Magic Johnson

Home › Basketball Players › Magic Johnson

VOTE

2 people voted

10 points

Melissa Mitchell Dukes (son’s mother)

Date of birth: October 1961

Magic Johnson confessed that he had lots of women, and that was the cause of his HIV status. With one of them, Melissa Mitchell, he welcomed a son Andre. They both met while studying at Everett High School. They both were just 21 when they welcomed a son Andre. Although Melissa and Earvin Jr. parted ways, they shared parenthood duties and raised their son together.

Melissa Renee Mitchell was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. She is the daughter of Charles Mitchell and Elinor Dungay. Melissa grew up with two brothers and a sister. Her mother passed away in 2015, and that was a major blow for Andre Johnson, who devoted a sweet post to his late grandmother on Instagram.

After her separation from Magic Johnson, she married another man, named Mr. Duke. With him, she welcomed a daughter Tiffany. Currently, Melissa resides in Lansing.

Cookie Johnson (wife)

Date of birth: circa 1960

Magic’s relationships with his wife are almost ideal. Many people watch their couple with pleasure and take them as a role models.

Cookie’s life hasn’t always been a bed of roses. In the middle 1990s, her husband made public his HIV status. He knew about it soon after their marriage, and of course, that was so controversial for their relationship. Nevertheless, they went through it. Cookie and her son EJ were not affected by the virus. Then, she had to make friends with her husband’s oldest son Andre. And finally, she came through EJ’s gender identification process. But she coped with those life obstacles gracefully.

Her birth name is Earlitha Kelly. She is the daughter of a woman, named Cora, and has a sister Pat. With Magic Johnson, she has two children, a son EJ and an adopted daughter Elisa.

Cookie is a socially active woman. She is a successful entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist. Mrs. Johnson stands behind such projects, as CJ by Cookie Johnson, the clothing line for women. With her husband, she co-founded the charity Magic Johnson Foundation to support people with positive HIV status. Recently, she released a biography book “Believing in Magic’, which was included in New York Times bestseller list.

Andre Johnson (son with Melissa Mitchell Dukes)

Date of birth: February 1981

Andre Tyrese Johnson is the oldest of Magic’s kids. Although the basketball star has never been married to Andre’s mother, he remained an inseparable part of his son’s life. For the major part of his childhood years, the boy lived with his father and stepmother Cookie, with who he is very close.

Earvin confessed in his Apple TV+ documentary “They Call Me Magic”, that it was hard for him to tell his future wife Cookie about his son from previous relationships. That caused a little turbulence in their romance, but later Cookie and Andre made friends.

Although Magic’s son didn’t choose basketball as his career, he is sure to inherit his father’s talent for business. After five years at Elektra Entertainment, his father appointed him as a marketing director at Magic Johnson Enterprises. Later Andre left his father’s company to launch his own business. Currently, he is the vice president of “Mythical Games”, the founder of “Love + Light Ventures” and the host of the Please Elaborate podcast.

Andre is married to Lisa Meyers Johnson, an entrepreneur. They have two kids – Avery and Gigi, Magic’s beloved grandchildren.

EJ Johnson (son with Cookie)

Date of birth: June 4, 1992

Magic has another son, his first kid with Cookie, named Earvin III Johnson, who is nicknamed EJ in the family circle. For the first time, his face became popular in 1995, when his father appeared on Maria Shriver’s show. Then Magic opened up about his living with his and showed the wide audience his wife Cookie and newborn son Earvin III.

After that, EJ led the typical lifestyle of any teenager in Beverly Hills. He studied at a high school and then joined his peers at New York University, where he studied design and event planning. In 2013 he came to Ellen DeGeneres show set to come out as gay. His parents, who have already known it, supported their son and told him that they were proud of his courage to be who he was.

In 2014 EJ became the occasional participant in E! reality series “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills”. In the second season, he became a constant cast member, and after the fourth one he got his spin-off “EJNYC”.

Currently, EJ is a famous TV personality and fashion connoisseur. He is known for bringing feminine tendencies to male fashion. Unlike his hyper-masculine father, EJ’s sense of style is androgynous. He promotes that flexible look in male fashion, and widens the boards of masculinity.

EJ keeps his personal life secret. Several years ago he went out with an unnamed boyfriend. But as of 2023, the young man seems to be single. He was inspired by Caitlyn Jenner and her transitions, but he doesn’t plan to do the same in the nearest future.

Magic Johnson maintains warm relationships with his son. Previously, he was rumored to be gay himself after announcing his HIV status, as that virus mostly has gay or bisexual men. But that fact wasn’t confirmed.

Elisa Johnson (adopted daughter)

Date of birth: December 21, 1994

Magic congratulates his daughter Elisa on Instagram for each her birthday and other holidays. He never stops telling about his love for his daughter. Besides, the former basketball player is very proud of her business talent.

Elisa was adopted by Magic and Cookie in 1994 when she was 3 days young. Elisa grew up in Los Angeles, and she told in one of her interviews, that her childhood was as normal as possible for the daughter of two celebrities.

Then she moved to Manhattan and took part in her brother EJ’s reality shows “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills” and “EJNYC”. Later she joined her relatives in their public support of people with HIV/AIDS. Her other area of interest is fashion. Having got a degree from the school of fashion, she founded the accessories line “Elisa Johnson Co.”

Earvin Johnson Sr (father)

Date of birth: 1934

Date of death: March 8, 2023

Magic shared a touching post, devoted to his father’s death, on Instagram. According to Magic Johnson, his father played a very important role in his life and taught him to be hard-working.

Earvin Johnson Sr comes from Wesson, Mississippi. He worked as a sharecropper. In Weson he met his future wife Christine, and they moved to Lansing, Michigan together. According to Magic, his father was proud to earn his living honestly. He had 2-3 works at the same time to provide for his big family. He used to work at the Oldsmobile plant and then at General Motors’ plant among many other jobs.

Magic’s father supported his son’s ambitions to become a professional basketball player and helped him on his way to stardom.

Christine Johnson (mother)

Date of birth: August 4, 1936

The name of Johnson’s mother is Christine Eula Johnson. She comes from Mississippi, where she worked as a sharecropper, just like her husband. Christine is a mother of 10 kids, including the basketball star Magic Johnson.

Previously, she tried different odds but in the early 1980s she became a resident agent at her son’s charity foundation “Earvin Magic Johnson Center”.

Christine is a very faithful person, a loving mother, and a grandmother.

Quincy Johnson (older brother)

Date of birth: September 11, 1955

Quincy Levon Johnson is Magic’s oldest brother. He is a Lansing resident. Not much is known about this Magic’s brother, just the fact that in the early 2000s, he lived and worked in Tampa, FL. He is still closely knitted with his siblings, including Magic.

Larry Johnson (brother)

Date of birth: 1957

Larry is the most famous of Magic’s brothers. Like his brother, Larry used to play basketball at school and planned to devote his life to this game. But he wasn’t as successful as Magic, so his dream to become an NBA player failed. After that, he descended the wrong path and started selling drugs. He became using drugs, too, and was arrested 14 times for his wrong decisions. Nevertheless, Larry managed to pull himself together and quit his bad habits. He stays sober for 30+ years as of now. Besides, he is the founder of the organization “Brotherhood Against Drugs”, which helps young people all over the world.

Larry Darnell Johnson is married to Jennifer Clayton Johnson and has two kids with her, a son Larry Jr and a daughter Laquetta.

Michael Johnson (brother)

Not much is known about Michael Johnson, Magic’s brother, just the fact that they maintain warm relationships.

Lois Johnson (brother)

Lois is one of Magic’s nine siblings. He maintains a very private lifestyle.

Pearl Johnson (older sister)

Date of birth: 1958

Lillie Pearl is one of Magic’s sisters. She used to study at Everett High School and then continued her education at Michigan State University. She is a mother and grandmother already. Pearl is very close with her younger brother Magic.