Magic Johnson will be subject of ‘Last Dance’ style documentary

In an effort to make the months without sports a little easier, ESPN pushed up the release date of “The Last Dance,” a 10-part documentary series about Michal Jordan and his last season with the Chicago Bulls. The result was ESPN’s most-watched documentary ever, drawing an average of 5.6 million viewers through its finale.

In the midst of “The Last Dance” hype, another living basketball legend, Magic Johnson, announced that his documentary was coming soon — and thanks to a report by Brent Lang of Variety on Thursday, we now have more details on that upcoming project:

Basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson will be the subject of a new feature film documentary from XTR, H.wood Media, NSV and Delirio Films.

The filmmakers say they have been granted “unprecedented access” to the Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, whose dominance on the court helped drive the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships. The film will also rely on archival footage of Johnson, as well as interviews with the superstar, his family, fellow NBA players and business leaders. Directors for the project are currently under consideration.

In a separate news release, XTR announced that Johnson’s documentary will be released in 2021.

Johnson spent the entirety of his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and established himself as arguably the greatest point guard of all time. During his time in Los Angeles, he made 12 All-Star teams, led the league in assists four times, won five NBA championships, was voted Finals MVP three times and league MVP three times. Johnson was also part of the “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Johnson’s prime was cut short in 1991, when it was discovered that he had tested positive for HIV. Johnson sat out four seasons before returning for 32 games in the 1995-96 season.

Portions of Johnson’s illustrious career have already been touched on in other documentaries, such as ESPN’s “Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies” and NBA TV’s “The Dream Team,” but with new interviews and unseen footage, this should be worth tuning in for.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.