Despite retiring at the end of the 1995-1996 season, Earvin "Magic" Johnson is still helping the Los Angeles Lakers win games. Indirectly, at least.
Tired of watching his beloved team lose—the Lakers are currently 12-14 despite trading for star center Dwight Howard and for Steve Nash— the hall-of-famer took matter into his own hands and announced on Dec. 14 that he was going to step away from Twitter until the team won three games in a row.
The former point guard was going to deprive the world— and his more than 1 million followers— of golden nuggets like:
Unsurprisingly, Laker nation was devastated.
Photo via ReactionGIFs
The Twitter blackout worked. The day Johnson threw down the gauntlet, Kobe Bryant & Co. defeated the Washington Wizards (the worst team in the league, but hey, that's irrelevant). Two days later, they extended their streak to two Ws, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 111-98.
On Monday, the Lakers did the unthinkable: they won their third game in a row for the first time... well, since last month. But more importantly, it was once again the Magic Hour on Twitter!
His fans— all 419 of them who retweeted his comeback— rejoiced! Among the jubilant fans were these two Laker aficionados:
Photo via Deadspin
True Lakers fans, however, are still hoping that Johnson will extend his Twitter hiatus indefinitely in hopes that the team can win its 17th NBA title.
Photo via cliff1066/Flickr