With the Rewritten Rings timeline beginning during the Bird-Magic era, our second player profile belongs to Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Before the timeline diverged in 1983-84, Magic had already built a Hall of Fame résumé, earning three All-Star selections and winning two NBA championships with the Lakers.
One of the first major changes came in 1985. In reality, the Lakers reached four straight NBA Finals from 1982-85, but in this universe that streak ended at three when Adrian Dantley and the Utah Jazz eliminated Los Angeles in the 1985 Western Conference Finals.
Although the Lakers fell short as a team, Magic reached new individual heights. He captured four consecutive league MVP awards from 1984 through 1987, surpassing his real-life total. During that stretch, however, he won just one championship, defeating Larry Bird and the Celtics in the 1986 NBA Finals.
After his fourth MVP season ended with a Western Conference Finals loss to Mark Aguirre and the Dallas Mavericks, Magic returned to the Finals in 1988.
There, the Lakers found themselves on the wrong side of history as Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, and the Washington Bullets completed an unprecedented comeback from a 3-0 deficit to win the championship.
Determined to reclaim the throne, the Lakers retooled their roster before the 1989-90 season by adding Terry Cummings and former Celtic Robert Parish alongside James Worthy and Byron Scott.
The result was another Finals showdown with Bird and Boston. Just as in reality, Magic emerged victorious in this deciding chapter of their legendary rivalry.
Unlike real life, Magic's career never paused because of HIV. He continued playing well into the 1990s, leading the Lakers back to the NBA Finals one final time in 1993 as the fourth seed. Facing David Robinson and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles came up short.
The following season, the Lakers earned the top seed but suffered a stunning first-round upset to the eighth-seeded Houston Rockets. It proved to be Magic's final playoff run in Los Angeles.
Magic's career also took an unexpected turn. After the Lakers drafted Stephon Marbury in 1996, they traded the franchise icon to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for former teammate Terry Cummings. Following one season in Sacramento, Magic signed with the Golden State Warriors for the 1997-98 campaign.
An early season injury kept him out the entire season. However the Warriors surprised all by making the Finals, and because of that Magic got to play in one final Finals. As four-time MVP Len Bias carried Golden State to the championship series, with Sherman Douglas taking over the starting point guard duties.
When Magic retired, his Rewritten Rings legacy stood among the greatest in NBA history: nine Finals appearances, five NBA championships, four league MVPs, three Finals MVPs, and 15 All-Star selections—a career that somehow surpassed even his legendary real-life accomplishments.
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