Magic Johnson's rookie card is a strip of three: the 1980-81 Topps panel he shares with Larry Bird and Julius Erving. By the time Topps printed this one, he had earned a card of his own. He had won the 1979 national championship at Michigan State against Bird's Indiana State, gone first in the NBA draft, and in May 1980, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hurt, started the sixth game of the Finals at center and finished with 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. He is still the only rookie named Finals MVP.
The panel he shared with Bird was the rookie card. This was the first card that was his alone.
The 1981-82 Topps set has 198 cards: a national set of 66 and three regional sets, East, Midwest and West, each numbered 67 to 110. Number 21 is in the national set, which every pack carried. Magic has a second card in the West set, W109, and the two are easily confused.
The photograph is a game shot. Magic, in the Lakers' gold, drives into the lane between two Washington Bullets, and a starburst in the lower left reads GUARD, MAGIC JOHNSON, LAKERS.
It was also the last basketball card Topps made for more than a decade. After this set the company left the sport until 1992.
The borders are thin, and centering is the usual problem.