Have you ever seen greatness before it had a name? Magic Johnson gave us that chance when he tweeted, “Throwback Thursday! Check me out when I was in the 8th grade!” Along with it came a newspaper clipping that felt like a time capsule. Back then, he wasn’t “Magic” yet: just Earvin Johnson, a towering 6-foot-5 forward at Dwight Rich Junior High. His numbers, however? They were already magical.
The paper read, “Earvin Johnson… established three city junior high basketball records in pacing his team to a second-place finish.” In just ten games, he scored 227 points, pulled down 138 rebounds, and dropped 48 points in a single matchup. That 89–25 win over C.W. Otto? The team’s highest-scoring game ever. Even his squad’s 6–2 season stood strong, just one win shy of topping the league.
It also added a personal touch: “His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Earvin Johnson of 814 Middle St.” That line reminds us he was still a kid with a Lansing address and a dream. Looking at it now, that paper wasn’t just reporting stats, it was witnessing the rise of something special. Before NBA titles and Showtime, there was just Earvin, breaking records in a junior high gym. Isn’t it wild how legends start?
Throwback Thursday! Check me out when I was in the 8th grade! pic.twitter.com/2VD97qvpTc
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) July 31, 2025
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