Ding: Is Magic Johnson's Dream To Own The Los Angeles Lakers Fueling Rift With Team?

JSM · Apr 13, 2015

In some sort of utopian world whereby the most deserving person was anointed to succeed Jerry Buss as Los Angeles Lakers owner, Magic Johnson would've been the one and only.
From his three-time-MVP, five-time-champion performance on the court to his dear relationship with Buss that included being part owner for the Lakers' past two championships, it would've been poetry for arguably the greatest owner in sports history to hand it down to the trail blazer in how to build a post-playing business empire.

That's not how real life works.

Even if Johnson viewed Buss as a father figure, no matter that the former cites his massive business accomplishments as a testament to the latter's vision and willingness to let him into the inner circle, Buss wanted his actual children to inherit the Lakers.

That's what happened upon Buss' 2013 death, and it has left Johnson in a vague and often awkward spot when it comes to the Lakers.

Johnson has been the most outspoken critic of Buss' son, Jim—the chosen one to run basketball operations after his father died. Jim is the same age as Magic—they're both 55 now—and that unique twist on the sibling rivalry just goes to show you that the drama-fueled Lakers still have a way with wars.

Even before Jerry's death, there was a sense that his outline for son Jim (basketball) and daughter Jeanie (business), who have sometimes been at odds over the years, to run the Lakers might not stand the test of time. While Jim incurs Johnson's wrath for the team's ongoing struggles, Jeanie is the only one of the five next-generation Buss shareholders to have a relationship with Johnson—and it remains a close one. Johnson spent time at the recent All-Star Game in New York with Jeanie and fiancee Phil Jackson.

Johnson's longtime business associate, Lon Rosen, was Jeanie's agent for her 2010 autobiography—and the first breathless blurb on her Laker Girl book jacket came not from Jackson or former NBA Commissioner David Stern, but from Johnson.

The central question when it comes to Johnson's criticism of Jim Buss is whether it's driving toward some greater gain.

Is Johnson's endgame to have Jim vacate, see the Buss children decide together to sell majority ownership and seize that opportunity to make utopia real with himself as a Lakers owner with true control?

The short answer, coming separately from the Buss side and the Johnson side, is that the Lakers are not for sale. As such, there is no clear-cut correlation to Johnson's criticism and anything but him wanting the Lakers to win again.

Johnson couldn't be majority owner of the Lakers anyway, because he's still a long way from being that rich. Forbes in 2009 projected his net worth to be $500 million, but the prestigious, glamorous Lakers might fetch $3-4 billion at auction considering Steve Ballmer just spent $2 billion for the Clippers.

Johnson showed, however, how he could be the fresh face of a marquee franchise in the 2012 purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Johnson found the specific financial backing he wanted, and when the $2.15 billion deal was done, Johnson owned a small stake...except the victorious ownership group emerged in the media as "Magic Johnson's group."

Mark Walter, chief executive officer of financial services company Guggenheim Partners, put in the most money, and Stan Kasten was to be the baseball brains in the operation—but Johnson had the profile. It's not impossible to envision something similar happening someday with the Lakers.

It's much more possible considering what went down with Ballmer and those Clippers.

If things had broken just a little differently, we might be talking now about Johnson running the Clippers instead of cheering for the Lakers.

One of the groups Ballmer beat out with his bid was commonly viewed as the one with Oprah Winfrey, but the "key" members were Guggenheim Partners' Walter and Todd Boehly, according to ABC News business reporter Susanna Kim.

This is what Guggenheim spokesman Terry Fahn said at the time about buying the Clippers: "Earvin Johnson is not certain if he is interested in joining at this point, given his love of the Lakers and Dr. Buss and his hope that he can be involved in that franchise at some point."

There's no question the NBA would love to have Johnson as a prominent owner, something he expressed interest in as far back as the 1990s. The league's appreciation for Johnson only increased a year ago when he stepped in, again with Walter's funding assistance, to buy the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks when that club, first owned by Jerry Buss, fell so far it nearly ceased to exist.

Although the Lakers, if ever up for sale, would logically go at auction to the highest bidder (with no shortage of billionaire bidders), it would naturally be the ultimate fit for Johnson.

With all of Johnson's other interests and causes and speeches, no one expects he would ever want to assume the daily grind of Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, another friend he still advises. But to oversee the basketball side the way Jim Buss does and Jim's father used to, perhaps in conjunction with a group that includes Jeanie and her business experience, Johnson would be completely at home.

Right now, Johnson carries a vice president title but collects no paycheck from the Lakers. In 2010, he sold his 4.5 percent ownership in the Lakers in what he called "a bittersweet business decision" (and cashed out his Starbucks empire), gearing up for other big ventures.

Because Jim Buss has suggested he will step aside in coming years if he can't build the Lakers into the winner Jerry established, Johnson's digs at Jim through the media or via Twitter—sometimes short-sighted and not so well-informed—could be construed as rallying public opinion to push Buss toward that exit.

Again, though, it's not so simple.

Johnson did go on record with support for Jim after the Lakers' 2012 acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, although he intimated to the Los Angeles Times that his own public pressure on Buss helped that cause.

And if he were actively undermining Jim Buss, Johnson wouldn't show up at Byron Scott's introductory press conference or join forces with Lakers brass as part of the long-shot pitch to lure Carmelo Anthony in free agency. (It wasn't the first time Johnson flip-flopped on an issue, but he tweeted in late January 2014: "My advice to Carmelo is to stay in New York and build a championship team at home.")

Johnson is willing to assist the Lakers again this summer. However he feels toward Jim Buss, Johnson absolutely feels affection toward Jeanie Buss, Kupchak, Scott and Kobe Bryant—and vice versa.

Those deeper inside the Lakers family than Johnson these days do wish he would cease with criticism that sometimes isn't completely thought through, but they still view him as Lakers family. It is understood that Johnson has always been quick with an emotion or an opinion, and when it comes to the Lakers, he has earned the right to hold court.

When asked this season about Johnson's assessment that the Lakers would be better off losing every game for draft positioning, Bryant shrugged it off instead of being offended.

"From an owner's perspective," Bryant said, "his opinion is to get top picks and to be able to use those as leverage to trade and get a competitive team and so on. From where I'm sitting, I just look at his point of view."

Yet if Johnson entertained the idea of being a Clippers owner, isn't it clear that business opportunity can trump even Lakers loyalty?

We shall see if anything shifts down the road should the team keep losing, perhaps triggering the chance that Johnson's Lakers dream might possibly come true.

For the time being, Johnson is foremost a frustrated fan—and the Lakers view him as one whose seat at the local bar happens to be a global platform.

The truth is that since 2010—when Johnson stood in the White House's East Room as part of the team to celebrate a title with President Obama in January, the Lakers repeated as NBA champs in June and Johnson sold his minority ownership in October—there has been plenty of fodder for complaint.

The Lakers haven't come close to getting beyond the playoffs' second round, and they're now following the worst season the club has ever had in Los Angeles with another low.

Johnson expects excellence and has faith in his ability to achieve it.

It's just that it's much easier to demand when he's not the one responsible for providing it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...the-los-angeles-lakers-fueling-rift-with-team
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John3:16 · Apr 13, 2015

Magic can't afford the Lakers. Not even close. If the Clippers sold for $2 Billion, the Lakers are worth 4. He doesn't have 1.

he can get a group together, but from what I've always heard from the good Dr Buss on down to his kids, the Lakers are never for sale.

Doc Brown · Apr 13, 2015

If Magic buys the Lakers, I bet he hires MDA as a consultant just so he can have someone to blame if things go south.

Kenzo · Apr 14, 2015

I rather see Dr Patrick as an owner than Magic.

D-Fish Man · Apr 17, 2015

John3:16 said: ↑

Magic can't afford the Lakers. Not even close. If the Clippers sold for $2 Billion, the Lakers are worth 4. He doesn't have 1.

he can get a group together, but from what I've always heard from the good Dr Buss on down to his kids, the Lakers are never for sale.
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He only had to pony up $40 million for his stake in the Dodgers. He could almost certainly do that again as part of something similar for the Lakers. He could probably buy the Lakers outright too. These owners don't have to come up with all the money on their own. That's what banks are for. It's like buying a house: you make a down payment and mortgage the rest.

FreeThePeople · Apr 17, 2015

Do we want him to own the Lakers?

SamsonMiodek · Apr 17, 2015

I know I don't. Never want an owner who openly admits being pro tanking

ElginTheGreat · Apr 17, 2015

Haven't read through the article, but Magic has more than proven himself as a business man. I don't see any major problem with him being a part of an ownership group for the team.

D-Fish Man · Apr 18, 2015

strategos said: ↑

I know I don't. Never want an owner who openly admits being pro tanking
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I think it would be a breath of fresh air. At least it would reflect an actual plan, something I can't discern from our current FO.

SamsonMiodek · Apr 18, 2015

D-Fish Man said: ↑

I think it would be a breath of fresh air. At least it would reflect an actual plan, something I can't discern from our current FO.
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really? I see a plan, and I actually like it. Without a lot of assets and with tons of bad luck, they were still able to make this team a lot younger and get some very promising young players on board within a very short period of time. I also trust in the strategy of promoting LAL (which I believe they are doing) as a good location for star players - see Kobe's contract, how they handled the Nash situation and the proposal Gasol got.

What actual plan do you mean with Magic? I presume not the tanking as such...?

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Ding: Is Magic Johnson's Dream To Own The Los Angeles Lakers Fueling Rift With Team?

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