In the 1980’s Earvin “Magic” Johnsonrevolutionized the point guard position and introduced the NBA to aflashy brand of razzle-dazzle basketball (aka “Showtime”) the likes ofwhich nobody had ever seen. His rivalry with Larry Bird which firsttook center stage in the 1979 NCAA Championship game intensified in thepros when Magic was drafted #1 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers andsquared off against Bird’s Celtics rejuvenating the bitterness betweentwo of the NBA’s most storied franchises. Together they helped spark afan resurgence that took professional basketball fandom to anotherlevel. But it was Magic who led the Lakers to five NBA titles in the80’s more than any other team including Bird’s Celtics (3). Magic wonthree league MVP awards the second of which came in 1988-89 when heaveraged 22.5 points 12.8 assists and 7.9 rebounds. He took the Lakersto the NBA Finals for the third straight season. Unfortunately Magicpulled his hamstrung in Game 2 of the Finals and the Lakers fell to the“Bad Boys” of Detroit ending their pursuit of a three-peat.

This offered Magic Johnson Los AngelesLakers game-worn home jersey was donned by the Lakers legend during hisoutstanding 1988-89 MVP campaign. It has the rare black memorialarmband in honor of Larry Fleisher one of the founders and longtime director of the NBAPlayers Association who passed away May 11 1989. We were unable to make aconclusive photo-match to the playoffs so it was likely worn prior to the addition of the armband due to the significant amount of wear evident. The late-career representation comes in size 44and has a gold-colored mesh body with purple-and-white striped knit trimaround the neck and arms. "LAKERS" is sewn across the chest inpurple-on-white double tackle twill with "32" applied to the front andback in the same configuration. His name is arched atop the back numberand sewn directly to the jersey. The front left tail has the appropriateMacGregor Sand-Knit tagging which includes size 44 "88" year and 2"LB strip tags and another strip tag with "Designed & TailoredExclusively for LOS ANGELES LAKERS". The NBA embroidered logo adorns theleft arm stirrup just below the aforementioned honorary blackarmband. The jersey exhibits excellent use with stretching in theneck and armpits as well as a moderate but consistent amount of frayingto the numbers and letters front and back. It was originally sourced from a notable Lakers collector who lives in Los Angeles.

Includes letter from MEARS graded A5.[Note: this is the highest grade a post-1988 jersey can achieve withoutdocumented team or player provenance.]