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Thursday, July 19, 2001
Magic to lace 'em up for summer-league game
Associated Press
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LOS ANGELES -- Magic Johnson is making another comeback --
for one game anyway.
Johnson and his Great Danes basketball team will play Saturday
in the Summer Pro League at Long Beach State. He'll join his team
of unknowns for one game, and then the Great Danes will play five
more without him.
"Just one more time throwing some elbows and getting smacked
upside the head. You like to get it once a year. You have to
remember you're 41," Johnson said in a phone interview Tuesday.
"Am I in NBA shape? No. I'm in everyday shape."
Johnson said he wasn't surprised Charles Barkley recently
abandoned an attempted comeback.
"I knew Charles wouldn't be able to do it," he said, citing
the knee injury that forced Barkley to retire last year and his
subsequent weight gain.
Johnson worries about Michael Jordan losing some of his luster
if he confirms the speculation and makes a comeback.
"With all the rule changes and no hand-checking and his skills,
it'll be easier for him to come back," he said. "I'm not a big
fan of it because I don't want him to lose anything. When you've
been named the greatest, I don't know how you top that."
Johnson created a stir in Los Angeles recently when he said he
would consider running for mayor in four or eight years.
"It's definitely something I would entertain and really
seriously consider because I love LA and I want to see our city
grow," he said. "What you have now is a lot of businessmen
running cities. It's about management skills and I have those from
running my own company."
Johnson and his office were swamped with offers of support if he
decides to make a political bid.
"I got calls from people wanting to run my campaign and be on
my committee," he said. "They say, `If you ran tomorrow, I'd vote
for you.' I didn't know it was going to happen. It snowballed.
"I'm one of those guys who needs challenges, and that would be
a big challenge for me."
He campaigned for James Hahn, who was elected mayor last month.
"I am a guy who loves and supports him, but I'm also a guy
that's going to hold him accountable," he said.
Johnson retired from the Los Angeles Lakers nearly 10 years ago
after learning he tested positive for HIV. He made two comebacks
with the Lakers and briefly served as their coach before returning
to his business interests.
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