakers for the rights to the No. 1 pick in the 1979 Draft. The Lakers selected Johnson while the Bulls selected UCLA's David Greenwood with the No. 2 pick.

10. After Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hit the game-winning shot in Magic's first regular-season NBA game, the 19-year-rookie raced over to Kareem, jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly. "All of us just kind of looked at him, like, 'Yo, man, chill. We got 81 more games to go,'" said former teammate Norm Nixon.

11. Johnson lost the NBA Rookie of the Year Award to Bird, who earned 66 of the 69 first-place votes.

12. In 1980, Magic became the first rookie to start in an NBA All-Star Game since Elvin Hayes (1969).

13. Johnson became the first rookie in NBA Finals history to win MVP honors after leading the Lakers to the 1980 NBA championship.

14. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at home with an ankle sprain, the Lakers boarded the team flight to Philadelphia for Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals. Magic plopped down in Abdul-Jabbar's empty seat at the front of the cabin and winked at his teammates. "Never fear, E.J. is here," he said. Magic started the game at center.

15. In Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, Magic delivered arguably the single greatest Finals performance ever when he scored 42 points, grabbed 15 boards, handed out seven assists and snagged three steals while playing guard, forward and center.

16. Overshadowed in Magic's Game 6 1980 Finals masterpiece, teammate Jamaal Wilkes scored 37 points, including 25 in the first half.

17. Magic calls his Game 6 performance in the 1980 Finals his greatest NBA game ever.

18. In Magic's second NBA season, he missed 45 games as a result of torn cartilage in his knee. Tom Burleson of the Atlanta Hawks fell on Magic's left knee in the fist month of the season.

19. In 1984, Magic signed a 25-year, $25 million dollar contract with the Lakers.

20. Magic won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and the Finals MVP award three times each.

21. Only three months after announcing his retirement because he had contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Magic was added to the West All-Star team and ended up stealing the show, winning MVP honors after scoring 25 points, handing out nine assists and grabbing five rebounds and hitting the final shot of the game -- a 3-pointer while falling backward with 14.5 seconds in the game. "It was the first game ever called on account of hugs," recalled Johnson.

22. Magic didn't win his first NBA MVP Award until his eighth NBA season (1986-87). He would win two more in the next three seasons.

23. Magic holds the career record for highest assists per game, at 11.2.

24. Magic led the NBA in steals in back-to-back seasons: 3.43 a game (1980-81) and 2.67 (1981-82).

25. Magic holds the career playoff record for most assists (2,346).

26. Magic holds the NBA Finals single-series record for assists: 14 a game (1985).

27. Magic was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).

28. Magic is the Lakers' all-time assists leader with 10,141 and all-time steals leader with 1,724 (1979-80 through 1990-91 and 1995-96).

29. Magic was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. Other members in that class that year included the Harlem Globetrotters, Larry Brown, Lute Olson, Drazen Petrovic and Sandra Kay Yow.

30. Johnson won two NBA All-Star Game MVP Awards (1990, 1992).

31. When Magic won his first NBA All-Star Game MVP Award in 1990, he was only the third player to win the award for the losing team (Bob Pettit in1958 and Julius Erving in 1977).

32. Johnson holds the NBA All-Star Game career record for most assists, with 127.

33. Johnson holds the NBA All-Star Game single-game record for assists with 22, yet the West lost to the East that year (1984), 154-145, in OT.

34. Bird and Johnson faced each other only 37 times. Magic and the Lakers held a 22-15 edge over Bird and the Celtics.

35. In three NBA Finals matchups between Johnson and Bird, the Lakers won two of them and boasted an 11-8 edge in games.

36. After Magic's "junior, junior sky hook" beat Boston in Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals, Larry Bird said afterward: "You expect to lose to the Lakers on a sky-hook. You don't expect it to be from Magic."

37. Magic led the NBA in free-throw percentage with a .911 mark in 1988-89.

38. Magic was a career 52 percent field-goal shooter in 906 NBA games.

39. Johnson set the single-game record for most assists in the Playoffs with 24against the Phoenix Suns on May 15, 1984. Four years later, John Stockton tied the mark against Magic and the Lakers (May 17, 1988).

40. When Magic retired in 1991, he was the NBA's all-time assists leader with 9,921, a number that grew when he returned during the 1995-96 season. He finished his career with 10,141 assists. He is now fourth on the all-time list behind John Stockton (15,806), Mark Jackson (10,334) and Jason Kidd (10,199).

41. Johnson replaced Randy Pfund and Bill Bertka as Lakers head coach on March 27, 1994. He finished with a 5-11 record (.313 winning percentage).

42. After sitting out 4 1/2 seasons, Magic made a comeback late in the 1995-96 season, playing the final 32 games of the regular season for the Lakers. He averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds. The Lakers lost in the first round of the Playoffs to the Houston Rockets.

43. Magic was selected All-NBA nine times (plus second team once). In 1981-82, Johnson was bypassed for George Gervin and Gus Williams.

44. Magic helped the 1992 U.S. team -- the Dream Team -- take home the gold medal. Johnson averaged eight points and shot .567 percent in six games.

45. Magic's perfect NBA team consists of Isiah Thomas (point guard), Michael Jordan (shooting guard), Julius Erving (small forward), Larry Bird (passing forward), Bill Russell (center) with Oscar Robertson off the bench (sixth man).

46. In 1994, Magic became the first former African-American basketball player to own part of a NBA franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers. He still owns part of the team.

47. Through the "I Stand with Magic" program, the Magic Johnson Foundation has provided free HIV/AIDS testing to more than 38,000 Americans in 16 major cities.

48. When Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991, only one drug existed to combat the deadly disease. Eighteen years later, there are 27.

49. The Canyon-Johnson Urban fund is the largest private equity fund focused on revitalizing ethnically diverse communities in urban areas.

50. Magic Johnson Enterprises has businesses in 22 states and 91 cities.