MAGIC TO TAKE ACT TO HALL ARIZONA'S OLSON, 76ERS' BROWN ALSO AMONG FIVE CHOSEN.

Byline: Michael Anastasi Sports Editor 

There was no suspense over the announcement of Earvin Johnson's election into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Just as, Magic said, there would be none in a matchup between his Lakers and those who played the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night.

``They have two stars, we had three,'' Johnson said following a noontime luncheon at the historic Biltmore Hotel. ``You tell me, who's going to stop James Worthy? Who's going to stop our fast break?

``We had to go through some of the greatest basketball teams in history to win our championships. We had to be good and smart. This team couldn't handle (Larry Bird's) Celtics.''

Johnson was among five whose enshrinement in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 27 was announced.

Philadelphia 76ers and former UCLA coach Larry Brown and Arizona coach Lute Olson were joined by North Carolina State women's coach Kay Yow and international great Drazen Petrovic of Croatia, who died in an auto accident in 1993 shortly after he launched his NBA career.

The Harlem Globetrotters also became the first team to earn entry since 1963.

Johnson was one of four Lakers who were among the 24 finalists on this year's ballot. Worthy, former Lakers coach Bill Sharman (already a member of the Hall as a player) and current Lakers assistant Tex Winter, considered the guru of the triangle offense, were passed over.

But as he did throughout his 13-year playing career, in which he led the Lakers to five NBA titles and nine appearances in the Finals, Johnson stole the show.

``When I was a little kid growing up in East Lansing (Mich.), I never dreamed I'd one day be in the Hall of Fame. All I ever wanted to do was to be the best I could be. And also win.''

Which he did gloriously. Johnson, 41, is one of only seven players to win an Olympic gold medal and championships in the NCAA and NBA.

``I never cared how many shots I took,'' said Johnson, who held the NBA's career record for assists until he was surpassed by Utah's John Stockton. ``I cared that we had more points than the other team.''

Johnson thanked a number of former teammates and coaches for making him the player that he became - noting that, from Pat Riley, he ``learned how to dress well'' - but he saved much of his praise for Los Angeles and Lakers fans of the Showtime Era.

``This whole city is going in with me,'' Johnson said. ``I didn't represent myself when I played; I represented this city. It isn't just the victories you take with you as a player in this league. You take the relationships.''

Brown, who took UCLA to the 1980 NCAA championship game and won the title at Kansas in 1988, led the 76ers to last year's NBA Finals, where they fell in five games to the Lakers, and has an overall record of 1,240-823 (.601) at the professional level.

``Coaching is the deal,'' Brown said. ``If it wasn't in the pros or at a college, I'd be coaching a high school team somewhere and I'd be perfectly happy.''

Olson, Arizona's coach since 1984 following stints at Long Beach City College, Long Beach State and Iowa, won the 1997 NCAA championship and reached the Final Four three other times. His 23 NCAA Tournament appearances rank third among active coaches.

``As long as kids have dreams, you never know when (a championship) is going to happen,'' Olson said.

The Globetrotters, the fourth team inducted, were honored for their pioneering contributions to the game. Before the team popularized moves such as behind-the-back passes, alley-oops and dribbling between the legs in the 1930s, those moves were considered to be showboating and unacceptable in organized ball. But children who grew up during that era adopted that style of play and, when by the time they became NBA coaches in the 1970s, those moves were considered to be fundamentals of the game.

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Magic Johnson is among five individuals selected Wednesday for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer