Johnson ends first match with touch of magic

Johnson ends first match with touch of magic

JAKARTA (JP): Former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson lived up
to his sobriquet with a piece of pure magic at the end of an
exhibition match against Indonesia's IM-Texmaco at the Senayan
Indoor Stadium yesterday.

But only about 2,000 fans turned up to see the Magic Johnson
All Stars team defeat the IM 121-66.

Johnson, a former LA Laker, received a standing ovation at the
end of the match after he closed it with his own marvelous
magical touch.

With three seconds left on the clock, Magic was standing in
the middle of the court and shot the ball basketwards. As the
clock counted down the ball dropped in and the fans stood and
applauded the spectacular finale.

The 37-year-old Johnson climbed on to the jury's desk to
acknowledge the applause and hundreds of fans rushed to the court
asking for his autograph.

They hung around the court until Johnson got into an air-
conditioned bus to take him back to his hotel.

The match was delayed for 30 minutes while organizers waited
for more fans to arrive.

"But after we're waiting for an extra 30 minutes, only a few
basketball fans had come," organizer Ary Sudarsono complained.

The All Stars started the match slowly but left the Indonesian
team trailing 31-62 at the end of the first period.

In the second period, Johnson, a member of the USA Dream Team
at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, started to show off more of his
repertoire of skills. He produced 18 assists, nine rebounds and
11 points for his team.

Wearing yellow, Johnson was able to confuse the Indonesian
players with his famous tricky passing throughout the match.

Johnson constantly received great cheers from the audience for
all he did.

But teammate Jim Farmer stole some of the limelight as the
former Denver Nuggets player scored 27 points for the team.

The IM-Texmaco's foreign player Mario Lucas was able to
equalize Farmer's scores by producing 27 points, eight rebounds
and one assist.

IM-Texmaco's Hakiem Rachman told The Jakarta Post that he was
lucky to have had the chance to take on Johnson.

"Not all basketballers have a chance like us. Maybe someday we
can play against another famous NBA player," he said.

Hakiem said that Johnson did not show off his skills during
the match. "Maybe only a quarter of his skills."

Teammate Rommy Chandra said that Johnson's performance was
very good despite the star being HIV positive.

"Magic still has the spirit to play basketball and to spread
the sport," he said.

Johnson was banned from entering the country in January 1994
due to his illness. But the government relented and allowed him
in as long as he was always accompanied by a medical team.

He said earlier that he had no hard feelings against the local
administration.

Ary blamed the lack of promotion, the wrong moment for the
show and expensive tickets as the cause of the empty stadium.

"The organizers were late in promoting the events. Moreover,
they staged it after Christmas and New Year and before Ramadhan.
People would think twice about spending their money then," he
said.

"If only the organizers could cut the ticket prices, maybe
more spectators will come," he added. (yan)