The accomplishments of Magic Johnson off the court arguably surpass everything the Los Angeles Lakers did on the basketball court, and he has now dove into the world of team ownership. Magic has minority stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, LAFC and, most recently, the Washington Commanders of the NFL.
But to this point, Johnson doesn’t have an NBA team in his portfolio and of course many would assume if there were any team he’d join in an ownership capacity it would be the Lakers. But there is actually another team he would be interested in as well.
In an interview with Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press, Magic revealed that he has declined many NBA ownership opportunities because of his love and loyalty to the Lakers, but the one franchise that he would consider is the New York Knicks:
“I think it would be intriguing,” Johnson said Tuesday. “The only team I would actually probably think about is the New York Knicks.”
Johnson would explain why the Knicks would interest him, praising the fans and the passion they have for their team:
“I think because of the way fans love basketball you might have to think about that one, because I love coming to New York and going to the Garden and watching the Knicks play,” Johnson said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I love being with fans who are so passionate about their team and the Knick fans are, and they’re smart. They’re smart basketball fans and so that one I would have to think about. I think that other than that, I would probably never think about ever being a part of another franchise.”
There is no other arena like Madison Square Garden and that passion from the fans comes through the screen any time the Knicks are succeeding. That type of energy is rarely matched and it makes sense why Magic would only consider them, otherwise he will just continue supporting his Lakers:
“That one you would really have to think about, in terms of being a minority owner of that team,” he said. “But other than that, I would just stay with the Lakers and even with my role now, just being a fan, I’m happy just doing that with the Lakers because, again, I bleed purple and gold.”
The love and loyalty will always be with the Lakers, but there is always an exception to the rule and for Magic Johnson, that exception is the Knicks.
Magic Johnson shuts down GOAT point guard debate with Stephen Curry
Even though Magic continues to eye more potential ownership opportunities, he’s also had his eyes on Stephen Curry. who recently spoke on his belief that he has surpassed the Lakers legend as the greatest point guard of all-time.
Johnson finally responded to that and put an end to the debate with cold hard facts, stating that if Curry has surpassed him in championships, regular season MVPs and Finals MVPs, amongst a host of other stats he laid out, then he’s the greatest. But until then, Magic feels there is no debate.
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