It was May 2, 1996 when Los Angeles Lakers legend and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson played the final NBA game of his storied career.
But it wasn’t at The Forum in Inglewood. Rather, it was in a loss to the two-time defending NBA champion Rockets at The Summit in Houston.
The Rockets won Game 4, 102-94 (box score). and clinched the best-of-five series, three games to one. Though the Lakers (53-29) were the West’s No. 4 seed and had home-court advantage over the No. 5 Rockets (48-34), Rudy Tomjanovich‘s squad again came up clutch in the playoffs.
Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 25 points (54.5% FG), 11 rebounds, and seven assists, while Kenny Smith and Robert Horry each scored 17 points with a combined seven 3-pointers between them.
The Lakers were led by 25 points and 12 rebounds from Cedric Ceballos. Johnson had 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 30 minutes in his career finale, though he shot just 2-of-8 (25%) from the field.
Less than two weeks later, Johnson made his retirement official. Prior to the 1995-96 season, Johnson had not played in the NBA since testing positive for HIV just before the 1991-92 season.
“I’m going out on my terms, something I couldn’t say when I aborted a comeback in 1992,” Johnson said in his announcement. Though he was 36 years old and coming off a four-year layoff, Johnson was still effective in his final season — averaging 14.6 points (46.6% FG, 37.9% on 3-pointers), 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game.
That May 2, 1996 game was Houston’s final victory that season, since they were swept by eventual West champion Seattle in the second round.
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