Already enshrined in Seattle

Johnson sacrificed his game, his offensive skills, and a pride that helped carry the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1979 championship — the city’s lone major sports title until the WNBA Storm took the championship 25 years later.

The time Johnson spent in Seattle cannot be discounted in adding to his legend. Johnson entered the NBA as a freckled-faced unknown who declared after his junior season from Pepperdine University, a school known more for its picturesque location in Malibu than its basketball team.

The four seasons Johnson played in the Pacific Northwest were filled with triumphant times and humbling moments. He immediately became a salve for the sensation that became Magic Johnson. How a 6-foot-4-inch, 185-pound man could contain a 6-9, 230-pound magician was beyond belief, but Johnson established his reputation as a defender during his time in Seattle.

He called himself a “choke’’ after a 0-for-14 performance against the Washington Bullets in Game 7 of the 1978 NBA Finals. And the next season, he shot 45 percent with 20 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in leading the Sonics to their only title, legitimizing a city that had been abandoned by baseball’s Pilots after one year, while the Mariners and Seahawks were still laughingstocks.

Although the city no longer has the Sonics, losing them in a bungled two-year malady that robbed a 41-year regime in Washington, Johnson’s place in team history is secure and revered. There is a photo of a leaping Johnson, both fists balled, with fierce grin, gold chain dangling, as the Sonics clinched the 1979 NBA title.

There may not be a picture that best describes the pinnacle of Seattle sports. The Seahawks reached Super Bowl XL in 2006, but lost to Pittsburgh, 21-10. The Mariners won a record 116 games in 2001, but lost to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

DJ was Seattle royalty. The cornerstone of an emerging franchise, but just as quickly as Johnson ascended, he clashed with Hall of Fame coach Lenny Wilkens, who labeled Johnson a “cancer’’ in 1980 after the Sonics were eliminated by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals.