Magic Johnson Captures NBA Vote for MVP

Magic Johnson, the Lakers’ 6-foot 9-inch guard, was named the most valuable player in the National Basketball Assn. today. Johnson, who led the Lakers to the best record in the league, 65-17, averaged a career-high 23.9 points a game and a league-high 12.2 assists.

Johnson, 28 and in his eighth season with the Lakers, received 65 first-place votes and a total of 733 points from the panel of newspaper reporters and radio-TV sportscasters voting. He was the only player named on all 78 ballots.

Michael Jordan of Chicago, the league’s leading scorer, had 10 first-place votes, and Larry Bird of Boston, the MVP the last three years, was third, with one first-place vote.