Editing Magic Johnson (section)

== Early life ==
Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in [[Lansing, Michigan]], to [[General Motors]] assembly worker Earvin Sr. and school janitor Christine.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/careers/profile42.htm |title=Rebounding from basketball court to boardroom |last=Eldridge |first=Earle |date=November 8, 2004 |work=USA Today |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-date=February 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210140525/http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/careers/profile42.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Johnson, who had six siblings and three half-siblings by his father's previous marriage,<ref>Johnson, Earvin "Magic", and [[William Novak]]. ''My Life''. p. 4. {{ISBN|0-449-22254-3}}.</ref><ref name=mylife />{{efn|Magic was the fourth of seven children Earvin Sr. and Christine had together.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roselius |first=J. Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WY437HMnVx4C&q=Earvin%2520Johnson%2C%2520Sr.&pg=PA15 |title=Magic Johnson: Basketball Star & Entrepreneur: Basketball Star & Entrepreneur |year=2011 |publisher=ABDO |isbn=978-1-61714-945-0 |language=en |access-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-date=April 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411085358/https://books.google.com/books?id=WY437HMnVx4C&q=Earvin%20Johnson,%20Sr.&pg=PA15 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} was influenced by his parents' strong work ethic. His mother spent many hours after work each night cleaning their home and preparing the next day's meals, while his father did janitorial work at a used car lot and collected garbage, all while never missing a day at General Motors. Johnson would often help his father on the garbage route, and he was teased by neighborhood children who called him "Garbage Man".<ref name=siblings>{{Cite web |date=August 20, 2012 |title=The Meaning of Magic |website=Coach George Raveling |url=http://coachgeorgeraveling.com/the-meaning-of-magic/ |access-date=January 3, 2023 |language=en-US |archive-date=June 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628140410/http://coachgeorgeraveling.com/the-meaning-of-magic/ |url-status=live |first=Alejandro |last=Danois}}</ref> His mother raised him in the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://adventistreview.org/news/magic-johnson-shows-gratitude-to-adventists-with-550-000-donation/ |title=Magic Johnson Shows Gratitude to Adventists With $550,000 Donation |last1=Hyman |first1=Ramona |last2=McChesney |first2=Andrew |date=May 18, 2016 |website=Adventist Review|access-date=July 3, 2023|archive-date=July 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703193201/https://adventistreview.org/news/magic-johnson-shows-gratitude-to-adventists-with-550-000-donation/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.lamag.com/longform/master-of-illusion1/ |title=Master of Illusion |last=Katz |first=Jesse |date=October 1, 2003 |website=[[Los Angeles Magazine]]|access-date=July 3, 2023|archive-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413061039/https://www.lamag.com/longform/master-of-illusion1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Johnson came to love basketball as a young man. His favorite basketball player growing up was [[Bill Russell]], whom he admired more for his many championships than his athletic ability.<ref name=bill>{{Cite book |last=Roselius |first=Chris J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WY437HMnVx4C&q=Earvin%2520Johnson%2C%2520Sr&pg=PA15 |title=Magic Johnson: Basketball Star & Entrepreneur |year=2011 |publisher=ABDO |isbn=978-1-61714-945-0 |language=en |access-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111123750/https://books.google.com/books?id=WY437HMnVx4C&q=Earvin%2520Johnson,%2520Sr&pg=PA15 |url-status=live}}</ref> He also idolized players such as [[Earl Monroe]] and [[Marques Haynes]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Earvin "Magic" |author2=William Novak |title=My Life |year=1999 |page=14 |publisher=Black Book Company |isbn=1-902799-01-1}}</ref> and practiced "all day".<ref name="nbafullbio" /> Johnson came from an athletic family. His father played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi,<ref name=senior>{{cite web |last=Springer |first=Steve |title=Could It Be Magic? |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-05-sp-magic05-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=May 18, 2022 |date=June 5, 2002 |archive-date=May 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518053933/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-05-sp-magic05-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and Johnson learned the finer points about the game from him. Johnson's mother, originally from [[North Carolina]],<ref name=senior /> had also played basketball as a child, and she grew up watching her brothers play the game.<ref name=bill />

By the time he had reached the eighth grade, Johnson had begun to think about a future in basketball. He had become a dominant junior high player, once scoring 48 points in a game.<ref name=mylife>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Earvin "Magic" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mlrvUwCykMgC&q=Earvin |title=My Life |year=2009 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-307-55817-6 |language=en |access-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-date=October 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031224315/https://books.google.com/books?id=mlrvUwCykMgC&q=Earvin |url-status=live}}</ref> Johnson looked forward to playing at [[Sexton High School]], a school with a very successful basketball team and history that also happened to be only five blocks from his home. His plans underwent a dramatic change when he learned that he would be [[Desegregation busing|bused]] to the predominantly white [[Everett High School (Michigan)|Everett High School]] instead of going to Sexton,<ref name=bill /><ref name=allwhite>{{Cite book |last1=McClelland |first1=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxq6rogiBi0C&q=Sexton%2520High%2520School%2520integration&pg=PA322 |title=Nothin' But Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times, and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland |last2=McClelland |first2=Ted |year=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-60819-529-9 |language=en |access-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111123750/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxq6rogiBi0C&q=Sexton%2520High%2520School%2520integration&pg=PA322 |url-status=live}}</ref> which was predominantly black.<ref name=mylife /><ref name=integration>{{Cite news |title=Detroit Board's Busing Decision Termed 'Unwise' |newspaper=[[The Argus-Press]] |date=July 12, 1973 |page=12 |url=https://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=yXciAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wKwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5439%2C1196083 |access-date=February 18, 2025}}</ref> Johnson's sister Pearl and brother Larry had bused to Everett the previous year and did not have a pleasant experience. There were incidents of racism, with rocks being thrown at buses carrying black students and white parents refusing to send their children to school. Larry was kicked off the basketball team after a confrontation during practice, prompting him to beg his brother not to play. Johnson did join the basketball team but became angry after several days when his new teammates ignored him during practice, not even passing the ball to him. He nearly got into a fight with another player before head coach George Fox intervened. Eventually, Johnson accepted his situation and the small group of black students looked to him as their leader.<ref name=mylife /> When recalling the events in his autobiography, ''My Life'', he talked about how his time at Everett had changed him:

{{blockquote|As I look back on it today, I see the whole picture very differently. It's true that I hated missing out on Sexton. And the first few months, I was miserable at Everett. But being bused to Everett turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. It got me out of my own little world and taught me how to understand white people, how to communicate and deal with them.<ref name=mylife />}}