Magic Johnson reveals Michael Jordan’s advice after five-year hiatus following HIV diagnosis

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Man to man.

Michael Jordan had a professional tip for fellow NBA star Magic Johnson back in 1996, which Johnson has publicly shared for the first time.

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If you recall, Magic Johnson first retired from the L.A. Lakers in 1992 after discovering he had tested positive for HIV.

But following a few years, he returned to that Laker life – first as a coach in 1994, then as a player two years later in the middle of the 1996-97 season.

In Johnson’s second game back, the Lakers faced the Chicago Bulls.

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Magic had 15 points and three assists off the bench but the Bulls were unstoppable and won 99-84.

“They really showed me the difference between a championship team and a playoff team,” Johnson told Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday night’s show while promoting his new docuseries, They Call Me Magic.

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“They were a championship team, we were just a regular team,” he recalled. “And they played me so hard. They were physical, they pushed me around …”

Johnson then revealed what Jordan told him after the game.

“Michael, after that game, he pulled me aside — I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody this,” Johnson said. “He met me in between the locker rooms, and he said, ‘Earvin, you have to remember now, you’re not with Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), you’re not with James Worthy. All the guys you used to play with, Showtime, are not on that Laker team anymore.”

MJ advised: “So remember, maybe you should think about retiring.”

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Though starters Vlade Divac and Elden Campbell were part of the team when Johnson first stepped away from the NBA, in November 1991, the other starting Lakers – Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Cedric Ceballos – were new to Magic.

At the time, the Bulls — who beat the Lakers in the ’91 Finals — were on their way to a fourth NBA Championship in 1996 and what would be the first game of their second three-peat.

“What a sick person,” Kimmel said, laughing. “What a sick individual.”

“But he was right,” Johnson replied. “He was right.”

Although the Lakers made it to the playoffs with home court advantage, they lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets.

Johnson initially expressed a desire to return to the team the following season, and even entertained joining another team as a free agent, but he changed his mind and retired for good – perhaps with Jordan’s words sinking in.

“I am going out on my terms,” he said at the time, “something I couldn’t say when I aborted a comeback in 1992.”