While the Los Angeles Lakers have begun the 2025-26 regular season and a quest to contend for a championship, the city is still very much focused on the L.A. Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani and company are in a 2-2 tie in the World Series, meaning they have to win two of three to win it all for the second straight year.
The biggest tie between the two franchises right now is Magic Johnson. He is a Lakers legend who is still very much around the organization — despite no longer being President of Basketball Operations — and is a part-owner of the Dodgers. He was in attendance at Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night, when L.A. lost to the Toronto Blue Jays to even the series.
Magic spent some time discussing Ohtani’s impact on the Dodgers and the city of Los Angeles. On Monday night, Ohtani reached base safely a ridiculous nine times, setting a new World Series record. And that in an interview on the Fox pregame show, Johnson reflected on how Ohtani compares to some other great L.A. stars — including himself — before ultimately making the comparison to legend Kobe Bryant:
“It’s the same, other than they didn’t own a country. See because he owns Japan, right? The same impact, the fans love him. I think it’s more like Kobe. The type of impact he’s made on the field and off the field. He’s a humble young man and he’s serious about becoming the best baseball player we’ve ever seen.”
Ohtani might be one of the most famous athletes America has ever seen, largely because of his international impact. He single-handedly has helped the Dodgers earn back most, if not all, of the $700 million contract he signed with the team in the winter of 2023-24.
But Bryant was, at one point, also an international mega-star that helped keep L.A. firmly in the limelight and contending for championships regularly. And it’s arguable that Kobe is the most impactful athlete in the history of Los Angeles sports.
So Magic — who would be another contender for that title — is right to make the comparison between the two stars. Now, he has to hope that Ohtani can lead the Dodgers to their second straight title, something Bryant was able to do twice during his 20-year tenure in L.A.
Magic Johnson celebrates Dodgers epic Game 3 win
Well after the Lakers’ contest with the Portland Trail Blazers ended, the Dodgers were still locked into an epic Game 3 contest of the World Series with the Blue Jays that finally ended in the 18th inning with a walk-off home run from Freddie Freeman to give them a victory and 2-1 series lead.
It was truly a game for the ages as it was the second-longest game in World Series history. It lasted six hours and 39 minutes, while featuring another epic performance from Ohtani, a memorable moment from future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and an unlikely hero in little-known relief pitcher Will Klein. Many remained awake until the final pitch and that includes Magic Johnson.
Following the unbelievable win, Magic, like many other Lakers and Dodgers fans, took to social media to praise Freeman, Ohtani and the rest of the Dodgers for their epic victory in what will go down as one of the greatest baseball games of all-time.
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