Five Biggest “What Ifs” in Lakers History
By Jacob Rude
3. What if Magic Johnson doesn’t contract HIV?
The early 1990 Lakers were cut short of any possible title when Magic Johnson announced he had contracted HIV and immediately retired. Despite being on the back end of Showtime, the parts were still in place for another possible run at a title. Johnson was 32, but James Worthy was just 30, Sam Perkins was 30, AC Green was 28, Byron Scott was 30, and Vlade Divac was 22.
The retirement of Johnson threw a huge wrench in any plan the Lakers had. Aside from team aspirations, Johnson would likely have raced up leader boards. Only John Stockton had more assists in his career over the first 13 years of his career, and they were the only two with over 10,000 assists in that span.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know how Johnson would have gracefully went out. Could he have given LA one more title? Could he have broken more records? Would he and Bryant have played together?