Magic Johnson | Ep 165 | ALL THE SMOKE Full Episode | SHOWTIME Basketball

This is Matt Barnes. You're listening to All the Smoke before you dive in. If you want to listen to uninterrupted episodes, you can't unlock ad free listening right now with the subscription of Black Effects Plus. Just click to subscribe at the top of the All the Smoke Show page on Apple Podcasts.

So listen.

We got to rule it All the Smoke. It's a little different than other shows. Jack, what you're drinking? Bite them in water? Make sure there ain't no vodka in there. So we got some different rules here. So if your phone goes off, Jack, what they gotta do?

You have to do cushups?

My brother, please explain to them what cushows.

A cush up is.

You have to put a joint in your mouth and do ten push ups with it. In hell, exit in hell, ex heal. So we tell everyone that just to make sure you turn your phones off.

Yes, we want to make sure we have a great trust me. We don't run out of tree.

About a whole backpack for you. So we're gonna make sure if you don't smoke, and make sure your phone no go off because you're gonna have to smoke, all right, So we here man Man closing out twenty twenty two. It's been a obviously, I'm sure you guys see, my brother Jack lost his youngest brother, Snap Marley, so this show is dedicated to him. We want to make sure we continue to wrap Jack. Jack's one of the most

To Something's interview. M m.

Man. I don't really think he needs an introduction. I mean, what can we say about this guy. I mean, legendary basketball player, legendary businessman, a leader, a pillar in the community, someone that made a lot of us fall in love with basketball at a young age. You know, Magic was the big guard that you know, a lot of us aspire to be like on and off the court.

The only reason I bought Converse, really yeah, I feel he had a.

Purple gold right, I feel you, he said, the only reason. But again, let's welcome to the show. Magic Johnson.

I'm a stand up I'm stand up, stand up, understand up, I under stand up.

So Magic, first and foremost, thank you, because I know you're one of the busiest men in the industry and to give us one of your evenings. We definitely appreciate you for coming out tonight.

Now I want to congratulate both of you on your show.

It's amazing.

And also, you know, my prayers go out to you, brother, and I'm so proud of both of you, you know, for where you're taking your brand. This show is amazing. And have two black men up here doing their thing, and then have me sitting here.

Come on, it's a blessing.

And then DJ in the building. We couldn't make it more la for you guys. I got Madge Johnson and DJ Quick, So I mean, we hope you guys enjoy the night. Man because We're really excited. How's life day to day? What's going on with you right now? Everything is going good. I mean, you know, close out the year strong. We had an unbelievable year as far as my company is concerned. And then health wise, everything's good. The wife is good, the kids are good. So it's

This year? We see magical and the everybody magic is shoot.

Jumpers on his yachtlesk and Wayne's going on walks on his yacht. Oh my god, damn that thing must have.

So you got right to it.

I'm gonna play with your magic. We're gonna we're gonna talk after about that, not forgot to make a trip. So so Lebron is in a unique situation.

Uh.

He just passed you on the all time assist lead uh list, and there's a possibility he can pass Kareem in the same year. Can you explain obviously the historical significance, but the accomplishment that it is for someone who is you know, I think a.

Lot of you. He's got a lot.

Of you and him, But what kind accomplishment is to pass you in the assist lead? And although we'll talk about it later, if you would have got a full run, I think you would have put the assist bar so high that no one could even sniff it. But just Lebron's greatness and the longevity of Lebron.

Well, I think that's the key. Right. He's been doing it since eighteen.

Years old and at a high level, and still even today, still playing at that high level. But what I really love about Lebron is his basketball IQ and the fact that he makes his teammates better, right, and he puts them on his back, and he can will his team to victory, both whether he's scoring or his passing ability

Right.

It's only a few guys who have played this game that still have a major impact long after their career, and Lebron would be one of those guys. And so I'm proud of him because also too. He's built not only his brand on the court, but he's built the brand off the court. He's brought his guys along with him, Rich Paul and Maverick, and they've done a wonderful job with his business.

And so, and he always lend his voice.

Especially to causes that affect whether it's athletes or the black community. He always stands up and tell people what's right or wrong, or what they're doing, what we should be doing to affect change in our community.

You gotta respect that most guys that's the face of the league don't even dare to jump in that category.

He wants to know they always worry about their brand, or they're gonna lose endorsements, or what people gonna say. And so he's never been affected by those things.

Front Office twenty seventeen nine. Team, you stepped away, obviously, because I've heard you speak that you felt like you didn't have the power you needed to really make the moves you wanted to move make. But you said you had a few regrets about the way you left. Can you speak to those regrets and what they were?

Yeah, Matt, you know I had convinced Lebron to sign with the Lakers had a great conversation.

How did you do that? Though?

So what's the secret?

Especially after we were losing?

Right when I took over the Lakers, I said, in two years, Lebron was going to be a free agent. We were well over the salary cap. So I had to get us up under the salary cap by trading a couple guys. And so I knew when I had that meeting with him and Rich Paul here in Los Angeles, I knew what he wanted, right.

I knew he wanted to win number one, but number two.

I knew los Angeles he could live and live free, and drive around and live a life that he wanted to live that he couldn't live in Cleveland, right or Miami because everybody's on top of him. And I think because we have so many celebrities here, he can fit right on ind So I told him, I'm gonna build a team that's gonna win a championship, no question about it. But also too, he's going to build a billion dollar business here off the court because we love our celebrities

And then we.

Often because I heard it really came down to the wire. You guys literally almost had Kawhi.

Oh, I would have had Kawhi. I would have to look when I come in, was a deal?

Come on, man, it's.

It's magic.

Man.

Listen, man, I do my homework, my research. So when I get you in that room, so I already know what you want, and I'm gonna just lay it out to you, right And so I knew what Lebron wanted.

I laid it out to him. He bought into it.

I would have known what Kawhi wanted. I would have laid it out to him as well. And then we're gonna go in and win.

And can you imagine can you imagine Lebron, A d and Kawhi.

That's like cut it out.

Understanding him giving a pitch to come this team him.

That's I'm talking to magic. I'm just signing, like I could all hear you talking, gonna talk to me.

I'm in let me get some of that business with you, and I signed anything. Lansing, Michigan, six siblings.

I know what it's like.

Having mother and father work hard jobs just to just to give you an opportunity to be great.

That's right, talking about growing up a Linsen.

Yeah, my father worked for General Motors for thirty years. He won an award for never missing a day and never being late. So I was I'm built just like it, right, same thing.

So because you know that, because you know they say cep time.

The upright, you know we got our all.

Time, so for brother will be on time.

And to do it for thirty years, right.

So my mother worked for the school cafeteria, so you know they stressed education. You know, they told me, listen, I want you to be great on that basketball court, but I want you to be smart, right, So you got to get the grades. If you don't get those grades, you can't pluck. So I made sure that I applied myself in the books. But also at the same time, when you have that many siblings, man, it was a.

Trip, right.

Everybody else had a bike in the neighborhood. And I wanted a bike, and my father was like, m because if I buy one, I got a bikeybody.

I got six kids to be sharing. He's gonna ride the bike on Monday, Tuesday exactly, even.

If I got to change the seat color, make it.

But I tell you what he did to me, man, He said, but I think I got something that can help you get a bike. So let me take you out to the garage right quick. So he took me out to the garage and he said, let me introduce you to three people you need to meet. I said, okay, cool, that's mister Linemore, that's mister Ray, and that's mister Sheppard.

Pick one of them tunes up and go make you some money and buy you a bike.

And sure enough, that's what I did. And so my father always stretched to me. Anything I was going to achieve in life, I was gonna have to work for it. So I'm I'm a worker, man. I love the work. I go to bed early, like this is late for me. So I did this for you guys because I love you guys so much. Right now, yeah, I'm eight thirty and I'm out. I'm up at four o'clock every morning. I trained for two hours, one with the waste our cardio,

See.

That's what I do. I make money when people sleeping, see. And that's what we have to get into. And so for me, ain't nothing happening good for me at after eight thirty. Something may happen good for everybody else, but not for me. I'm going to sleep so I can get ready for my full day the next day.

Ain't too much open after eight thirty. I know that line just for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I grew up.

There's a guy named Lee Harmesy used to call me Young Matt because I was a young kid. I used to play with the older kids and I was able to pass at.

A young age. I had to feel for the game. Yeah.

We had Chauncey Billups, we had Jason Kidd come on the show, and they all idolized you just like we did. How does it feel for so many players to come up with so many legends of the.

Game, to say where it started? With Magic Johnson? In my career. Well, it feels great.

I mean, I just tried to play the game the right way, man, and I love passing that basketball, man and having it.

In my hands.

I love controlling the action right and so being a leader of every team I played on, the only thing I wanted to do, man, was win.

That's it. I just wanted to win.

And so nothing in my life has changed. I still want to win today, and I still I'm still the point guard, but I'm just the point guard in my company instead of out on the court. But I would say this, I love the game. So I played all the time, and I think that you and I you se l A, you know, we had so many we don't get.

To the way you used to do us and you La, We're gonna get that a little later.

But I think those guys are great, and that's why I love j Kidd.

I love all of them. You know. You know, Paul used to shoot them jumpers.

So but you know it's all about to love now, you know, and to it. So you know, when you love the game and and that becomes contagious to guys coming behind me, that's a blessing. And that means that they respect the way I played.

And then look what happened.

To those two guys that you talked about. You know, they became champions and guys who made their teammates better.

What I loved about.

Both of you you had, You excelled at the roles that you both had. Yeah, because san Antonio wouldn't been able to do what they did without you.

See what you did, what you did, and.

You you bought that swag and that that street and then you were killing him with that jumper. Jack wasn't playing boy, And then when he got rolling, he gave you that look like go ahead, I'm over here, blessing like the two years and then Matt just lock you all up and stuff block your side and look at you like, come on, yeah, I got you.

I'm locking you down.

And so you know, when you all we all just do what we do, right and so and then when kids see that, they said, wow, okay, I want to be like him, And young people are watching YouTube now saying wow, especially I hate to bring color in, but it's true.

Black men now know they can do what you're doing. Tell her own stories. You see what I'm saying.

And so you're opening up this whole path for first former athletes, Yes they can go from the court to what you're doing.

Then those who are at home saying, man.

Ize these two guys even more now because they played basketball. But now look what they're doing, and now I know I can do.

It as well. So that's a blessing.

Well, I think too, because life after basketball back in your day, back when we first started, was a mystery. Yes, I know, business wasn't cool to talk about. We didn't talk about investments or anything. Nothing about the four oh one k it was. It was a lot of guys once they've done the dibit, you know, acquired addictions and lost their money. To be able to transition from sports.

A lot of stuff changed too. When we were able to say Magic's a billionaire. Like as a.

Basketball player, we would felt like we would you know what I mean, It can happen now because Magic done it, you know what I mean. So you really gave us the ability to even fight for it because you believe it. Everything you was dealing with, you still made it happen.

So that's a testament to you. Thank you, because a lot of people don't.

Go through nothing and can't pay a bill. You making stuff happen. Well, you you you giving us hope as a as a as a culture.

You know, a lot of.

Basketball players when we say this all the time, we happened here because we wasn't all stars, we wasn't on the commercials, but in this space, we feel like we'd all starts.

Right.

So but not only that, when we got guys like Paul and KG giving us our profits like it means something to us. But it started with to be able to say it's a basketball player that we looked up to as a billionaire.

Well, you know, listen, I broke a lot of barriers and went through a lot of doors.

But also too, it was.

A hardship to that too, right, And so when I first got started, a lot of people didn't loan me money or give me opportunities because I was a basketball player or I was a six or nine black man. So I had to prove to them that I did no business. And I finally got my track record of success and a lot.

Of meetings I took.

They were in there snickering and laughing because they knew they weren't gonna give me money, but they wanted everything that came with magic, the picture.

Would you say something to my.

Son and that whole thing, and then turned you down at the end of it, right, But I said, you know what, I'm a fighter man, I'm from the hood, so I'm gonna keep getting up until you know I make it happen.

So I made it happen.

And now we do know that we can be successful out here, right, and you two are proving that, and there's others doing the same thing. We just got to make sure that we're dedicated with focus and not let anybody or anything stop our dreams and our goals. And that's why I love this is first class. Everything you're doing right now first class. That's how we got to do it. We got to do it first class.

Y'all give yourself a random plug legends some time back of legends.

So winning, winning has always been a part of your DNA.

Only winning high school, champion, college, McDonald's, All American, and Michigan State.

So this is the question I got to ask, how many bags were thrown.

At you when you went to Michigan State. A lot of people offer me money. I knew, I knew bags though, Oh they were big bags.

And you know what, my father, he always gave me life lessons. So here I am. He said, we're not taking no money. I said, okay, cool. So I decided to stay close to home because my mother and father and all my brothers and sisters had never missed none of my games, and I wanted that to continue. And I'm a mama's boy, so I loved my mother, so I wasn't giving up her fried chicken and none of the other stuff she.

Brought to the table. Them hugs. Right.

So my freshman year, we win the Big Ten, go all the way to the final eight, Kentucky beat US. Kansas City had the number one pick, so they called me and said, hey, we want to draft you number one Kings. Yeah, they were Kansas City Kings at that time. So I flew down and met with the dude named Joel Akason, the general manager, and he said, hey, I'm gonna want to give you a six year deal, two hundred thousand a year. So you know, I got excited.

And so.

I got I jumped up, said oh, I think that's good. My father grabbed me and he pulled me, drugged me outside the door. He said, hold on, we'll be right back. He said, you've been broke for eighteen years. You can be broke one more year. I said, yes, sir, so you're going back to school. So I went back to school, and I'm glad I did because I finished what I came to college for, which was to win the national championship and play against Larry Bird and the unbelievable final, the most.

Watched college championship ever.

That's right to this day still the most watched. And so to be link with this dude, who you know?

You said? Man? First?

When I first met him, I said, all right, I must see this dude. This white cat can really.

Go is always I don't white boys all respects always, it's respect.

This ain't nothing bad, So I said, let me see what he can do.

But Larry had something that most white boys don't have.

They say that man different. Now at very different. Now, that boy he could play man. He turned it out.

We played on a team in college, uh in a tournament together. This is the first time I ever sat on the bench. Him and I were on the bench and we were like, the guys in front of us wasn't better than us. But Kentucky head coach was coaching the team, so he started three guys from Kentucky stealth. But when we got in the game, we turned it out. But I saw this dude eat Jack Givings up.

He was player of the year that year Kentucky.

Yes from Kentucky, and Larry Bird was just slicing them, dicing them.

And I said, I called home.

I said, it's true about this boy.

Dude can play.

So that was my first time seeing him, and then to be out on the court with him in college for that national championship game. And then of course what happened in the NBA. But I would say that we got a chance to change the league. You know what, what a blessing it was. He ended up in Boston, and then I ended up out here. My personality was La Hollywood. His personality was Boston and it worked for the whole league, you know.

So everything was good.

So number one overall, picking the seventy ninth draft to the Lakers. So you spend your first twenty years in Michigan and then you come out here outside of basketball, like, talk to us about La and was it a culture shock?

What kind of what was it? When you I mean, look at he's sliding. It was definitely a shock. Trust me.

First of all, I was scared to death coming out here. I stayed in my apartment.

For the first two years because.

I've come from a small town, and so my first two years I concentrated on really letting people know that my game was real, because listen, it's hard to come to a city like Los Angeles, and all the pressure was already on me because we had won the championship. I'm the number one pick, so I gotta I gotta make sure I proved to everybody that I belong in

It's a different life. I'm gonna tell you something.

We're starting to sweat.

Up and let me say, remember when we played in the old Forum with Don Nelson. Yeah, we walked through the halls of Don Nelson say, well, if these walls guitar, if.

These god man that Forum club, it would never be nothing like that ever.

Again.

Yeah, that was before a cell phone media. We do a lot of stuff because nobody would.

But we had a good time. We had a good time, and uh, I enjoyed myself. But I would say this focused first on winning. We were able to accomplish that, and then we partied after that.

So but it was a great time. I'm glad I ended up here. It's been a beautiful, beautiful relationship. Magic in LA and go together. It's anonymous.

Yeah, anonymous your rookie year. Go to the finals first, doctor J. You're able to beat them finals MVP as a rookie.

But before we get.

To the final center, before we get to that final experience, doctor J, is someon when you looked up to I heard in college he kind of rolled out the red carpet to you explain that story about doctor J.

Yeah.

So I was leaving school and I called him up and so he said hey.

I said, hey, what is it like leaving? You left?

So I want you to tell me what it's like for me to leave Michigan State early. And so he was explaining to me on the phone, and then he said, I'm gonna do you one better fly out to Philly and hang out with me for the weekend.

I said, what, no, Doc, that's the doc.

This is doctor saying a young fellow can come hang with him. And he put me up at his crib at the big mansion a limo and a brother was like, oh, show, I'm calling everybody.

I'm with doctor J at his house. And so you know, I'm sitting there, living in the living room.

And he's talking to me and I'm just zoning out, like I can't even believe it. I've always had docs on, So now I'm with him. Oh it was crazy, man. So we hung out the whole weekend. Wife took great care of me as well. Or went to a couple of playoff games he was in the playoffs. He gave me some great advice and then here is seven months later, I'm playing the brother in the NBA finals, my idol, I'm playing him in the NBA Finals, and so we so I said, man, I love you, but I gotta

Damn, I said, oh oh man.

And then the other one was he came down the right side and he jumped out of bounds and he started walking.

The finger roll yeah, in the air, and the fro.

Fro going back, bunting against the glasses.

Good.

I said, man, this dude is too much. Man. See he was doing that George Shep before Michael. People forget that. Yeah, he was the first dude walking in the air. Oh man.

It was so much fun playing against Die and that we won.

But talk about talk about yourself a little bit because Kareem went down. You're a rookie twenty years old years in the NBA finals, the only first, the only rookie to ever win finals, MVP. Talk to these people that didn't follow the game back then and what it was like and the numbers you put up.

Slid to the center though center from point go out to center.

Well you know again, man, I So he gets Kareem gets hurts it in game five and so I get to the airport. Everybody head is down because Kareem can't play. I said, so what Kareem can't play, We're still gonna win, right And they looked at me like rookie, go sit down. We can't beat Philadelphia without Kareem.

I said, man, we're gonna win this game, and they was like, we can't do it. Irvan, I said, so I gotta do something, Matt, I said, I got to do something and get these guys going.

So Kareem would always sit in one A that was his seat. So I asked a flight attendant could I go on the plane first. So I went and sat in Kareem seat, and as every Laker came by, I said, never fear magic is me.

They were like this do it is crazy? So they laugh.

So I had five hours all the way flight from LA to Philadelphia to work on that mindset and attitude.

Because ladies and gentlemen, if you don't think you're gonna win, I'm alry not gonna win. Over it's over.

So I told him, Man, we're gonna win this game. And so I told the coach I'm gonna play center. He was like, he was like, he looked at me.

Like, yeah, have you ever played center? I said, yeah, I played center in high school. He said, man, that was two or three years ago.

I said, I'm gonna play center tomorrow against Codwell Jones. So long story short, you know, I scored forty two points, fifteen rebound, seven assistsound, winning the game, and it was a blessing to him. To be named NBA Most Vava Player the Finals was a true blessing.

But to win the game, yes, again, first and foremost. All the other stuff don't matter, right, just win the game.

So we won the championship. So that was my first one. And then I became the third guy ever in NBA history college come out of college.

That's right, to go back to back.

So it's a bit a blessing, a lot of history.

Talk to us about you're in Cream's relationship at the beginning, because obviously the energy you carry, he was more reserved, quiet to himself. I remember he hit the game winner and you jumped on him and he got mad. But talk to us because you came and brought a different energy to this team, high fiving and out there about it. How long did it take Cream to adjust to what you were selling?

Yeah, it took him all season that first year. First of all, they thought I was coming in to take over the team, and I told him on first day at training camp, I said, listen, man, I'm here.

To help you.

I said, where do you like the ball? He said what I said, what do you like the ball? I said, you like it high? You like it in the middle of your chest.

You like it low?

He said, no, I like it high. I said, that's where it'll be every single time. I said, I'm here to help you be more successful. So that first game, he hits a sky hook from the free throw line, now not from down low, from the free throw line to win the game in San Diego. So I go running, I jump and I'm hold choking them and hugging them. And I didn't let go for about two or three minutes because I've never seen a shot like that game when a shot like that. So he got me to the locker room.

Rookie, come here, don't ever do that. We have eighty one more games to go.

We can't be this high after game one, so all the players now are looking So now I gotta make a noncision.

That's right.

So everybody's looking at me in the locker room, like what you're gonna do, rookie. So I turned around, said, you hit a shot like that eighty.

One more time. You know he's taller than me. I'm gonna jump in your arms eighty one more time.

And that showed him that I wasn't gonna change. You can't intimidate me, and I wasn't gonna change be who I am while I let you.

Be who you are. So them first fifty games, you know, all the other fellas we high five and chest.

Bump and we having fun. He would score just one down.

We scored each other about the right.

When the playoffs started, he did a hard dunk on somebody, so he came out looking for somebody.

He wanted.

We were like, oh, So it was a beautiful thing man to see him enjoy hisself. So what did he say to me? Just recently had to we had to showtime reunion in Hawaii? He said, Irvan, you showed me that I could show my emotion and.

Enjoy it the game. You changed me. So that was a beautiful thing. Man.

So two titles in three years, pat Riley at the Helm, you faced bird three out of four years right there in the finals. Talk to us about that, and then a double ended question, where did the phrase showtime come from? So first two, two titles and three years.

Yeah, we were you know, the Lakers.

I tell you it was just beautiful because we had everything we needed. You know, when you think about we had Norm Nixon was the other guard. Jamal Wilkes was a small forward my first year. Jim Chones was a power forward with Kareem at center. That unit was, man, just fantastic.

When we won that.

Second one, here come James Worthy coming in, it.

Was just beautiful. We all played our role.

Michael Cooper was such a big played a big role in US winning because Coop could have started for any team in the league, could have started for any team, and he decided that six man row was great for him and he would shut everybody's whoever the high score was on the opponent's team, he would take him and really shut him down.

So, uh, we just played so well together and.

We were running and so showtime came in because man I was coming down that fast breakdown and man, I get the no looking left right, throwing it between my legs, behind my back.

And then you know the brothers Byron Duncan, James Duncan, Kareem Duncan, and.

The people would just go crazy because I told him, I said, listen, when I give it to you, I did my part.

I got them up out their seats.

See, I got them up out their seat.

Now you gotta do the rest.

Now, if you don't do the rest, I ain't gonna give it to you.

No.

So them brother said, we got it. We got it Ard that you used to call me buck. They Buck, we got it.

So they go in.

I said, once I give it to it, then they were finishing. Man, that people would go crazy. That's where Showtime came in.

You know.

It was a show within the game, and they started calling us the Showtime Lakers and it was beautiful.

I mean, obviously Hollywood Showtime, it's fitting. But also the Laker girls, they kind of changed the game for cheerleaders or whatever you want to call them. Polab Duel was a superstar, but she started as a Laker girl. Speak to their significance in I guess we call it cheerleading for the NBA because.

They were the ship Yes, and doctor Bush created all of that. Doctor Buss was a visionary who was a guy who thought outside the box. And so he said, you know what, I want to show the Yes to be the team, but we got.

To create entertainment.

I'm in the entertainment entertainment capital of the world, so I want more happening doing the game. So that's when he had the young ladies come out and start dancing Paul Abdu of course, and then that just turned in to something really spal and I mean it was just it was just beautiful. Then he had Hugh Hefner come and all the ladies was in lace and you know, the playmates focus.

I mean, I tell people, I mean, I won a championship, will go to state. But there's nothing in the world like being a Laker. When you just sit on the bench sometimes and look in the crowd, you'll see.

Anybody, anybody and anything anything.

I made sure I had thirty every time I played the Lakers.

I mean, it's no place like it's still nothing like going to a Laker game, you know. And so doctor Bustdoll created all of that, and he was a genius to buy the form the Lakers and the King for sixty five million dollars and now that team.

Is worth four or five billion dollars.

That's crazy, right, And so you got to give him credit, and then Genie credit right now for carrying on his his dream and what he started.

Agreed with all that success, here comes the Pistons and the Bulls. What was it like battled against Isaiah Michael?

Those were.

The Pistons were probably one of the best defensive teams that probably played in the fire.

There was physical That's why they were so physical.

But long when you have people like Dennis and John Sally, I mean, you get past you might get past Joe Dumar, but you got both of them to get Lambert and Lambierd he would just slam you, I mean just to follow you. And that three guard combination of Isaiah, Joe Dumars, and Vinnie Johnson was unbelievable. And so wa we won one series against them, and then in eighty eight, and then they came back and beat us in eighty nine, and then Michael, it was their turn. We were on

So we just had a recent debate on our show. It was brought up by Freddi Gibbs. I don't you were part of a dynasty? Was the Pistons team of dynasty?

When you went back to back?

You gotta say, if they're not a dynasty, they're close to it, right, because is.

It three times?

Eli? Is it three?

Isn't multiple? Yeah, there's nothing in the rule book that determines what a dynasty is.

Yeah, yeah, that was a real day.

I guess it's up to every individual to say what they think a dynasty is. But let me tell you something, winning back to back.

Is very difficult, Yes, very difficult.

So give them a lot of credit going back to back and showing people that they were as good as advertised. So, especially with Isaiah's.

Leadership when every time they do a top seventy five or bring all the top players together, it's obvious that you are the glue. Everybody comes around you.

Magic.

It seemed like you keep everything together, like even all the older guys, Like everybody's around you. You got everybody laughing. You just the life of the party. What's your take on the back and forth with Isaiah and Mike right now?

I don't like it right. I think they should be done with that. Listen, we played. When we played, we all had to dislike each other to win a championship. We all had to do what we had to do. But now what Michael is doing, Uh, it's incredible to be an owner in the NBA.

To his shoe is still number one. I mean, you can.

Put all those guys shoes sells together. They can't even mess with Michael Jordan's shoes and so.

And then Isaiah is a businessman.

Himself, one exactly all the things that he's doing.

So why why are we still living in the past.

Yes, I think only Magic can fix that ship.

Well, I'm definitely gonna try because they should be look up to both of them.

We look up to both of them.

Yeah, and they're my boys, right right, So I guess I'm gonna have to be the one to bring them together because.

Culture, we want to see Zezeke and Mike somewhere having to drink together.

Man for the culture. There you go, there, you go, there, you enjoy there.

Yeah, nineteen ninety one, your career was halted, but you just the odds played then All Star Game, helped the Dream Team win the goal, which was unbelievable. You know, we taking our hats off to you many times, but this was just the ultimate.

What was your mental during that time?

Yeah, you know, when you go through a life threatening situation, it definitely changes you. I'm always an up guy. That

With Larry and Michael, just one time.

And now I get a chance to represent the country play on the dream team, play with Michael, make a pass to him, make a pass to Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin Stockton.

So it was really amazing for me to be able to be on that team and.

Us crush everybody by over forty two game and I think open the game up absolutely all the international players.

That's right.

It became a global game after that, so it was.

A true blessing.

And also to it, it helped me understand that I was going to be here a long time.

What were those practices like, I mean you hear you see docuseries and docs they say, that's kind of when you handed the torch over to Mic. Because I'm sure you guys got more out of the practices than you got out of.

The game playing. You're right, we practiced, man.

When you got that, you got ten egos out on that court like in the world, Yes, going at each other every single day.

So one game he decided.

To say, okay, the East versus the West, So all the East guys Jordan, Pipping, Bird, Barkley and Ewing bad and then all the West guys my Loan Robinson h Drexler Mullin and stocked him. So we all played against each other. So we were man. We were going at each other and talking stuff. So Charles Barkley took malone one time and he scored. I said, come on, Carl, you got to get his ass back.

On that block and get him back, so I threw it to him. He scored. They come back, they scored, We scored.

So we were talking stuff. So finally we got on a little run. So we scored about eight in a row. They didn't score time out, so Michael walking back. I don't usually talk trash, but I had to that time.

So I said, Michael, if you don't turn into air Jordan, we're gonna blow y'all out.

Man. He started sweating. That tongue went long. You know where that tongue comes over. It's the problem.

He about he about to do something.

That dude came out that time out. He scored about four straight threes and I went, oh, man.

Then he came down. I gotta show you this one.

Hurt herself.

I won't hurt myself out. So he stole the basketball.

He coming down the right side, he takes off, David Robinson coming this way.

So Mike just coughed and he just looked at it in the air and he kept looking. He kept looking, he kept looking. He went all the way down. Jack, he did a three sixty. Man. I said, that's it. That's it. It's over. That's him, it's over now.

That's so.

So he just looked at me too to let me.

Know I'm coming.

Your father, you know who got me to do this? You.

So we got upstairs and Larry Bird not sitting down.

So he come in with his cigar, got his dream.

So how old is he right now? He's twenty six?

When he said, yeah young, you know. Yeah, So I just want you all to know that's a new sheriff in time.

Yeah.

He says, it's my league.

Now you had your term, Larry Bird, you had your term.

Now it was my league. I love and we all bowed down. Yeah, I love it.

It wasn't never a time were you and MJ even thought about trying to play together.

Nothing ever.

No, it wasn't like that, you know what, I was wanting to compete.

Yeah, I wasn't a guy like that. Yeah, I never wanted to play with nobody but my dudes. Yeah, I was good and.

I've always been a dude wherever I end up. That's why I'm rolling, you know. And so uh even pick up games. I never tried to get all the name dudes. I tried to just get dudes who want to play. Yeah, let's go, let's go. I like that underdog thing. Anyway, come on, let's go beat these dudes over here. And so that was always my mindset, and and I'm glad, but I would say this, that's what makes sports.

Special, right.

Competitiveness Yeah, yeah, not you know, everybody joining each other, you know, go make it happen. If you the best, you're going, you got to go up against them guys anyway.

Period. Forgive me.

I just flew in and I worked out this morning set. I just trained, been hydrated.

Let me pee.

Give me two seconds, right back. It's two minutes, y'all talking about yourself, right back. I've been holding this shit in for thirty minutes.

Give me two minutes, I me right back. I love it.

I love it, Jack, I love it. That's why your show, that's why your show is.

A big Anything can happened. Nothing he does surprises me. Nothing he does surprise me. Bro, Hey, I didn't see you over here. That's a boy. How you feeling, baby? Everything straight?

See, let me thank you for coming. So while you're here, come on, pete, everybody get around a.

Closs and Paul pill for two.

Then a little it on up the tubers in the cilding, burning my mic, give me give my money.

All right, hold on, I'm gonna say just one story.

Tell him when you took over the best Johnson gain.

South.

No, look quick, this is when when we talking about the us LA pickup runs. So this is when Magic was retired and Matt played up there in college. Magic used to come up there with his own team. He bring his own five, a bunch of old dudes.

He was tired. I'm a young dude in the league. I'm a rookie.

So he never I never seen him lose a game and a pick of runs. And this is Magic about ten years retired already. So he come. I'm guarding him in the post. The game is tied up six six, we go on to seven. I'm like, all right, I got Magic, Magic, go up shoot the hook. I challenge the shot. He missed the hook, We get the rebound. Throw it ahead, we score game over. Magic looked down like, no, no, that don't count.

That's a foule. He brings out, he said, brings down back. They looked at me. You look at me like you know, like you know, that's a foul on your collar. How gonna touch them?

They put the ball in to get the ball back of the post, shoot the hook and win the game.

I ain't no way you can be master. Now, Hey, where are you going? Where you go? Where you're going?

So so so you were all my little brothers, right, so Paul, Reggie Miller, all the guys playing up there, Oh yeah, my main man. And so I always told them I'm gonna teach them one thing, and that's to understand that everything is not gonna go that way in the league. So the reason I called that fiule was to make him stronger at the end of the day, right right right, and Randie yourself, everybody remember all them stories.

And so we we we used to love. Man, those games and those pick up games are legendary. Will never be anything like that ever again.

And man, remember people had to set out, couldn't even play sometime.

Come on, man, yeah, I like that.

I heard you'll can you check check?

You said she didn't walked up here.

Paul end up taking over Magic's game.

That's right, don't stop. They've been there.

Let me and I get invited to the Magic Johnson Classic after he didn't patches to him and beat.

Yeah, this way it went.

It went from a celebrity game in the in the staples. Yep, everybody's there, players having a.

Good time, gatorade on the sideline.

So when I'm there and they in control of it, all the players got double cup with back on them on the sideline.

Everybody's drinking back on the side. Thank you. Yes, it was a good two year round. I supposed to come after Magic. Yeah you steel the man? Oh my god, I heard.

I mean obviously Paul told you stories. This is what this is me again, idolizing this man coming to college that just turned eighteen, and Magic is playing pickup games with us. But I quickly learned you can never beat Manic. Bring it was, bring it back, you feel contastic, play good defense and not phallum. But if it's point game, you're never gonna score that point.

Ever, But you know what, that's every O g everything right every night.

At some point you just stopped getting At some point, you just stopped getting mad.

Hold on, hold on. So now I'm not playing no more. I'm on the sideline. Guess who calling all the fouls?

And Reggie, I mean, those are some legendary games. I mean talking about there's rumors that you know, Will came up there one time and you guys were talking ship back and forth and listen, we had you see, like summer runs were different.

Great player came to you still later play, Moses Malone, you name it. They all came up, Dominique, Isaiah, Marco, you name him.

They all came to run.

And I remember a Keem came and a Keem was late, and you know, we had a rule, you can't come after a certain time.

You can't get on a team. Because it was so many NBA players.

That's a king though, So I know that's what everybody said.

To right, And I said, man, I'm sorry, man, they already got all the teams and we're playing.

Man, do you know he got so mad the next day he came, Remember he blocked He must have blocked about twenty shots. I mean, he just was so upset.

He said, Magic, I just want to play and you didn't that be played, So he just dominated the action. I mean, that's that's how great it was pickup games back in the day.

So we better get back to this jungle talking about this all.

Transitioning from basketball. You end up calling it quits in ninety six and transitioning into business, and your focus was investing black and you know, revitalizing communities. Before we get into that, talked to us about some of your mentors, because you had mentors that were kind of running the game and how important that was to your success after basketball.

Well, Matt, you know, listen, I knew basketball, but I didn't know business. So I wanted to make sure I surrounded myself with people who knew business that could teach me business. So doctor Jerry Buss later only the Lakers became my first mentor, Michael Ovitz, all these different men, Howard Scholzer, Starbucks became my mentors because I wanted to pick their brain on what made them successful so I could get that knowledge and then build my businesses in the black community.

So they gave me the knowledge that I needed so that.

Then I could take it to the hood, yes, and build my business, but also put people of color to work. Once I got all the information that I needed, I started with the number one thing that we were doing back then with our family, which was going to the movies. So I did a deal with Sony and I built Magic Johnson Theaters. Because I did the research, we were the number one group of people going to the movies, but there were no movies in our movie theaters in

Theater I built, and I knew then. I said, oh, I'm gonna be successful.

And so after that success, I went up to Seattle and told Howard Shows that black people we like coffee.

Too, right, and we loved we like coffee too, and so.

I said, let's build some Starbucks in our community. And sure enough, we did a deal that's still unbelievable today where he allowed me to build one hundred and twenty five Starbucks in forty different markets across the United States, proving people wrong because everybody thought it wouldn't work in the black community.

And we proved everybody wrong. It did work.

I made some little tweaks to the desserts because we don't eat scone.

So I took the stones out and put in peace cobbles.

That resonate with our community. And sure enough, it wasn't just for the Starbucks. It also became a meeting place in the black community. We didn't have meeting places in our community where we can meet our friends, or our mothers could meet her girlfriend and so on, and so Starbucks became a meeting place and it was beautiful.

Man.

So that's what jump started my business career. And so sure enough it took off from there.

One business deal that didn't come to fruition for you, Nike. You offered the Nike deal and today the estimated worth would have been five point two billion. I mean, you're doing fine, but talks us about that Nike situation though the reason why you changed.

Thanks a lot, Matt.

He's still.

Yeah.

So here, I am just win in the national Championship against Larry Bird, and three companies came in, so Converse, Adidas, and Nike. Nike was just a year or two old, and so Converse offered me the most money.

So you know, when you grow up, you take the money.

So Phil Knight came in and said, hey, I can't offer you the same type of money, but I can offer you stock.

Was trying to hear that then. I wasn't trying then, and I didn't know nothing about it. And my family didn't come for money.

See that's one thing that hurt us sometimes when you don't come from money, you don't know what.

I didn't even know what stocks was at.

That time, right, so I passed on the stocks. Can you imagine forty five years.

Five billion dollars stock would have been worth today.

But like Jackson, the reason, yeah, this is to be You're the reason why we wore Converse though, because I got me a pair of magics too. But like no one would have touched converse I got.

From.

But let me say this.

You know when you don't know something, that's okay. It's when you know and then you mean you mistake. But I'm also a guy who never looks back. I live in the moment.

See.

I hate people who talk about what happened thirty years ago, or I used to have it going.

On, what are you doing now? It's about what you're doing now? See.

And so I'm a person who live in a moment, and I'm always moving forward, always moving forward. And if something happened to me that wasn't good, I leave it in the past and I keep moving forward, see it.

And so that's who I am.

So they're telling us our time. Can we get I know it's past your bedtime. Can we get fifteen one?

We got it?

Just a couple of war. Okay, we're gonna get through this. Okay, Well, shout out to legends. Obviously, you're one of the greatest legends. I'm gonna name some legends right now and talk to us about each one of these individuals. Kobe Bryant, oh.

Special, special on the court, special off the court, Kobe changed the game, man, Kobe changed.

Los Angeles to NBA.

He would work out with anybody, high school, young lady, young man.

He worked my tweens out.

Yeah.

He loved the game like we all loved it. He was twenty four to seven involved. So we missing even today. So we should clap for no one.

Rest in peace of it to our brother coch absolutely Muhammad Ali Man, he.

Was special, become my father. We used to go to the theater before they had paid per view, they had that other thing.

Closed circuit, so we used to We used to go to the theater to watch Ali fight or listen to it on the radio with my father. And the first thing I always wanted to do when I finally signed my contract with the Lakers was to go to an

It was amazing. This one right here.

Talk to us about the pajama parties that Prince used to throw into Magic Johnson Theater.

Matt, you brought up something body brings up. Man. So I'm at the crib.

Here we go, and my phone and my phone ring and I said, hello, Magic, this is Prince.

I said, the Prince. Prince, Prince, and he said yeah. I said, what's up?

He said, Man, I want to come to your movie theater about two am in the morning, I said, Prince, we close at two am. He said, I know, that's why I want to come, and I want to bring my own people to the theater. And I said, okay, let me make this happen.

So we get to the theater.

He has a big bus and they all are in pajamas, right, and he got to drink, he got everything.

They go in.

We had the popcorn, everything, and we just let him have it. Man, And he stayed there till four or five in the morning watching movies. It was so much fun. He just kept calling me, kept doing it.

But you know what was cool.

My greatest thrill was going on tour with him, and then going on tour with Michael Jackson.

Wow. Man, I went on tour with Michael. It's different, right twice.

And so we have the last two floors of the hotel so they could run around and play and have fun. Right, So the limos go out, so it's thousands of women screaming out front. So when the limos pull out, they all think we in the limos, So all the girls start chasing the limbos down the street. So we would go down the elevator and get in some white vans. Nobody even knew.

Where we're in the buns.

Right we pull up, they already dressed and ready to go on stage. And man, that's where I decided I had to be even better as a basketball player.

Michael Jackson, It's never been nobody like him. This dude would be in a.

Mirror for two hours just working on his moves and it was unbelievable.

So that was one of my greatest moments.

Torn with him, and then torn with friends and seeing how they just turned it out.

Unbelievable. Get myself back together. Talking about the Kobe stuff kind of took me.

Yeah, you experienced some of the highs and the lows, but you prevailed through it all. If it's one thing that you could, oh some advice that you can give anybody in here about life and dealing with ups and downs, what would it be.

Jack I think you're gonna have ups and downs in life, right, It's how you deal with them, how you come through them. I'm a guy who just meets things head on, and then I don't make excuses. You know, I'm accountable for everything I've ever done, and so if it's my fault, I'm gonna tell you it's my fault. I'm not a guy like I said, who make excuses? So I would say, you know, just focus on getting better. Like my whole

And if we can do that, then we're gonna be okay.

And even when that bad time come, we'll handle it and then we'll move on, you know, cause it's gonna come. Disappointment always comes, change always comes, but it's how we deal with it, right, And so I've always been a guy just meeting head on and just keep.

Moving, you know.

I mean both of you have been through something, but look where you are now, right And the George Floyd thing, what you did, let's give.

Him a hand man, because well Steven did for that.

You are a true leader and made us all take notice and make us all get involved.

And that's what I love about you, you know.

And so the things you've been dealing with, see you talk about me, You've been dealing with something. Your brother just passed and you're still sitting here.

See that.

That's that shows a sign of strength. And we know your heart is heavy, but you still coming to work. You still grinding, You're still doing.

What you have to do. See that's that's a that's a blessing. So always remember this. Somebody is watching. See somebody is watching. Somebody is watching, and that's either your friends, your kids.

See see for black men, it's so important that we excel because somebody at home is watching.

See our little men are are watching.

And so it's a blessing when my kids tell me, Dad, I'm only successful because I saw you, So that makes me feel good.

My daughter got her own eyewear line, but she said, you taught me that I could do this, and so that's a beautiful thing. See.

So again we're doing it. We're doing it, man. And you got big boy sitting here. And I saw him be number one in this market. And then he went simulcast one of the first dudes, I mean to take a show nationwide, worldwide.

I mean he go to Japan.

They go crazy as what it's about.

So that's why it's special.

See I'm gonna do I give it up. See I ain't trying to just oh, be focused on me.

No, I like to give it up. When when brothers are doing great things, that empowers me too. So remember that.

So listen, this show is unbelievable. And they talk about they wasn't superstar, No, they superstars. See, you don't have to always be the best at one thing. See that's not the mark of a great man. It's whether you could be the best at other things, or two things or three things.

How can you reinvent yourself? Man? You guys are killing it, killing them, killing it, killing.

We imagine. We want to thank you for your time tonight, obviously knowing how busy you are and just the man you are, you know the way, like you said, you're responsible for all your actions and and and that's respectable. The barriers you've broken, the wall, you know, the heights you've achieved. We need to see it to believe it. And you're someone that has continued to show us that it's possible, and we want to thank you for that.

I appreciate it. That'd be great. I appreciate it. But can we get some money.

We're gonna talk about that.

You can definitely do that.

Yeah, we're all three invest in something and it's gonna win too.

Man.

That's a wrap all the smoke, the one that only managed to do it all.

Appreciate you, you know that, Thank you John, you know thanks for happening.