Los Angeles Lakers: 5 biggest ‘what-ifs’ of the last 25 years

4. What if Magic Johnson hadn’t cut his 1996 comeback short?

Magic Johnson‘s sudden and unexpected retirement in 1991 thrust the Los Angeles Lakers into rebuilding mode. Five years later, he came back and tried to help fix what had become broken in Hollywood.

When Magic left in 1991, the Lakers were coming off another Western Conference title, but had lost in the NBA Finals to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Without Magic, the next few seasons involved first-round exits and one trip to the lottery.

That included a brief stretch in 1994 where Magic actually coached the team for 16 games.

On Jan. 30, 1996, Magic returned as a player.

He looked bigger than before, having added serious weightlifting to his fitness regimen as he battled the HIV virus that forced him to retire in the first place. He also looked older, at 36 years of age.

This version of Magic lined up at power forward instead of point guard, but he still had that magician’s skill set. In his first game back, he famously ball-faked Golden State Warriors star Latrell Sprewell into a frozen state.

That was probably the highlight of what turned out to be a short-lived and largely uneventful comeback.

Magic played 32 games in the 1995-96 regular season, coming off the bench for all but nine of them. He averaged 14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game and added one more triple-double to his resume.

He helped L.A. make the playoffs, where they lost in the first round to the defending champion Houston Rockets.

After that, Magic retired again.

What if he had decided to stay longer?

The NBA that Magic came back to was different than the league he’d left initially. The fast-paced era in which he led “Showtime” to five championships in the 1980s was gone. By the mid-1990s, scoring was down and physicality had come to define the decade.

Jordan was at the top of his game, leading the Bulls dynasty to six championships during the decade.

Magic couldn’t physically do some of the same things he’d done in the 1980s, and the style of the times wasn’t set up for him to do all of those things even if he could.

Ironically, considering that Magic is perpetually Mr. Positive, his comeback apparently created some negativity among the Lakers.

Leading scorer Cedric Ceballos abruptly left the team for a few days during the season and was suspended. Ceballos said it was a family matter, but others say it was out of frustration because Magic had taken some of Ceballos’ minutes and shots.

That 1996 offseason was the beginning of a new dynasty for the Lakers. That was the summer when they signed Shaquille O’Neal, and landed Kobe Bryant in the draft. Those two went on to deliver a three-peat of championships from 2000-02.

While it was the natural order of things for Magic to make his exit as the Lakers began a new era, there’s no reason to believe Magic wouldn’t have blended well with young Shaq and younger Kobe.

In his off-court roles with the franchise following his playing days, Magic always seemed to get along great with Shaq and Kobe, who both watched Magic growing up and always had the utmost respect for him.

Unlike Ceballos, who was just getting used to his spot as a potential star when Magic came in and redirected the spotlight, Shaq in 1996 was well-established as one of the world’s most popular celebrity athletes. Kobe was still a kid learning how to be a pro.

An ego clash between the gracious old-timer, the prime veteran and the teenage phenom seemed far-fetched.

Given Magic’s age and the likelihood of injuries, his comeback probably wouldn’t have lasted beyond the 1996-97 season at the longest. But that season could’ve been special.

Those Lakers won 56 games and made it to the second round of the playoffs, where they lost to the eventual conference champion Utah Jazz. Maybe with Magic on the court and in the locker room, they could’ve advanced farther.

Can you imagine a 1997 NBA Finals featuring Jordan, Magic, Scottie Pippen, Kobe, Dennis Rodman and Shaq?