Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, the 20-year-old rookie, had to assume Abdul-Jabbar's position at center. Johnson sky-hooked and rebounded the Lakers to victory with 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steal. He even jumped for the opening tap. Johnson became the first rookie ever to win the Finals MVP Award. In the first month, 7-2 Tom Burleson of the Atlanta Hawks fell on Johnson's left knee, forcing him to miss 45 games with a torn cartilage. He came back in …showed first 75 words of 1972 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1972 total…of Sports Medicine Physiology and Fitness 30, 202-221, 1990 üTaylor, J., Taylor, S., (1997) Psychological Approach to Sport Injury Rehabilitation. Pain Management, (Ed. 1) Gaitthersburg, Maryland, Aspen Publishers. üRock, J. A., Jones, M. V. (2002) A preliminary investigation into the use of counseling skills in support of rehabilitation from sport injury. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 11, 284-305 üWiese-Bjorstal, D., (2002) Accentuate the positive. Athletic Therapy Today. July 28-30. üWrisberg, C. A., Fisher, L. A., (2002) Keep it fun. Athletic Therapy Today, November, 54-56