The former and current Los Angeles Lakers players joined in honoring the memory of the late John Madden, the legendary broadcaster and Oakland Raiders coach.
Having familiarized entire generations of football fans with the sport’s complex rules and tactics, Madden unexpectedly died at the age of 85 on Tuesday. He spent over three decades as a TV and radio football analyst, making his debut in the commentator’s booth in 1979 on CBS.
Before that, he served as the Raiders’ linebackers coach and then head coach between 1967-1978 — leading the team to a Super Bowl victory in 1977.
But Madden reached the heights of his fame as a trail-blazing color commentator — whose innovative broadcasting style had an impact on the audience so profound that game developer EA Sports named a football video game after him, now known as “Madden NFL.”
After the news about Madden’s death broke, Lakers legends took to social media to pay tribute to the legendary Hall-of-Famer.
Magic Johnson summed up the late coach’s accolades, both on the sidelines as well as behind the microphone, in a Twitter post:
Rest In Peace to Hall of Fame Coach John Madden! Young people know him for the Madden NFL game, but he is a legend for being a great football coach winning Super Bowl XI, coaching the Raiders for 10 seasons, and becoming the youngest coach to reach 100 regular-season victories.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 29, 2021
Johnson then wrote Madden was “a big reason” why he became a Raiders fan:
John was a big reason that I was a Raiders fan and is still the coach with the most wins in Raiders history. Cookie and I are praying for the entire Madden family! RIP.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 29, 2021
Meanwhile, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shared a picture of Madden holding a football and with aureole over his head, calling the NFL legend “a larger-than-life personality who transformed sportscasting into an entertaining and informative performance”:
#JohnMaddenRIP pic.twitter.com/BIfPzchJdF
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) December 29, 2021
LeBron James bid farewell to Madden by saying his legacy “will continue to live on” with an infinity emoji at the end of the tweet:
Rest in Paradise To the ???? John Madden!!!! Your legacy will continue to live on ♾!!!!!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 29, 2021
Madden won 16 Sports Emmy Awards during his time as a football commentator. He ended his TV broadcasting career in 2009.
Lakers played Madden while in Orlando bubble back in 2019-20
The Lakers memorably organized a Madden tournament in order to take their minds off the isolation during the NBA restart in the Orlando bubble in 2019-20.
Former Laker Jared Dudley said the tournaments were “getting very intense” and involved “a lot of trash-talking.” James reportedly thrived after figuring out a trick to keep his rushing game strong.
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