MAGIC GOT THE FINISH HE WANTED.

Byline: Marc Stein Daily News Staff Writer

Sharp as ever in life's transition game, Magic Johnson identified his two options and let instinct direct the pass.

Relocate?

Or retire?

To Johnson, and maybe only Johnson, the choice was a no-looker.

``If I had come back (next season), I knew I probably wouldn't be able to come back here,'' Johnson said Wednesday at his farewell news conference at the Forum. ``(But) I'm a Laker, and I can't do that.

``I'm L.A. I'm an L.A. person. I love L.A. I'm not going anywhere. This is where I should end up, and this is where I'm ending my career.''

This, essentially, was Johnson's justification for a pass that no one was expecting so soon - the announcement Tuesday that, after just three months, No. 32 was giving up his NBA renaissance to return to the business world.

Wearing a trademark grin and a Lakers T-shirt, Johnson went on to explain to yet another overflow media audience that if he couldn't wear a Lakers jersey anymore - a distinct possibility with Jerry Buss and Jerry West keen to make a splash in the free-agent market - he'd rather wear a suit and tie.

So he quit, on his terms, long before Buss and West could even consider asking the future Hall of Famer to step aside and clear some salary-cap room for a youth movement.

Before Pat Riley's Miami Heat or Patrick Ewing's New York Knicks could even tempt him with a new uniform.

``The only thing missing in my career was to close the book,'' said Johnson, denied that privilege in his previous two retirements when he was forced out of the game in 1991 and again in '92 because of HIV concerns.

``The final chapter wasn't written in my book in terms of Magic Johnson ending his career. I finally ended it the way I wanted to end it.

``I did what I set out to do. I had a wonderful time. It was a great experience, a lot of fun. My son (Earvin III) saw me play. I did it for myself as well, to prove to myself that I could still do it.''

That achieved, Johnson heads back now to the corporate world, where he heads the Magic Johnson Theatres chain, a land-development firm that is churning out shopping malls and a shoe company with a complete line of athletic footwear due out in the fall.

Johnson also plans to ask Buss about buying back his 5-percent ownership stake in the Lakers, which would allow him to serve as the organization's chief recruiter in this summer's pursuit of Shaquille O'Neal.

``Then I could come back and high-lob him,'' Johnson joked.

It's those kind of answers that prevent Johnson from convincing people that he really is through playing in the NBA, but he didn't care. The 36-year-old was having too much fun saying goodbye.

Some of his more entertaining observations:

Regarding the finger-pointing that plagued the Lakers in the playoffs: ``There was never a confrontation between Nick (Van Exel) and I. There never will be. Nick is like a little brother me to. I have no problem with Del Harris or any of the other players. It was just a situation that Earvin Johnson knows where he stood and what he could do. I didn't win five championships and go to the Finals nine times out of 12 years or play as long as I have in this league to not know where I'm good or how I can help a team.''

On the need to retire less than two weeks after the Lakers were eliminated: ``Again, we must let the Lakers move on. I had to make a decision for myself and the Lakers because they had to now know whether I was coming back or not so they can do what they had to do. Twelve days is a lot of time to think. I decided (last week) when I was playing with my (traveling team) that this is what I wanted to do, to be with them, be a businessman and enjoy myself.''

Why he made the announcement so suddenly, to the surprise of even close friends: ``I kind of tried to let everyone know quick, so nobody would try to talk me out of it.''

What makes his other life so appealing: ``I like being a businessman. I'm starting to be good at it and I want to pursue that. . . . (In business), it's not Magic, it's Mr. Johnson, and I kind of like that.''

The real reason he couldn't entertain offers from other teams starting July 1: ``(My wife) Cookie would have killed me.''

Most all of, Johnson was trying to pass along that this was a time to rejoice - for having returned to the NBA after 4-1/2 years away - rather than express remorse for leaving again after just half a season.

``This is not a sad day or a bad day,'' Magic said. ``It's a good day. God blessed me to be able to come back. And God will continue to bless me now that it's over.

``It was sad Nov. 7 a long time ago (in '91, when he retired the first time). It was happy when I was 19 and was drafted by the Lakers. And it's happy now that I'm ending it here in Los Angeles with the Lakers.

``It's off my back. The door is closed. I'm not kidding about this. It's over. It's just time. I had my run.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Magic Johnson told reporters at the Fo rum that he was glad to retire from the game on his terms.

(2) Magic Johnson can't help laughing when he is asked if he is retiring for the last time during his press conference at the Forum.

David Sprague / Daily News