An Off-the-Wall Retirement? : Ceremony: On an emotional afternoon, Magic Johnson's uniform is retired at the Forum, but he still hints at a comeback.

By STEVE SPRINGER

Feb. 17, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

In his most magical moments, Magic Johnson caused the champagne to flow at the Forum. But in his final moment Sunday, his official retirement, the only things flowing were tears.

Tears of regret at a career cut short by the HIV infection. Tears of frustration at what might have been. Tears of joy at what already has been in a career that stamped Johnson as one of the greatest to ever play the game.

At age 11, he had dreamed of joining his boyhood hero, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in the NBA.

But Johnson never dreamed that, at the relatively young age of 32, he would be joining Abdul-Jabbar in retirement on the Forum’s wall of honor.

That’s where Johnson’s uniform was hung during a ceremony Sunday at halftime of the Lakers’ game against the Boston Celtics.

A three-time league most valuable player, Johnson played on five NBA champions in his dozen seasons in the league. Last November, he shocked the world by announcing he had tested positive for the HIV infection and was leaving the game that had been his life.

But like any great magician, Johnson kept his audience guessing. Even as he stared up at his newly hung uniform Sunday, Johnson hinted that it might not stay up there long.

“I hope if I do decide to come back,” he told the cheering crowd, “you wouldn’t be too upset if we did this all over again.”

Certainly the Lakers wouldn’t be upset.

Coach Mike Dunleavy, asked what the day’s most hopeful moment had been, replied, “That they put the banner up with Velcro.”

Later, Johnson told reporters: “I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to play in the Olympics. That’s a dead issue. Now we move on to whether or not I come back.”

Will he or won’t he? Johnson promised a decision soon, perhaps this week.

“We’ll have to come up with a game plan,” he said. “If fatigue is a factor, we’ll see if we can come up with something. Maybe I won’t play back-to-back games.”

Johnson’s uniform is the fifth to be retired by the Lakers, joining those of Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.

They were all in attendance Sunday for the 45-minute ceremony. So were former teammates Norm Nixon, Michael Cooper, Jamaal Wilkes and Kurt Rambis.

Also on hand was longtime nemesis Larry Bird, who flew in to be with his longtime adversary even though a bad back prevented Bird from playing for the Celtics.

Johnson later revealed he told Bird: “Let’s both suit up and run out and play the last five minutes. That would have been interesting.”

Johnson’s pregnant wife, Cookie, seemed at ease when the ceremonies were over.

“I cried,” she said. “It was very emotional. It’s the end of a career, but it’s the beginning of our new life together.”

Johnson, who had tears running down his cheeks at various points in the ceremony and had trouble keeping his voice from cracking at one point, seemed the most overcome when he gave Abdul-Jabbar a long hug, one Johnson seemed reluctant to end.

“When he hugged Kareem,” Cookie said, “you knew it was all over, all in the past.”

So is it all over? Will her husband indeed retire after the Summer Olympics?

“You never know,” she replied with a wink. “And I’m not saying another word.”

Johnson’s son, 10-year-old Andre, was also on hand Sunday. What has he been told about the whole situation?

“That I’m going to be here forever with him,” Johnson said. “And that the time I have here, we’re going to have a good time. That’s the only thing I can tell him. Nobody knows what’s going to happen.”

There were plenty of gifts for Johnson on Sunday.

Bird presented him with a piece of the parquet floor from Boston Garden.

Johnson’s teammates presented him with a sculpted bust of himself and have also commissioned a life-size statue of Johnson, to be permanently placed at the Forum.

The NBA and the Players Assn. donated $600,000 to the Magic Johnson Foundation Inc., an organization dedicated to AIDS education and prevention. The Laker wives added another $100,000 donation.

General Manager Jerry West presented Johnson with a framed uniform on behalf of the front office. The Laker coaches gave Johnson a gold watch.

And, it was announced, owner Jerry Buss will endow a full-tuition scholarship in Johnson’s name at Magic’s old school, Michigan State.

There were also taped good wishes from opponents Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, along with Pat Riley, Johnson’s longtime Laker coach.

In thanking Laker announcer Chick Hearn, Johnson said he no longer puts mustard on his hot dogs, “because the mustard was always coming off the hot dog,” referring to Hearn’s famous saying.

In looking up at the five jerseys, Chamberlain said he was looking at the makings of a pretty decent team.

“With Magic and Jerry at the guards,” Chamberlain said, “I don’t see how we could lose. I’ll even play power forward and let Kareem be the center.”

When Sunday’s ceremony was over, Johnson let out a sigh of appreciation in discussing each of the players present. But his two favorites were obviously Bird and Abdul-Jabbar.

“With Kareem, I just kind of fell apart,” Johnson said. “We’ve been through so much.”

He said that when he and Bird are finally, conclusively in retirement, they would play one-on-one on pay-per-view.

“For about $50 million apiece,” he said with a laugh.

But in the end, he acknowledged that the toughest part of the afternoon was walking out there for the ceremony.

“I just started crying,” he said. “I walked that way so many times and now I was walking out to say goodby. It was difficult. You never know how to say goodby. How do you do that?”