blocks from his home. His plans underwent a dramatic change when he learned that he would be bused to the predominantly white Everett High School instead of going to Sexton, which was predominantly black. Johnson's sister Pearl and his brother Larry had bused to Everett the previous year and did not have a pleasant experience. There were incidents of racism, with rocks being thrown at buses carrying black students and white parents refusing to send their children to school. Larry was kicked off the basketball team after a confrontation during practice, prompting him to beg his brother not to play. Johnson did join the basketball team but became angry after several days when his new teammates ignored him during practice, not even passing the ball to him. He nearly got into a fight with another player before head coach George Fox intervened. Eventually, Johnson accepted his situation and the small group of black students looked to him as their leader. When recalling the events in his autobiography, My Life, he talked about how his time at Everett had changed him: High school career Johnson was first dubbed "Magic" as a 15-year-old sophomore playing for Everett High School, when he recorded a triple-double of 36 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists. After the game, Fred Stabley Jr., a sports writer for the Lansing State Journal, gave him the moniker despite the belief of Johnson's mother, a devout Christian, that the name was sacrilegious. In his final high school season, Johnson led Everett to a 27–1 win–loss record while averaging 28.8 points and 16.8 rebounds per game, and took his team to an overtime victory in the state championship game. Johnson dedicated the championship victory to his best friend Reggie Chastine, who was killed in a car accident the previous summer. He gave Chastine much of the credit for his development as a basketball player and as a person, saying years later, "I doubted myself back then." Johnson and Chastine were almost always together, playing basketball or riding around in Chastine's car. Upon learning of Chastine's death, Magic ran from his home, crying uncontrollably. Johnson, who finished his high school career with two All-State selections, was considered at the time to be the best high school player ever to come out of Michigan and was also named to the 1977 McDonald's All-American team. College career Although Johnson was recruited by several top-ranked