Like Magic, he's back!

Sporting News, The, Feb 12, 1996 by Dave Kindred

Brown would give Johnson a month's work before assessing his value. For one thing, now muscled up to 255, the 6-foot-9 Johnson is at power forward and going against men his own size for the first time.

"His upper body is so big, it's like grabbing onto a piece of cement," Brown says. "And the shooting is there, the feeling is there, the wisdom is there because that never goes away. He gives the Lakers enthusiasm and leadership and he gives them a closer who dictates how the game will be closed. What you can't really predict, after four years out, is if he has the discipline to do what the NBA schedule asks night after night after night."