1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,381 Over the next hour, we'll unveil the ten players 2 00:00:04,464 --> 00:00:07,759 who will represent America in the 1992 Olympics. 3 00:00:07,842 --> 00:00:10,929 There's been much speculation about who will play and who won't. 4 00:00:11,012 --> 00:00:15,308 I was already thinking about what my next move was going to be 5 00:00:15,392 --> 00:00:18,144 when Commissioner Stern called me and said, 6 00:00:18,228 --> 00:00:21,481 "Hey, Earvin. We want you to play in the Olympics." 7 00:00:22,190 --> 00:00:23,942 If you're going to put together a team, 8 00:00:24,025 --> 00:00:25,777 you should start with a great team leader. 9 00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:29,281 And who better than a player who has led his team to five NBA championships? 10 00:00:29,364 --> 00:00:30,699 Magic Johnson. 11 00:00:32,116 --> 00:00:34,744 I got so excited, so we talked about that. 12 00:00:34,828 --> 00:00:37,289 And then he said, "But we're having one problem." 13 00:00:37,372 --> 00:00:38,957 And I said, "What is that?" 14 00:00:39,624 --> 00:00:41,001 "Larry and Michael." 15 00:00:42,210 --> 00:00:48,174 Yeah, I called Larry, and I said, "Listen, LB. This is our last hurrah. 16 00:00:48,717 --> 00:00:51,261 We gotta play, man. You gotta play." 17 00:00:52,053 --> 00:00:54,097 I told him I probably wouldn't do it. 18 00:00:54,180 --> 00:00:55,640 I'm just trying to get through this season. 19 00:00:55,724 --> 00:00:57,642 I don't know if I can make it. 20 00:00:57,726 --> 00:01:00,145 He said, "Earvin, my back," and "I don't know." 21 00:01:00,228 --> 00:01:04,190 I said, "All you have to do is go stand in the corner 22 00:01:04,273 --> 00:01:05,859 or stand at the top of the key. 23 00:01:05,942 --> 00:01:08,612 You don't have to do nothing else. I'm gonna get you the ball. 24 00:01:08,695 --> 00:01:10,155 You just shoot it and make it." 25 00:01:10,238 --> 00:01:11,990 "You can still do that, can't you?" 26 00:01:12,282 --> 00:01:14,200 "I can do that with my eyes closed, yeah." 27 00:01:14,284 --> 00:01:15,327 I gotta do it. 28 00:01:15,410 --> 00:01:18,121 Whether I can play or not, I gotta be on that team. 29 00:01:18,204 --> 00:01:19,706 Finally, he said yes. 30 00:01:20,874 --> 00:01:22,959 And then the hard one was Michael. 31 00:01:24,294 --> 00:01:27,214 Michael, I was wondering if you made a definite decision 32 00:01:27,297 --> 00:01:29,216 on whether you will or will not play in those Olympics? 33 00:01:29,883 --> 00:01:32,802 I would love to do it, but I think it would take so much away 34 00:01:32,886 --> 00:01:35,013 from what I have to do for the Chicago Bulls. 35 00:01:35,096 --> 00:01:37,641 So right now, I don't think I'm gonna participate. 36 00:01:37,724 --> 00:01:39,351 Well, I said, "Listen, man. 37 00:01:40,894 --> 00:01:43,813 It's been on my bucket list to play with you and Larry. 38 00:01:43,897 --> 00:01:46,608 And we're going to have fun being with each other 39 00:01:46,691 --> 00:01:49,027 'cause we've never really hung out like that." 40 00:01:49,110 --> 00:01:52,572 I had to work on him some, but finally he said yes. 41 00:01:54,074 --> 00:01:55,492 The Dream Team. 42 00:01:55,575 --> 00:01:59,788 A basketball machine with names like Magic and Michael and Ewing and Bird. 43 00:01:59,871 --> 00:02:01,164 The NBA's best. 44 00:02:01,248 --> 00:02:04,793 It was electric because that star power. 45 00:02:04,876 --> 00:02:06,253 The world went crazy. 46 00:02:10,131 --> 00:02:12,300 He brought Showtime to Barcelona. 47 00:02:17,931 --> 00:02:19,558 Magic! Magic! 48 00:02:26,106 --> 00:02:28,942 I never wanted them to think like they had to carry me, 49 00:02:29,025 --> 00:02:30,360 the other nine guys. 50 00:02:31,152 --> 00:02:35,532 And so, the practices was probably the best basketball I've ever played 51 00:02:35,615 --> 00:02:36,616 in my life. 52 00:02:36,700 --> 00:02:38,868 He's like the baby-faced assassin. 53 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,956 That was like a dogfight every single day. 54 00:02:43,456 --> 00:02:45,375 He wanted to prove that he was back. 55 00:02:45,458 --> 00:02:48,712 I wanted to prove to him that there's new kids on the block. 56 00:02:49,379 --> 00:02:54,509 We spent a lot of time together, and I think it bonded all of us together. 57 00:02:54,593 --> 00:02:59,723 I was in Barcelona playing cards with Magic, Charles Barkley and MJ. 58 00:02:59,806 --> 00:03:03,685 It was just like a bunch of brothers talking shit. 59 00:03:03,768 --> 00:03:07,063 'Cause Michael is probably the greatest shit-talker of all time, 60 00:03:07,147 --> 00:03:09,566 and Magic was not having any of it. 61 00:03:09,649 --> 00:03:14,070 Here's these two competitive guys who didn't want to lose. 62 00:03:14,154 --> 00:03:15,322 We were gonna play. 63 00:03:15,405 --> 00:03:18,450 We're gonna play hard, and I was coming in there to win. 64 00:03:19,075 --> 00:03:23,163 A dream team for America. A nightmare for its opposition. 65 00:03:27,626 --> 00:03:31,379 If we can maintain this level of intensity, 66 00:03:31,463 --> 00:03:34,174 then we feel that we have a great chance to win. 67 00:03:37,636 --> 00:03:42,140 There's no doubt Magic added that little special sauce 68 00:03:42,224 --> 00:03:43,975 to the '92 Olympic team. 69 00:03:46,561 --> 00:03:51,900 They have, as expected, won the gold here in Barcelona. 70 00:03:54,152 --> 00:03:58,949 I needed the Dream Team to validate into my own mind that, 71 00:03:59,032 --> 00:04:01,076 "Hey, Earvin, you're gonna be okay. 72 00:04:01,159 --> 00:04:02,827 You're gonna be here for a long time. 73 00:04:02,911 --> 00:04:05,956 You can still play. Your body is okay." 74 00:04:06,039 --> 00:04:08,708 Because by then I had adjusted to the medicine. 75 00:04:09,292 --> 00:04:12,879 He was giving confidence to tens of millions of people 76 00:04:12,963 --> 00:04:14,381 who had a similar diagnosis, 77 00:04:14,464 --> 00:04:19,636 who would see Magic out there playing at an incredibly high level. 78 00:04:19,719 --> 00:04:23,348 And so during that time, that period, 79 00:04:23,431 --> 00:04:27,477 Magic had begun a discussion with David about his desire to return to the league. 80 00:04:28,812 --> 00:04:34,025 When you leave sports, it's really not about the games. 81 00:04:35,235 --> 00:04:38,238 It's about you're one of the guys. 82 00:04:39,155 --> 00:04:43,994 And I needed to be one of the guys one more time. 83 00:05:42,385 --> 00:05:43,678 It was less than a year ago, 84 00:05:43,762 --> 00:05:47,432 it seemed that we'd seen the last of Magic Johnson on the basketball floor. 85 00:05:47,515 --> 00:05:50,769 The Lakers star was retiring because of the virus that causes AIDS. 86 00:05:50,852 --> 00:05:54,105 But then Magic on the Dream Team, an Olympic gold medal 87 00:05:54,189 --> 00:05:56,775 and now Magic back in the NBA. 88 00:05:57,442 --> 00:05:59,819 I didn't go out the way I wanted to go out, 89 00:06:00,820 --> 00:06:02,614 and that's not the perfect ending. 90 00:06:02,697 --> 00:06:07,077 John Wayne always rode out the way he wanna ride out. 91 00:06:07,953 --> 00:06:09,579 That's John Wayne's way. 92 00:06:10,455 --> 00:06:11,456 Finally. 93 00:06:12,290 --> 00:06:14,626 This is a great day for me. 94 00:06:14,709 --> 00:06:17,170 Been working extremely hard to come back, 95 00:06:17,254 --> 00:06:19,506 and I'm just happy to be back… 96 00:06:21,508 --> 00:06:24,970 So, that's all I have to say. 97 00:06:27,180 --> 00:06:29,432 For selfish reasons, I wanted him to play. 98 00:06:30,183 --> 00:06:32,394 You know, we had a chance of winning it again with Magic. 99 00:06:32,477 --> 00:06:34,062 We can get back to the Finals. 100 00:06:34,646 --> 00:06:38,275 To come out again leading the Lakers out like old times. 101 00:06:39,442 --> 00:06:44,030 Right now it's sending chills up my spine, right now just talking about it. 102 00:06:45,657 --> 00:06:48,076 But it was controversial when Earvin came back. 103 00:06:48,159 --> 00:06:51,246 There was players all over the league that didn't feel comfortable. 104 00:06:51,329 --> 00:06:52,872 Karl Malone came out publicly. 105 00:06:52,956 --> 00:06:55,709 If I get in a collision with a guy-- It don't have to be Magic. 106 00:06:56,126 --> 00:06:57,502 It could be Joe Schmo. 107 00:06:57,586 --> 00:07:00,964 But the fact of the matter is, if you got the AIDS virus, 108 00:07:01,047 --> 00:07:04,092 it'll be hard for me to play as hard as I'm capable of playing. 109 00:07:04,175 --> 00:07:07,345 And if people can't respect my decision, that's tough. 110 00:07:07,429 --> 00:07:12,767 For such a prominent player to make those remarks 111 00:07:13,518 --> 00:07:15,520 were really difficult to get past. 112 00:07:16,187 --> 00:07:18,273 Man, I just played with Karl. 113 00:07:18,815 --> 00:07:21,151 We did the All-Star Game, now we did the Dream Team, 114 00:07:21,234 --> 00:07:24,571 and now you've got an issue playing against me during the regular season? 115 00:07:24,654 --> 00:07:26,615 It was sort of like he stabbed me in the back. 116 00:07:26,698 --> 00:07:31,620 Now you have this huge distraction. 117 00:07:32,996 --> 00:07:36,458 We go to North Carolina to play a preseason game, 118 00:07:37,125 --> 00:07:40,921 and unfortunately, he gets this fingernail scratch. 119 00:07:42,672 --> 00:07:43,840 There's a time-out. 120 00:07:44,424 --> 00:07:45,884 And when he comes to the bench, 121 00:07:47,469 --> 00:07:53,934 I look up and all eyes and cameras are upon me. 122 00:07:54,017 --> 00:07:55,894 I could see the look on players' face 123 00:07:55,977 --> 00:07:57,145 where they wasn't comfortable. 124 00:07:57,229 --> 00:07:59,564 You could see guys' whole demeanor change. 125 00:07:59,648 --> 00:08:03,568 The nonverbal communication that's going on in that particular moment, 126 00:08:03,652 --> 00:08:06,863 and you're like, "Why is everyone staring?" 127 00:08:07,697 --> 00:08:11,117 I remember hearing the reporters saying, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God." 128 00:08:11,201 --> 00:08:13,286 You know, "Magic got scratched." You know, "He's bleeding." 129 00:08:13,370 --> 00:08:14,704 "What are they gonna do?" 130 00:08:15,956 --> 00:08:18,124 I have the gloves in my back pocket. 131 00:08:18,208 --> 00:08:21,127 We have a protocol. I wrote the protocol. 132 00:08:22,671 --> 00:08:25,423 There's no way that I could put these gloves on. 133 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:32,097 Putting the gloves on would be the epitome of a mixed message 134 00:08:32,179 --> 00:08:34,558 'cause we're telling you, you can't get it from him. 135 00:08:35,517 --> 00:08:38,562 So if you can't get it, then why are you putting the gloves on? 136 00:08:40,438 --> 00:08:43,108 You could see the fear upon people face, 137 00:08:43,191 --> 00:08:46,444 and it just keep on drawing attention to it. 138 00:08:46,528 --> 00:08:48,572 So, it's just too much. 139 00:08:48,655 --> 00:08:50,991 It's gonna happen all year long. 140 00:08:51,074 --> 00:08:54,578 Magic Johnson's comeback is over before it began. 141 00:08:54,661 --> 00:08:58,248 The basketball superstar said today that he is retiring for good 142 00:08:58,331 --> 00:09:01,626 because of the controversy over his decision to play 143 00:09:01,710 --> 00:09:03,628 while infected with the AIDS virus. 144 00:09:03,712 --> 00:09:05,797 There had been so much bad press. 145 00:09:05,881 --> 00:09:07,591 The joy was gone, 146 00:09:07,674 --> 00:09:11,970 but I felt for Magic 'cause he still had basketball left to play. 147 00:09:12,053 --> 00:09:16,933 You said when you were here that God created you to play basketball. 148 00:09:17,809 --> 00:09:19,853 I don't know now what you think about that statement. 149 00:09:19,936 --> 00:09:22,063 I would think this is very disappointing for you. 150 00:09:22,647 --> 00:09:25,525 People don't understand this what we as young kids-- 151 00:09:25,609 --> 00:09:28,653 I mean, it's all we thought about, you know, was basketball. 152 00:09:28,737 --> 00:09:30,739 And that was our whole life at the time. 153 00:09:30,822 --> 00:09:33,909 You said that you wanted to go out like John Wayne. 154 00:09:33,992 --> 00:09:36,912 -Yeah. -You wanted to do it your way. 155 00:09:36,995 --> 00:09:37,996 Exactly. 156 00:09:38,079 --> 00:09:39,789 Now you're not gonna get that chance. 157 00:09:39,873 --> 00:09:42,375 The perfect ending would've been me playing this season. 158 00:09:43,668 --> 00:09:47,589 But my movie will have no ending. 159 00:10:01,436 --> 00:10:05,649 Man, I tell you, Cookie and I, we'd been together on and off 160 00:10:05,732 --> 00:10:08,818 since we were 18 years old, and now we're married. 161 00:10:08,902 --> 00:10:10,278 Now we're about to have a baby. 162 00:10:11,446 --> 00:10:12,697 We had Andre. 163 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:15,450 Her and Andre have a special bond. 164 00:10:15,533 --> 00:10:18,787 And then, you know, it was just a special moment for us. 165 00:10:18,870 --> 00:10:23,458 When you think about the Johnson family was about to expand. 166 00:10:23,959 --> 00:10:28,129 Magic, the vital statistics for Earvin Johnson III, 167 00:10:28,213 --> 00:10:31,258 seven pounds, 15 ounces. Congratulations. 168 00:10:32,050 --> 00:10:33,969 Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. 169 00:10:34,052 --> 00:10:38,265 When EJ was born, it was just such a relief to me 170 00:10:38,348 --> 00:10:43,270 because they always just said, "From what we understand with the disease 171 00:10:43,353 --> 00:10:45,647 if the mother doesn't have it, the baby doesn't have it." 172 00:10:45,730 --> 00:10:47,607 But in the back of your mind, you're wondering, 173 00:10:47,691 --> 00:10:50,360 "Is he gonna come out okay? Is he gonna look okay?" 174 00:10:50,443 --> 00:10:52,112 You know, "Will he be sick?" 175 00:10:53,947 --> 00:10:56,199 And he came out, and he was just beautiful. 176 00:10:56,283 --> 00:11:00,495 And he was super healthy and a big blessing for us. 177 00:11:00,579 --> 00:11:01,580 Sup. 178 00:11:01,663 --> 00:11:02,956 Hey, you look good. 179 00:11:03,039 --> 00:11:05,250 -Stop. -Bring him out. Earvin III. 180 00:11:06,209 --> 00:11:08,461 Magic says this in the book-- He's just so funny. 181 00:11:08,545 --> 00:11:10,922 When the baby was coming, Magic was in the room, 182 00:11:11,006 --> 00:11:12,299 and Cookie was pushing. 183 00:11:12,382 --> 00:11:14,426 And when he saw the head come out-- What did you do? 184 00:11:15,010 --> 00:11:16,177 I told everybody, "Stop." 185 00:11:17,512 --> 00:11:18,513 He did. 186 00:11:18,597 --> 00:11:20,557 And they look around, "What's wrong? What's wrong?" 187 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,852 I said, "I gotta have my baby born to Luther Vandross." 188 00:11:26,187 --> 00:11:30,358 Even though we had a new baby, and Earvin was really great, 189 00:11:31,401 --> 00:11:34,571 what was hard was there was a little sense of being lost. 190 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,786 I'm not playing the game that I love, and that hurt me. 191 00:11:41,870 --> 00:11:46,708 Not being a part of the locker room, not being a part of the bus ride, 192 00:11:46,791 --> 00:11:50,295 not going to war every single night with my guys. 193 00:11:52,047 --> 00:11:54,466 I'm consumed with basketball. 194 00:11:54,549 --> 00:11:56,218 I'm consumed with being the best. 195 00:11:56,301 --> 00:12:00,222 I'm consumed with winning championships my whole life. 196 00:12:01,139 --> 00:12:03,433 The only thing he knew was to compete in basketball. 197 00:12:04,184 --> 00:12:09,940 What does this genius with a ball in his hand want to do with his life, 198 00:12:10,023 --> 00:12:12,317 in the prime of his career as a player, 199 00:12:12,901 --> 00:12:16,655 what's he gonna do to satisfy that passion to play this game? 200 00:12:17,572 --> 00:12:20,325 Those were our conversations daily. 201 00:12:20,408 --> 00:12:23,828 Who are you, and what are you going to be? 202 00:12:23,912 --> 00:12:25,830 Because you just can't be this. 203 00:12:25,914 --> 00:12:27,958 I just had to take a step back and say, 204 00:12:28,041 --> 00:12:30,210 "Hey, Earvin. Okay, let me try to figure it out." 205 00:12:39,261 --> 00:12:41,388 I grew up poor, but I didn't have poor dreams. 206 00:12:42,055 --> 00:12:47,352 I was always dreaming outside my zip code, outside my area code, 207 00:12:47,435 --> 00:12:49,145 outside my community. 208 00:12:49,729 --> 00:12:52,899 When I was growing up, this famous Camay commercial 209 00:12:52,983 --> 00:12:55,485 used to come on TV all the time. 210 00:12:55,569 --> 00:12:58,196 Some girls think it's enough to be clean. 211 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,198 I like to feel more than clean. 212 00:13:00,282 --> 00:13:03,410 They had this big round bathtub, and I said, 213 00:13:03,493 --> 00:13:05,579 "I'm gonna have that bathtub one day." 214 00:13:06,204 --> 00:13:07,747 I used to tell everybody that. 215 00:13:08,790 --> 00:13:10,041 They said, "Boy, you crazy." 216 00:13:10,125 --> 00:13:12,127 You know, as little kids, you're just like, "Boy, shut up. 217 00:13:12,210 --> 00:13:14,254 You ain't gonna, you know, have that tub." 218 00:13:14,337 --> 00:13:16,756 Or, "You ain't gonna do this or you-- How you gonna do that?" 219 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:18,633 Because you didn't see it. 220 00:13:18,717 --> 00:13:22,888 And the people that you saw that did have it didn't look like us. 221 00:13:24,347 --> 00:13:27,517 Lansing was like-- If you saw the movie The Help. 222 00:13:27,601 --> 00:13:30,395 Let's give a nice round of applause for the help. 223 00:13:31,855 --> 00:13:34,316 We were at the country club as young people working 224 00:13:34,691 --> 00:13:40,530 and we end up teasing each other because he worked inside shining shoes, 225 00:13:40,614 --> 00:13:44,075 and I worked outside caddying and so forth. 226 00:13:44,159 --> 00:13:48,330 And he later told me that I was a field hand, 227 00:13:49,205 --> 00:13:51,458 and he worked in the big house. 228 00:13:51,541 --> 00:13:53,418 This is how Lansing was. 229 00:13:54,461 --> 00:13:55,754 But you know what? 230 00:13:55,837 --> 00:13:57,380 I've always dreamed big. 231 00:13:57,464 --> 00:14:00,675 When I said I was gonna do something, I did it. 232 00:14:01,968 --> 00:14:06,765 And whatever it was that I wanted, my father said, "You gotta work for it." 233 00:14:11,102 --> 00:14:13,480 And my father worked at General Motors, 234 00:14:13,563 --> 00:14:15,982 and he worked two or three jobs all the time. 235 00:14:16,066 --> 00:14:18,360 He would work at Shell's gas station, 236 00:14:18,443 --> 00:14:21,488 and then he would go to General Motors for eight hours that night. 237 00:14:22,530 --> 00:14:27,035 He had a trash hauling service, so we would go pick up people's trash. 238 00:14:27,118 --> 00:14:30,288 My brothers, they were kind of embarrassed when they had to work on the truck 239 00:14:30,372 --> 00:14:32,040 'cause their friends would see us, you know. 240 00:14:32,123 --> 00:14:33,833 We used to be ashamed. 241 00:14:33,917 --> 00:14:38,129 Our friends back then as kids, you know, always pick on 857 242 00:14:38,213 --> 00:14:40,215 because that was the number on the side of the truck. 243 00:14:40,298 --> 00:14:43,426 And I got in a lot of fights behind that, you know, but-- 244 00:14:43,510 --> 00:14:45,887 I didn't care if my friends saw me on the truck. 245 00:14:45,971 --> 00:14:48,223 I just cared about hanging with my father. 246 00:14:48,306 --> 00:14:49,808 You know, he was my idol. 247 00:14:50,809 --> 00:14:53,603 I was a block and a half from 'em, so I watched him come up 248 00:14:53,687 --> 00:14:55,897 from when he was almost born, I guess. 249 00:14:55,981 --> 00:14:58,108 He learned a lot from his dad. 250 00:14:58,191 --> 00:15:02,320 And the values that Earvin has in his life are his parents'. 251 00:15:03,738 --> 00:15:05,490 I remember this like it was yesterday. 252 00:15:06,032 --> 00:15:08,577 I said, "Hey, Dad, I'd like some money. 253 00:15:08,660 --> 00:15:10,996 Godzilla is playing at the theater." 254 00:15:12,789 --> 00:15:15,625 And everybody in the neighborhood wanted to go see Godzilla 255 00:15:16,543 --> 00:15:18,587 at the movie theater downtown. 256 00:15:20,005 --> 00:15:22,924 And he said, "I don't have a dollar to give you." 257 00:15:23,508 --> 00:15:25,802 He said, "But come with me." I said, "Okay." 258 00:15:25,886 --> 00:15:30,181 So I followed my father to the garage, and he said, 259 00:15:30,265 --> 00:15:35,228 "Meet Mr. Shovel, Mr. Rake and Mr. Lawn Mower." 260 00:15:36,396 --> 00:15:37,314 I said-- 261 00:15:38,064 --> 00:15:40,025 He said, "Now, if you want a dollar, 262 00:15:40,108 --> 00:15:43,278 you go use one of those tools to go make a dollar." 263 00:15:43,361 --> 00:15:47,616 I would pray for the snow to come in Lansing, Michigan, 264 00:15:47,699 --> 00:15:49,367 so I could go out and make some money. 265 00:15:49,451 --> 00:15:53,246 So I was always hustling in the neighborhood some kind of way. 266 00:15:55,665 --> 00:15:58,501 You know, I was always in business all his life. 267 00:15:58,585 --> 00:16:00,462 He's never knew me when I wasn't in business. 268 00:16:00,545 --> 00:16:02,547 Earvin would work with him in the summertime. 269 00:16:02,631 --> 00:16:05,091 A little part-time job for Greg Eaton. 270 00:16:05,175 --> 00:16:09,179 Earvin came on time and left when everything was-- 271 00:16:09,262 --> 00:16:11,056 that you asked him to do was completed. 272 00:16:11,431 --> 00:16:14,309 He doesn't know how to "half do." 273 00:16:14,392 --> 00:16:17,103 We would, you know, dump the trash, kind of straighten up the office. 274 00:16:17,187 --> 00:16:19,898 And I remember vividly that 275 00:16:19,981 --> 00:16:22,317 Earvin would go sit at the desk. 276 00:16:23,276 --> 00:16:25,028 Would put his feet up on the desk. 277 00:16:25,111 --> 00:16:28,240 That's when he was at my desk with his feet up on my desk 278 00:16:28,323 --> 00:16:29,449 when I come in. 279 00:16:29,532 --> 00:16:31,618 And I go, "What is this?" "I'm playing you. 280 00:16:31,701 --> 00:16:34,454 I'm being you right now." We laughed. 281 00:16:34,537 --> 00:16:38,792 And he really kind of envisioned himself being a businessman. 282 00:16:38,875 --> 00:16:40,752 That was the thing he used to talk about all the time 283 00:16:40,835 --> 00:16:44,047 when we would be talking about what we're gonna do after basketball. 284 00:16:44,130 --> 00:16:45,632 We used to sit on the back of the bus. 285 00:16:47,300 --> 00:16:49,135 And they said, "Buck, what do you wanna be?" 286 00:16:49,219 --> 00:16:50,303 'Cause they used to call me Buck. 287 00:16:50,387 --> 00:16:53,098 I said, "I'm gonna own my own business and be a businessman." 288 00:16:54,015 --> 00:16:57,352 But at the same time, I didn't know even where to start. 289 00:16:59,187 --> 00:17:03,149 And so Dr. Jerry Buss, he was the first call I made, 290 00:17:03,233 --> 00:17:04,651 and I went to see him. 291 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:08,947 He wanted to know, "What you want to do besides basketball?" 292 00:17:09,030 --> 00:17:11,157 He always asked me that. 293 00:17:11,241 --> 00:17:14,285 He said, "Earvin, what's your goals? What's your dreams?" 294 00:17:14,369 --> 00:17:18,497 And then, "How are you going to accomplish that goal or dream? 295 00:17:18,582 --> 00:17:22,334 What's your strategy to get to where you wanna go?" 296 00:17:23,210 --> 00:17:26,089 Earvin had this plan that, you know, "I'm going to use my fame 297 00:17:26,171 --> 00:17:28,049 and meet people in the business world." 298 00:17:28,132 --> 00:17:29,217 A/B common mark. 299 00:17:33,096 --> 00:17:36,016 There were people that taught him a lot about business, 300 00:17:36,099 --> 00:17:37,809 and he would take their knowledge. 301 00:17:37,893 --> 00:17:39,769 Jerry Buss taught him a lot about business. 302 00:17:39,853 --> 00:17:42,898 Michael Ovitz taught him a lot about business. 303 00:17:42,981 --> 00:17:45,650 And when we met Michael Ovitz, 304 00:17:45,734 --> 00:17:47,736 he really schooled Earvin in a lot of things. 305 00:17:50,989 --> 00:17:54,034 He came in, and he sat there. And we talked about what he could do. 306 00:17:54,117 --> 00:17:56,578 To his credit, he started the conversation 307 00:17:56,661 --> 00:18:00,290 by saying, "I want to not be 40, 308 00:18:00,916 --> 00:18:05,253 retired athlete with nothing to do and open a few car dealerships. 309 00:18:05,337 --> 00:18:07,797 I want to be in business." 310 00:18:08,381 --> 00:18:11,843 And I told him it was a real uphill fight. 311 00:18:12,761 --> 00:18:15,430 The first thing I did is I got him subscriptions 312 00:18:15,513 --> 00:18:17,515 to The Wall Street Journal, to Fortune, 313 00:18:17,599 --> 00:18:19,517 to BusinessWeek, to Forbes. 314 00:18:20,143 --> 00:18:22,020 It was a learning period for him. 315 00:18:22,646 --> 00:18:24,439 We'd call up, you know, the head of Coca-Cola. 316 00:18:24,522 --> 00:18:26,900 "Hey, can we meet with you? Magic Johnson wants to meet with you." 317 00:18:26,983 --> 00:18:28,860 And "I want to meet with the head of PepsiCo." 318 00:18:28,944 --> 00:18:32,197 We'll meet with Pepsi. And meet with-- He did this around the country. 319 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,659 He would call me periodically, ask for advice. 320 00:18:36,159 --> 00:18:39,704 What Earvin said is, "There are a set of skills that I have to acquire. 321 00:18:40,580 --> 00:18:42,666 And I have to take the time 322 00:18:43,124 --> 00:18:45,585 and have to demonstrate the dedication 323 00:18:45,669 --> 00:18:47,295 to learn those skills." 324 00:18:48,088 --> 00:18:50,048 But I think Earvin was always sensitive 325 00:18:50,131 --> 00:18:52,425 to the fact that he was a superstar in sports. 326 00:18:53,051 --> 00:18:55,720 And I think that he thought that his image in sports 327 00:18:55,804 --> 00:18:58,848 overwhelmed what he might be able to do in business. 328 00:18:59,391 --> 00:19:01,851 And I think that deep down he was always worried 329 00:19:01,935 --> 00:19:04,062 that he'd never be taken seriously. 330 00:19:04,145 --> 00:19:05,772 He'd be looked at as a jock. 331 00:19:06,731 --> 00:19:08,400 It was a hard adjustment. 332 00:19:09,025 --> 00:19:12,070 People don't understand this about an athlete. 333 00:19:13,196 --> 00:19:16,283 Every single day, your day is mapped out. 334 00:19:16,366 --> 00:19:22,205 So now there's nobody there to tell me to do something. 335 00:19:22,289 --> 00:19:24,040 You know, it's all, "Okay." 336 00:19:25,166 --> 00:19:26,543 I didn't have purpose. 337 00:19:26,793 --> 00:19:31,089 The Lakers were my purpose, and I needed to pour my energy, 338 00:19:32,132 --> 00:19:35,635 and my passion and love into something other than basketball. 339 00:19:35,719 --> 00:19:39,139 So I needed to know how to get started 340 00:19:39,556 --> 00:19:41,892 and what direction to go in. 341 00:19:45,937 --> 00:19:48,189 We're live here at the Great Western Forum. 342 00:19:48,273 --> 00:19:52,235 I remember being at a game at The Forum. 343 00:19:52,319 --> 00:19:54,446 Earvin and I had went to the game that night. 344 00:19:54,529 --> 00:19:55,739 Earvin "Magic" Johnson. 345 00:19:58,617 --> 00:20:00,744 The game was over, we're about to go home 346 00:20:00,827 --> 00:20:02,329 and they make a huge announcement. 347 00:20:02,412 --> 00:20:04,789 You cannot leave the stadium. 348 00:20:04,873 --> 00:20:06,917 …heading towards the Culver City area. 349 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,752 The crowd has gotten very still now, 350 00:20:08,835 --> 00:20:09,836 and I'll tell you why. 351 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,839 They've got some riots going on around the city of Los Angeles. 352 00:20:13,632 --> 00:20:16,218 Quite close to The Forum, within about two miles. 353 00:20:16,301 --> 00:20:17,844 And I remember they said, 354 00:20:17,928 --> 00:20:22,974 "There has been a riot that broke-- has broken out close to here. 355 00:20:23,058 --> 00:20:26,353 We would advise no one leave the stadium at this time 356 00:20:26,436 --> 00:20:29,356 until we can find out if it's safe to leave." 357 00:20:32,275 --> 00:20:35,612 When they finally let us out, Earvin put us in the car, 358 00:20:35,695 --> 00:20:38,114 and as we're driving, yeah, my heart just sank. 359 00:20:38,949 --> 00:20:41,493 The jury in the Los Angeles police brutality trial 360 00:20:41,576 --> 00:20:44,371 has just reached its verdicts this evening. 361 00:20:44,454 --> 00:20:46,915 The four police officers who were videotaped 362 00:20:46,998 --> 00:20:49,209 repeatedly beating an unarmed man 363 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,588 were found not guilty on all but one count. 364 00:20:54,256 --> 00:20:55,966 We were dead center in the middle of Los Angeles. 365 00:20:56,049 --> 00:20:57,467 We were dead in the middle of the riots. 366 00:20:57,551 --> 00:21:00,637 And looking back at it… 367 00:21:02,514 --> 00:21:04,099 …every action causes a reaction. 368 00:21:04,182 --> 00:21:07,102 And we, for so long, have never reacted. 369 00:21:07,185 --> 00:21:09,729 We've always turned the other cheek and accepted it, 370 00:21:09,813 --> 00:21:11,982 and that was our day to say, "Fuck that." 371 00:21:13,733 --> 00:21:16,236 When I think about Rodney King and the rioting-- 372 00:21:16,319 --> 00:21:20,407 And what I didn't like is that we tore up our own community. 373 00:21:21,199 --> 00:21:28,123 The Black community, you know, we set our own businesses on fire, 374 00:21:28,873 --> 00:21:31,751 and that hurt South Central, Compton. 375 00:21:31,835 --> 00:21:34,212 It hurt so many communities. 376 00:21:37,048 --> 00:21:39,342 Not only were the stores burned, 377 00:21:39,426 --> 00:21:40,719 but the jobs were lost. 378 00:21:40,802 --> 00:21:43,513 I saw employees coming to work in a lot of these places 379 00:21:43,597 --> 00:21:46,141 and standing there in tears because their jobs were not there. 380 00:21:46,892 --> 00:21:49,769 A lot of the Black leaders started calling me saying, 381 00:21:49,853 --> 00:21:51,187 "Hey, we need you. 382 00:21:51,271 --> 00:21:54,524 You've got the biggest voice, so people will listen to you. 383 00:21:54,608 --> 00:21:56,109 So you got to get involved." 384 00:21:56,192 --> 00:21:59,237 The whole segment of the population that have been left out, 385 00:21:59,321 --> 00:22:03,491 left behind and just lip service. 386 00:22:03,575 --> 00:22:06,912 Done a little here, a little there, will not matter. 387 00:22:06,995 --> 00:22:08,288 We need to do much more. 388 00:22:09,289 --> 00:22:13,752 That was the start of something for me that had to change. 389 00:22:13,835 --> 00:22:17,464 I said, "Okay, I gotta build my business in urban America." 390 00:22:17,547 --> 00:22:19,716 If you don't make a difference in the Black community, 391 00:22:19,799 --> 00:22:22,552 that doesn't matter that you winning all those championships. 392 00:22:23,136 --> 00:22:28,600 So, we gotta go out and, you know, ask people to now start rebuilding. 393 00:22:30,477 --> 00:22:32,604 I said, "You know what's going to help me? 394 00:22:32,687 --> 00:22:34,272 I gotta get a office." 395 00:22:36,441 --> 00:22:39,736 Now I'm going to the office every day. I'm back on schedule again. 396 00:22:41,363 --> 00:22:44,532 I remember my first interview like it was yesterday. 397 00:22:45,116 --> 00:22:47,994 I walked right into his office actually, 398 00:22:48,078 --> 00:22:51,581 and immediately he was Earvin Johnson. 399 00:22:51,665 --> 00:22:54,334 He was no longer Magic Johnson. 400 00:22:54,417 --> 00:22:56,002 That was left on the court. 401 00:22:56,962 --> 00:23:00,048 Earvin, he saw something in me 402 00:23:00,131 --> 00:23:02,592 that I actually didn't recognize in myself. 403 00:23:03,677 --> 00:23:07,347 And he saw the way I spoke about the community in which I grew up. 404 00:23:08,014 --> 00:23:11,268 I grew up in South Central LA. 405 00:23:11,351 --> 00:23:15,855 I was living in LA during the riots and it was all around me. 406 00:23:15,939 --> 00:23:18,358 I could walk out the door and see flames. 407 00:23:18,441 --> 00:23:22,904 But I loved my neighborhood, loved the community, and-- 408 00:23:22,988 --> 00:23:24,322 Even though it was tough. 409 00:23:24,948 --> 00:23:27,826 The neighborhood where I grew up was definitely underserved. 410 00:23:28,368 --> 00:23:30,996 There were no major coffee shops. 411 00:23:31,079 --> 00:23:34,749 There were no first-rate movie theaters. 412 00:23:34,833 --> 00:23:38,712 We saw how the Black community 413 00:23:38,795 --> 00:23:40,839 as well as the Latino community, 414 00:23:40,922 --> 00:23:45,051 always the first thing they wanted to do was be able to take their families 415 00:23:45,135 --> 00:23:47,429 to a movie, 416 00:23:47,512 --> 00:23:50,056 and that's the most affordable thing that they could still do. 417 00:23:50,682 --> 00:23:54,060 But we had to drive outside our community to go to the movies. 418 00:23:54,769 --> 00:23:59,190 You're talking about 30, 40 minutes just to go to a first-run movie theater. 419 00:23:59,274 --> 00:24:03,653 Films, movies have always been a part of my life with Cookie. 420 00:24:03,737 --> 00:24:06,615 That's our-- One of our first dates were at the movie. 421 00:24:06,698 --> 00:24:09,326 And it's funny. To this day that's, like, our date night. 422 00:24:09,409 --> 00:24:11,119 To go to the movies on Friday nights. 423 00:24:11,202 --> 00:24:13,204 I met with Ken Lombard. 424 00:24:13,288 --> 00:24:17,459 Ken, he had the expertise in the theater business. 425 00:24:17,542 --> 00:24:21,796 Earvin made it clear that he loved the movie theater side of the business, 426 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:23,924 and this was something that he had interest in. 427 00:24:24,007 --> 00:24:30,847 And so this was going to be my first big investment of my own money. 428 00:24:30,931 --> 00:24:33,975 It was an opportunity for us to get in a lane, 429 00:24:34,059 --> 00:24:37,479 build a business around the minority communities 430 00:24:37,562 --> 00:24:39,940 that really no one was doing at the time. 431 00:24:40,023 --> 00:24:41,524 I walked out of that meeting, 432 00:24:41,942 --> 00:24:44,069 convinced that Earvin was the right partner. 433 00:24:44,152 --> 00:24:45,654 Peter! Peter! 434 00:24:45,737 --> 00:24:47,239 He came with Ken Lombard. 435 00:24:47,322 --> 00:24:50,533 They said, "But, hey, we know that you're in the exhibition business, 436 00:24:50,617 --> 00:24:52,327 and you wanna be where audiences are. 437 00:24:52,410 --> 00:24:57,123 Well, we know a country where moviegoing is the first most important priority 438 00:24:57,749 --> 00:24:58,833 for those people. 439 00:24:58,917 --> 00:25:02,462 And it's a really progressive and dynamic moviegoing audience, 440 00:25:02,546 --> 00:25:04,714 and you can make a ton of money." 441 00:25:04,798 --> 00:25:06,591 So I think, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear." 442 00:25:06,675 --> 00:25:08,552 'Cause we were expanding around the world. 443 00:25:08,635 --> 00:25:10,845 I said, "So where do we have to go?" 444 00:25:10,929 --> 00:25:12,764 He said, "Five miles from here to Baldwin Hills." 445 00:25:14,849 --> 00:25:20,647 You could merge economic necessity, economic desire, creative opportunity 446 00:25:20,730 --> 00:25:22,607 and purposefulness in the community. 447 00:25:22,691 --> 00:25:24,568 That was a very powerful statement. 448 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:26,778 And I really did this, he'll tell you. 449 00:25:26,861 --> 00:25:28,655 I reached across the table, I said, "I'm in." 450 00:25:33,159 --> 00:25:36,288 We knew what everybody else was thinking. 451 00:25:37,747 --> 00:25:39,708 It's in the middle of the Bloods and the Crips. 452 00:25:39,791 --> 00:25:43,086 It kinda sits in the junction of a number of different gang lands 453 00:25:43,169 --> 00:25:47,257 that go from Rollin' 60s, further down Crenshaw to the Jungle, 454 00:25:47,340 --> 00:25:49,009 which is the P. Stones. 455 00:25:49,759 --> 00:25:53,179 One incident could destroy our business. 456 00:25:53,263 --> 00:25:56,433 And everybody was thinking that it was going to happen. 457 00:25:56,516 --> 00:25:59,811 That's what really made me mad, so I had to prove them wrong. 458 00:25:59,895 --> 00:26:02,939 And so I said, "Ken, call the heads. 459 00:26:03,023 --> 00:26:06,818 I want to have breakfast with both heads of the Crips and heads of the Bloods." 460 00:26:06,902 --> 00:26:09,195 He said, "Okay. You sure?" 461 00:26:09,279 --> 00:26:10,447 And I said, "Yeah." 462 00:26:10,530 --> 00:26:11,740 We went. 463 00:26:11,823 --> 00:26:14,159 And I had about six or seven guys with me. 464 00:26:14,242 --> 00:26:16,161 They showed up with about 35 people. 465 00:26:16,953 --> 00:26:20,415 I said, "I'm not here to disrespect either one of you. 466 00:26:20,498 --> 00:26:21,958 What I'm here for is to say, 467 00:26:22,042 --> 00:26:27,589 this theater is gonna help the entire Black community. 468 00:26:28,256 --> 00:26:29,883 I want you to come. 469 00:26:29,966 --> 00:26:31,468 I want your family to come. 470 00:26:31,551 --> 00:26:37,641 But you guys got to agree that we can't have violence 471 00:26:37,724 --> 00:26:40,310 outside or inside that theater. 472 00:26:41,061 --> 00:26:42,520 And I'm creating jobs. 473 00:26:42,604 --> 00:26:46,775 So if you guys got some guys who want to work, I will employ them." 474 00:26:47,817 --> 00:26:48,902 Everyone respected him. 475 00:26:48,985 --> 00:26:50,946 No one knew him as a businessman, of course, 476 00:26:51,029 --> 00:26:52,656 but they respected everything about it. 477 00:26:52,739 --> 00:26:55,617 And in LA, you know, all these guys are basketball fans 478 00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:56,701 or Laker fans. 479 00:26:56,785 --> 00:26:59,579 So they obviously, you know, they loved Earvin. 480 00:26:59,663 --> 00:27:01,581 And then we were off to the races. 481 00:27:01,665 --> 00:27:04,793 Before Magic started building theaters, 482 00:27:04,876 --> 00:27:07,546 I didn't give two shakes from a rat's rectum about it. 483 00:27:07,629 --> 00:27:11,841 Now Magic becomes a hero because he lives up to his word. 484 00:27:12,634 --> 00:27:17,847 Giving jobs to people that, you know, were written off 485 00:27:17,931 --> 00:27:21,142 in some aspect, It was huge. 486 00:27:21,226 --> 00:27:23,937 Movies may play a big role in our popular culture, 487 00:27:24,020 --> 00:27:27,148 but in some of our neighborhoods, they play no role at all. 488 00:27:27,232 --> 00:27:30,277 But thanks to some movie magic, that's changing. 489 00:27:30,735 --> 00:27:33,572 This is a movie complex built by Magic Johnson, 490 00:27:33,655 --> 00:27:36,116 right in the center of the Crenshaw District in LA. 491 00:27:37,826 --> 00:27:40,954 The opening was a celebration. 492 00:27:41,037 --> 00:27:42,205 I lived around the corner. 493 00:27:42,289 --> 00:27:44,499 The entire neighborhood was going. 494 00:27:45,208 --> 00:27:49,087 We got big, big, big screens 495 00:27:49,838 --> 00:27:53,925 stadium seating, you got popcorn shrimp, 496 00:27:54,009 --> 00:27:56,469 chicken and some hot sauce. 497 00:27:59,347 --> 00:28:01,600 And the whole thing. They're gonna tear it up. 498 00:28:01,683 --> 00:28:05,520 It's gonna be a lot of shooting, a lot of fighting, you know. 499 00:28:05,604 --> 00:28:06,938 That never happened. 500 00:28:07,522 --> 00:28:12,027 We were able to dispel a lot of myths about the Black customer. 501 00:28:12,110 --> 00:28:14,571 This is Magic Johnson's newest movie theater. 502 00:28:14,654 --> 00:28:16,448 He's got three or four of 'em all over the country. 503 00:28:16,531 --> 00:28:19,826 Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, and this is the latest one right here 504 00:28:19,910 --> 00:28:21,661 in North Randall, the greater Cleveland area. 505 00:28:21,745 --> 00:28:24,998 There were no movies in Central Harlem. 506 00:28:25,081 --> 00:28:27,709 Now we have nine screens here. 507 00:28:27,792 --> 00:28:30,879 Another benefit is that 80% of the theater's staff 508 00:28:30,962 --> 00:28:33,465 lives in the neighborhood it serves. 509 00:28:33,548 --> 00:28:35,926 And it wasn't about money. 510 00:28:36,009 --> 00:28:37,469 It was about change. 511 00:28:37,552 --> 00:28:40,805 Changing the community and revitalizing that community 512 00:28:40,889 --> 00:28:43,391 in a different way that I had ever seen before. 513 00:28:44,935 --> 00:28:47,812 Once the theaters was successful 514 00:28:47,896 --> 00:28:51,691 and people, they had their, you know, magnifying glasses out, 515 00:28:51,775 --> 00:28:54,194 looking like, "Is this is really going to work in these communities? 516 00:28:54,277 --> 00:28:55,737 Are you sure it's gonna work?" 517 00:28:55,820 --> 00:28:58,865 And not only did it work, but it expanded quickly. 518 00:28:59,407 --> 00:29:03,036 And from the theaters came Starbucks. 519 00:29:06,539 --> 00:29:09,626 I think I was in New York, and I saw this line. 520 00:29:09,709 --> 00:29:13,255 And I saw the Starbucks, but I didn't know what it was, you know, at that time. 521 00:29:13,338 --> 00:29:16,716 I said, "Them people waiting in line for coffee?" 522 00:29:17,676 --> 00:29:19,886 And this is Black people in line too. 523 00:29:19,970 --> 00:29:22,305 Man, I'm sitting there. I'm saying, "Wow. 524 00:29:22,389 --> 00:29:25,767 This may be the next thing I gotta do." 525 00:29:25,850 --> 00:29:28,728 Meet the guy you could call the new Mr. Coffee. 526 00:29:28,812 --> 00:29:32,774 Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks and the brains behind the brew. 527 00:29:32,857 --> 00:29:35,277 You go to a city like New York City, and you're quite amazed 528 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,195 that a city as sophisticated as New York 529 00:29:37,279 --> 00:29:39,114 with great food and great art, 530 00:29:39,197 --> 00:29:40,657 you can't get a good cup of coffee. 531 00:29:40,740 --> 00:29:41,741 I was a little suspect. 532 00:29:41,825 --> 00:29:44,494 You know, what could Magic do with Starbucks 533 00:29:44,578 --> 00:29:48,373 that would be significant and authentic and relevant? 534 00:29:48,456 --> 00:29:54,004 And so, I think at the time, I was just intrigued to meet Magic Johnson. 535 00:29:54,087 --> 00:29:55,922 The question was, 536 00:29:56,006 --> 00:29:59,509 if you put a Starbucks in South Central LA are people gonna spend four dollars? 537 00:29:59,593 --> 00:30:02,679 And Earvin's response was, "We buy Gucci." 538 00:30:02,762 --> 00:30:06,016 Anytime that somebody is skeptical, 539 00:30:06,099 --> 00:30:08,435 and Howard was, and he had a reason to be, 540 00:30:08,518 --> 00:30:10,186 you've got to take 'em to the deal. 541 00:30:11,438 --> 00:30:15,734 So Waiting to Exhale, Whitney Houston's first movie, was coming out. 542 00:30:15,817 --> 00:30:18,612 Howard Schultz decided he wanted to come down on that Friday. 543 00:30:18,695 --> 00:30:20,655 And I tell you, he was shocked. 544 00:30:20,739 --> 00:30:21,990 It was crazy. 545 00:30:22,073 --> 00:30:25,243 I mean, a thousand people showed up in the lobby. 546 00:30:25,327 --> 00:30:27,329 You know, he looked at the line. 547 00:30:27,412 --> 00:30:32,751 He looked at all the conversations going on around the concession stand. 548 00:30:32,834 --> 00:30:35,086 He's seeing us spending a lot of money. 549 00:30:35,170 --> 00:30:37,297 He said, "Let's go inside." I said, "Okay." 550 00:30:37,380 --> 00:30:42,844 The movie starts, and of course, Whitney's having problems with her man. 551 00:30:43,553 --> 00:30:45,055 I mean, so, what do you think, Robin? 552 00:30:45,138 --> 00:30:49,059 I've loved this man forever, and now that we've got another chance, 553 00:30:49,142 --> 00:30:51,978 I don't wanna blow it by making him think I don't have any faith in him. 554 00:30:52,062 --> 00:30:55,398 Every woman and their girl, "Dump him. Why you still with him?" 555 00:30:55,482 --> 00:30:56,816 You know, they're talking to the screen. 556 00:30:56,900 --> 00:31:00,111 This audience was heavily engaged, 557 00:31:00,904 --> 00:31:03,198 viscerally with the movie. 558 00:31:03,281 --> 00:31:07,577 And Magic was encouraging the fact, "Look what's going on here. 559 00:31:07,661 --> 00:31:10,872 This is happening because we're giving people a platform 560 00:31:10,956 --> 00:31:12,624 to interact with the movie. 561 00:31:12,707 --> 00:31:17,546 And this is the community that I want to create with you at Starbucks." 562 00:31:17,629 --> 00:31:20,340 Starbucks is expanding with a little bit of a "magic" touch. 563 00:31:20,423 --> 00:31:22,676 The popular company is teaming up with Magic Johnson 564 00:31:22,759 --> 00:31:25,220 to put new locations in neighborhoods across the country. 565 00:31:25,804 --> 00:31:26,972 Lo and behold, it turns out 566 00:31:27,055 --> 00:31:29,516 that Black folks drink coffee too, 567 00:31:29,599 --> 00:31:32,394 and they watch an awful lot of movies. 568 00:31:32,477 --> 00:31:33,812 Are we ready? 569 00:31:33,895 --> 00:31:35,021 It wasn't charity. 570 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,233 In fact, it could do very well for investors. 571 00:31:43,989 --> 00:31:46,992 All the things that I was on the basketball court, 572 00:31:47,075 --> 00:31:48,785 I am as a businessman. 573 00:31:48,868 --> 00:31:51,997 Discipline, focus, building a strategy, 574 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,207 execution, excellence. 575 00:31:55,750 --> 00:31:59,713 Earvin constantly focused on always wanting to get better. 576 00:31:59,796 --> 00:32:01,756 We gotta keep growing. We gotta keep doing. 577 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,384 He's gobbling up one of LA's oldest hamburger chains. 578 00:32:04,467 --> 00:32:06,469 Yeah, Fatburger. Yes. 579 00:32:06,553 --> 00:32:07,554 Yeah. 580 00:32:07,637 --> 00:32:09,598 With a snip of a ribbon, another new business. 581 00:32:09,681 --> 00:32:12,058 A 24 Hour Fitness gym near Oakland, 582 00:32:12,142 --> 00:32:15,270 the latest Magic Johnson investment in urban neighborhoods. 583 00:32:16,104 --> 00:32:20,942 We found out that there was a shortage of housing and retail in urban America. 584 00:32:21,026 --> 00:32:23,028 So let's do something about it. 585 00:32:23,111 --> 00:32:26,489 This project is not only gonna be a great project, 586 00:32:26,573 --> 00:32:28,491 but a much-needed project. 587 00:32:28,575 --> 00:32:31,703 The primary goal was real estate opportunities 588 00:32:31,786 --> 00:32:33,788 in minority communities across the country. 589 00:32:34,456 --> 00:32:36,583 Well, institutional capital was not ready. 590 00:32:36,666 --> 00:32:39,085 We got more noes than yeses. 591 00:32:39,169 --> 00:32:42,339 But we proved everybody wrong. 592 00:32:43,632 --> 00:32:46,092 Brand new buildings right in the hood. 593 00:32:46,843 --> 00:32:50,222 Condominiums on top and retail on the bottom. 594 00:32:50,305 --> 00:32:53,475 Everyone could see what we were trying to do, 595 00:32:53,558 --> 00:32:55,143 and we were beginning to pull it off. 596 00:32:55,227 --> 00:32:58,897 We're going to become the most significant development company 597 00:32:58,980 --> 00:33:01,316 in minority communities across the country. 598 00:33:01,399 --> 00:33:04,611 Well, now he's doing no-look passes with real estate funds 599 00:33:04,694 --> 00:33:07,864 and no-look passes with shopping centers and franchises. 600 00:33:07,948 --> 00:33:11,409 Somebody said that Magic Johnson is reinventing inner-city business. 601 00:33:12,285 --> 00:33:16,581 He was looking for people that had the same drive, the same vision, 602 00:33:16,665 --> 00:33:21,294 and was not afraid to work overtime and over-deliver. 603 00:33:22,170 --> 00:33:25,590 This is a man that wakes up at 4:00 in the morning 604 00:33:25,674 --> 00:33:28,635 and he has this work ethic that he lives by. 605 00:33:28,718 --> 00:33:30,178 You had to get there early. 606 00:33:30,262 --> 00:33:32,097 We worked through lunch. 607 00:33:32,180 --> 00:33:34,599 We worked Saturday and Sunday. 608 00:33:34,683 --> 00:33:37,394 There wasn't a Saturday or Sunday that I didn't go in the office 609 00:33:37,477 --> 00:33:40,647 for maybe 15 straight years. 610 00:33:40,730 --> 00:33:42,232 With his playing days behind him, 611 00:33:42,315 --> 00:33:44,401 Johnson turned his focus to the business world. 612 00:33:44,484 --> 00:33:48,405 He's now involved in movie theaters, restaurants, shopping centers, 613 00:33:48,488 --> 00:33:50,574 Starbucks and real estate. 614 00:33:50,657 --> 00:33:54,035 An empire valued at nearly half a billion dollars. 615 00:33:54,119 --> 00:33:57,831 Earvin wanted to do a lot. 616 00:34:00,208 --> 00:34:04,379 And so I was always concerned that we were trying to do too much. 617 00:34:05,672 --> 00:34:08,258 And he's only one person. 618 00:34:16,724 --> 00:34:18,768 Earvin and I always talked about having kids. 619 00:34:18,852 --> 00:34:20,436 This is way before we got married. 620 00:34:20,519 --> 00:34:25,233 And we always said that we wanted to have a big family 'cause he had a big family. 621 00:34:26,401 --> 00:34:27,652 But at that time, 622 00:34:27,736 --> 00:34:33,074 there wasn't a lot of knowledge about HIV patients and having children. 623 00:34:33,157 --> 00:34:36,745 And so we were advised not to try on our own. 624 00:34:37,996 --> 00:34:39,914 You know, having two boys 625 00:34:39,998 --> 00:34:43,960 and knowing that Cookie and I wasn't having any more kids ourselves, 626 00:34:44,878 --> 00:34:47,505 we both decided to adopt. 627 00:34:48,465 --> 00:34:52,302 This beautiful baby came into our lives. 628 00:34:54,304 --> 00:34:57,474 She came home, and I had EJ there. And I'm like, 629 00:34:57,557 --> 00:35:00,685 "EJ, look. This is your new baby sister." 630 00:35:00,769 --> 00:35:04,439 Then he was like, "That's so cute. She's so sweet. 631 00:35:04,522 --> 00:35:05,649 Now take her back." 632 00:35:08,068 --> 00:35:11,279 Earvin kind of kicked in with the kids when they became toddlers, 633 00:35:11,363 --> 00:35:13,782 when they were a little more agile for him. 634 00:35:15,909 --> 00:35:19,496 He was very busy. He had to get up and go to work. 635 00:35:20,705 --> 00:35:23,416 And plus, he was traveling a lot too, so he wasn't there a lot. 636 00:35:24,668 --> 00:35:27,045 Even though he worked a lot, 637 00:35:27,128 --> 00:35:29,047 I knew, like, once he was home 638 00:35:29,130 --> 00:35:32,884 we were gonna go get ice cream or we were gonna go to the movies, 639 00:35:32,968 --> 00:35:35,679 or he would spend countless hours with me in the mall, 640 00:35:35,762 --> 00:35:39,558 letting me pick out my, like, favorite outfits or whatever. 641 00:35:41,184 --> 00:35:44,729 You know, he took us to the movies a lot 642 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:46,565 whenever he was home. 643 00:35:46,648 --> 00:35:48,692 You know, weekends when he was there it's, like-- 644 00:35:48,775 --> 00:35:51,194 You know, he would take us everywhere. 645 00:35:52,195 --> 00:35:54,990 First memories, I can remember, like, 646 00:35:55,073 --> 00:35:56,074 when my dad would come 647 00:35:56,157 --> 00:35:58,618 into Lansing, we would get together as family. 648 00:35:58,702 --> 00:36:02,956 And then I started, probably around ten or 11, 649 00:36:03,039 --> 00:36:05,333 starting to fly out by myself. 650 00:36:05,417 --> 00:36:09,754 And for the first time, seeing sort of what the big city was like 651 00:36:09,838 --> 00:36:12,883 and, you know, seeing the beach, going to Disneyland. 652 00:36:12,966 --> 00:36:16,511 Like, for little Lansing, that seemed larger than life. 653 00:36:17,888 --> 00:36:21,516 He would always make time for things that mattered, I would say. 654 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:23,560 But he, yeah-- But he was working a lot, 655 00:36:23,643 --> 00:36:26,313 and he was, you know, transforming himself 656 00:36:26,396 --> 00:36:31,484 and his empire into the one that he wanted it to be. 657 00:36:33,612 --> 00:36:35,864 In the beginning, like, when we were growing up, 658 00:36:36,364 --> 00:36:38,533 he wanted me to be into sports and whatever. 659 00:36:38,617 --> 00:36:40,660 But it's, like, I had never had a mind for sports, 660 00:36:40,744 --> 00:36:45,415 even though, come home from school Friday, change, basketball game. 661 00:36:46,291 --> 00:36:48,627 There wasn't a choice. We're all going to The Forum. 662 00:36:48,710 --> 00:36:51,171 When it's, like, Friday night, like, that's what we're doing. 663 00:36:51,254 --> 00:36:53,965 Yeah, I was there for the championships and all that jazz. 664 00:36:54,049 --> 00:36:56,468 And all the men and boys in the world come up to me 665 00:36:56,551 --> 00:36:58,470 and just like, "Oh, my God. What that must've been like." 666 00:36:58,553 --> 00:37:00,222 Or, "This game in this year," 667 00:37:00,305 --> 00:37:02,891 and, "When your dad made this pass," and such and such. 668 00:37:02,974 --> 00:37:05,518 And I'm like, "I have no idea what you're talking about." 669 00:37:05,602 --> 00:37:08,480 You know, we put him in T-ball, and he just went out in the field 670 00:37:08,563 --> 00:37:11,691 and picked the flowers and ran back and, "Look, Mommy. Look what I got you." 671 00:37:11,775 --> 00:37:13,401 You know, he picked flowers for me. 672 00:37:13,485 --> 00:37:15,654 I'm like, "EJ, you're supposed to catch the ball." 673 00:37:17,322 --> 00:37:20,700 So, when I was playing basketball, I had his number. 674 00:37:20,784 --> 00:37:22,410 I used number 32. 675 00:37:22,494 --> 00:37:25,288 And when he would come to my games, it was a lot of pressure. 676 00:37:25,372 --> 00:37:28,375 I did feel like all eyes were on me. 677 00:37:29,209 --> 00:37:31,628 I stressed this to my kids all the time. 678 00:37:31,711 --> 00:37:34,923 Everything that you do reflects your parents. 679 00:37:35,924 --> 00:37:38,885 As a father, you say, "Oh, man, I want him to get into sports 680 00:37:38,969 --> 00:37:40,637 and be like me." 681 00:37:41,346 --> 00:37:43,765 People would say, if I made a mistake, 682 00:37:43,848 --> 00:37:47,727 you know, it was worse than any mistake that my dad made. 683 00:37:47,811 --> 00:37:49,813 Or if I did something great in the game, 684 00:37:49,896 --> 00:37:53,275 that was great, but it was never as great as what he did during that time. 685 00:37:53,358 --> 00:37:58,697 So, you know, at a early stage, then I stopped loving playing. 686 00:38:00,365 --> 00:38:02,742 But the thing is, like, I believe, 687 00:38:02,826 --> 00:38:04,578 it would've been harder for him to take 688 00:38:04,661 --> 00:38:10,750 if me or Elisa or Andre, like, ended up being some basketball protégé 689 00:38:10,834 --> 00:38:13,879 and was crushing the game. Or, like, turned into LeBron James or something. 690 00:38:13,962 --> 00:38:18,800 In some way, I think he needed all the thunder in that lane. 691 00:38:20,468 --> 00:38:24,723 What was hard was for-- for him to just let go of that old world, 692 00:38:25,599 --> 00:38:27,267 because it was snatched from him. 693 00:38:27,350 --> 00:38:29,019 He wasn't ready to let it go. 694 00:38:29,519 --> 00:38:31,021 He loved the competition. 695 00:38:31,688 --> 00:38:33,481 This is not because he wanted to be seen. 696 00:38:33,565 --> 00:38:35,775 It was about being competitive. 697 00:38:35,859 --> 00:38:40,322 I missed the elbows, getting elbowed, and I missed giving some elbows. 698 00:38:40,405 --> 00:38:43,617 I missed, you know, preparing for the opponent. 699 00:38:43,700 --> 00:38:44,910 I want to play. 700 00:38:47,829 --> 00:38:50,332 Why am I not out there? 701 00:38:50,415 --> 00:38:52,500 So in 1996, 702 00:38:52,584 --> 00:38:55,795 sometime after the first of the year, he goes, "I'm coming back to play." 703 00:38:56,379 --> 00:38:57,547 But I knew… 704 00:38:58,715 --> 00:39:01,718 I knew that he was not gonna last very long. 705 00:39:01,801 --> 00:39:05,347 This morning, Johnson ended the speculation about his return. 706 00:39:05,430 --> 00:39:06,932 I am back. Yes, I am. 707 00:39:08,308 --> 00:39:11,603 Tickets started flying out of The Forum box office soon as Laker fans 708 00:39:11,686 --> 00:39:14,439 caught wind that Magic Johnson is returning to the team. 709 00:39:14,522 --> 00:39:17,984 I am so excited. I couldn't sleep for the last two or three nights. 710 00:39:18,818 --> 00:39:22,030 I think it was 1996. I was at Magic's comeback game. 711 00:39:22,113 --> 00:39:26,076 Sellout crowd. Whoo! Magic's back in LA, baby. 712 00:39:26,701 --> 00:39:29,371 I was a sports guy on the radio, 713 00:39:29,454 --> 00:39:31,373 and I was like, "I have to go to this game." 714 00:39:32,958 --> 00:39:36,586 Magic is a big part of my childhood. 715 00:39:36,670 --> 00:39:39,130 Like, when I was a kid, I used to draw pictures of him. 716 00:39:39,214 --> 00:39:43,635 To see him back on that court, not just playing, but playing really well… 717 00:39:43,718 --> 00:39:45,512 Magic's in deep, banks it in! 718 00:39:45,595 --> 00:39:47,264 It was so life-affirming. 719 00:39:47,347 --> 00:39:49,391 It was beyond sports. 720 00:39:49,474 --> 00:39:52,811 When he took to the court for the Los Angeles Lakers last night, 721 00:39:52,894 --> 00:39:55,981 Magic Johnson played as if he hadn't missed a beat. 722 00:39:56,064 --> 00:39:59,901 He scored 19 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists. 723 00:39:59,985 --> 00:40:04,197 As far as him going and playing, I was happy 'cause he was happy, 724 00:40:04,281 --> 00:40:05,282 but, 725 00:40:05,782 --> 00:40:09,202 you know, not necessarily thinking that this was a good thing. 726 00:40:09,286 --> 00:40:11,997 Well, Magic Johnson says, "Bring on Michael." 727 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:15,041 The Magic Man appears ready for a Friday night showdown 728 00:40:15,125 --> 00:40:20,005 with NBA king Michael Jordan after a spectacular return last night. 729 00:40:20,672 --> 00:40:21,965 Magic Johnson backs in. 730 00:40:22,048 --> 00:40:23,800 Rejected by Pippen. 731 00:40:23,884 --> 00:40:26,970 Back to Magic off the dribble by Rodman. Short. 732 00:40:29,890 --> 00:40:33,643 What was sad for me was the second game against the Chicago Bulls, 733 00:40:33,727 --> 00:40:35,270 and they destroyed 'em. 734 00:40:35,770 --> 00:40:37,898 And I know Michael. I spoke to him after the game. 735 00:40:38,356 --> 00:40:39,691 He felt bad. 736 00:40:39,774 --> 00:40:43,570 I mean, him and Dennis Rodman just-- They obliterated 'em. 737 00:40:43,653 --> 00:40:46,197 I remember Dennis Rodman wanted to guard him. 738 00:40:46,281 --> 00:40:48,742 You know, so we sic Dennis on him. 739 00:40:48,825 --> 00:40:50,577 Magic slaps the hand of Rodman away, 740 00:40:50,660 --> 00:40:52,329 goes around him, and Rodman gets a foul. 741 00:40:52,412 --> 00:40:54,080 And-- Uh-oh. He will… 742 00:40:54,164 --> 00:40:55,957 There was a lot of shit-talking in the game. 743 00:40:56,041 --> 00:41:00,712 Said, "Look, man, I told you in '92, there's some new kids on the block." 744 00:41:00,795 --> 00:41:03,340 You know, "It's not Magic Johnson and Larry Bird anymore. 745 00:41:03,423 --> 00:41:05,592 You're on the way down, and we're on the way up." 746 00:41:06,092 --> 00:41:09,930 You know, the athleticism and speed and quickness wasn't there. 747 00:41:10,013 --> 00:41:12,140 Because of his IQ and his size, 748 00:41:12,224 --> 00:41:16,686 he could still make, you know, a contribution out there on the floor. 749 00:41:16,770 --> 00:41:21,900 But as the season goes on, you'll-- Things start to catch up to you. 750 00:41:21,983 --> 00:41:26,488 He wasn't as excited and happy as he thought he would be. 751 00:41:26,571 --> 00:41:29,866 It was, you know, kind of grueling, and it was different. 752 00:41:29,950 --> 00:41:31,534 …defense like he's trying to defend right now, 753 00:41:31,618 --> 00:41:33,328 the Blazers are gonna be all right. 754 00:41:33,411 --> 00:41:34,663 How about that for a reaction? 755 00:41:35,121 --> 00:41:40,418 It took that to tell him, "Okay, I can retire now. 756 00:41:41,044 --> 00:41:42,921 It's not what it used to be. 757 00:41:43,421 --> 00:41:44,839 I don't want this anymore." 758 00:41:46,091 --> 00:41:49,844 This is not a sad day or a bad day. It's a good day 759 00:41:49,928 --> 00:41:52,973 because God blessed me to be able to come back 760 00:41:54,724 --> 00:41:57,185 and God will continue to bless me after this is over. 761 00:41:58,228 --> 00:42:01,356 And he kept going back to try to revive that old life, 762 00:42:01,439 --> 00:42:03,233 which just wasn't gonna happen. 763 00:42:03,316 --> 00:42:05,318 But what happens with his mind-- 764 00:42:05,402 --> 00:42:08,697 The way Earvin thinks-- The way Earvin operates is, 765 00:42:08,780 --> 00:42:12,701 he only look forward, and then that's when the new visions come. 766 00:42:12,784 --> 00:42:16,037 And he gets so excited about the new visions. 767 00:42:16,830 --> 00:42:18,373 He had different things he was trying to do. 768 00:42:18,456 --> 00:42:21,001 There was a comeback, and then there was the TV show. 769 00:42:21,793 --> 00:42:25,088 In just a few short months, Johnson will host The Magic Hour, 770 00:42:25,171 --> 00:42:26,882 a late-night syndicated talk show. 771 00:42:27,465 --> 00:42:29,175 Hi. How you doing? All right? 772 00:42:29,509 --> 00:42:32,262 At a recent convention for television programmers, 773 00:42:32,345 --> 00:42:35,891 he was working the room and pitching the show to every executive in sight. 774 00:42:35,974 --> 00:42:37,726 How are you? Nice to meet you. 775 00:42:37,809 --> 00:42:41,062 We talked about it. I thought it was an interesting idea. 776 00:42:41,563 --> 00:42:44,608 I did warn him, because I handled David Letterman, 777 00:42:45,108 --> 00:42:51,740 and I did advise him that it's a tough, tough row to hoe. 778 00:42:51,823 --> 00:42:53,950 You've got Leno. You've got Letterman. 779 00:42:54,034 --> 00:42:57,162 This is really a tough arena that you're getting into. 780 00:42:57,245 --> 00:42:58,788 -Yeah. -Why are you doing that? 781 00:42:58,872 --> 00:43:00,582 Because it's a tough arena. 782 00:43:02,834 --> 00:43:08,506 Live from Los Angeles, it's The Magic Hour. 783 00:43:08,590 --> 00:43:10,842 The Magic Hour is-- 784 00:43:11,718 --> 00:43:14,721 Keep in mind, this is coming from somebody who loves Magic Johnson-- 785 00:43:14,804 --> 00:43:17,307 Is one of the-- Not just one of the worst talk shows, 786 00:43:17,390 --> 00:43:19,809 but one of the worst television shows in history. 787 00:43:19,893 --> 00:43:23,605 All these twins I got in the front row. Man! 788 00:43:25,398 --> 00:43:26,900 Look at all these twins. 789 00:43:30,987 --> 00:43:33,114 -Just for me, huh? -Just for you. 790 00:43:34,491 --> 00:43:39,037 And very quickly he realized, he doesn't really like doing this every night. 791 00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:42,415 This has to be your breakfast, lunch and dinner. 792 00:43:42,499 --> 00:43:43,500 It wasn't for him. 793 00:43:43,583 --> 00:43:46,795 He had breakfast and lunch doing other things. 794 00:43:46,878 --> 00:43:50,382 So I think he was burning the candle at too many ends. 795 00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:55,971 You know, the difference between Earvin and Magic are very different people. 796 00:43:56,888 --> 00:43:59,724 You know, Magic is the character. 797 00:43:59,808 --> 00:44:03,228 You know, he's the, you know, the man of the world. 798 00:44:03,311 --> 00:44:05,313 You know, he's in front of the camera with a big smile, 799 00:44:05,397 --> 00:44:07,440 laughing, loving the attention. 800 00:44:07,524 --> 00:44:10,485 You know, he just becomes a whole new person, like, when he's on. 801 00:44:10,569 --> 00:44:14,197 When he's off, you know, he's kind of very introverted 802 00:44:14,281 --> 00:44:18,702 and, you know-- and oftentimes quite quiet. 803 00:44:18,785 --> 00:44:21,371 It's like that movie Split. They're just fighting for the light. 804 00:44:21,454 --> 00:44:23,248 You know, it's like someone-- Earvin might have light, 805 00:44:23,331 --> 00:44:27,002 and then something might change. And then Magic comes in. 806 00:44:28,295 --> 00:44:34,092 The funny thing is, like, my dad was, like, almost the same identical brain 807 00:44:34,175 --> 00:44:38,471 and we think, and we process things, you know, very, very similarly. 808 00:44:38,555 --> 00:44:41,558 And he was figuring himself out. I was figuring myself out. 809 00:44:44,519 --> 00:44:47,355 The journey to becoming who I am was the most difficult, 810 00:44:47,439 --> 00:44:52,193 and a lot of that had to do with this huge name that was hanging over me. 811 00:44:54,738 --> 00:44:57,908 He was always, like-- always watching me when growing up. 812 00:44:57,991 --> 00:45:00,201 Like, testing me and-- 813 00:45:00,285 --> 00:45:02,370 Especially when I was younger, because obviously I always gravitated 814 00:45:02,454 --> 00:45:04,205 for things that are more feminine and stuff like that. 815 00:45:04,289 --> 00:45:06,207 And he, you know-- That was not allowed. 816 00:45:06,291 --> 00:45:09,127 He would always wanna play with his sister's dolls, 817 00:45:09,211 --> 00:45:10,962 especially the Barbie dolls, 818 00:45:11,046 --> 00:45:12,881 and dress them up in different things. 819 00:45:12,964 --> 00:45:16,134 And no matter how much I told him not to do it, 820 00:45:16,718 --> 00:45:18,887 I would go upstairs and that's what he would be doing. 821 00:45:21,181 --> 00:45:25,435 I always snuck Barbies under my bed or like little dress costumes. 822 00:45:26,645 --> 00:45:27,896 I would hide from him. 823 00:45:29,105 --> 00:45:31,066 It was almost like I was living a double life. 824 00:45:32,901 --> 00:45:34,444 If it was just an hour 825 00:45:34,945 --> 00:45:37,781 alone in my room where I got to twirl around in my little dress 826 00:45:37,864 --> 00:45:42,077 and be the evil queen and play with my dolls, like, that's it. 827 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:44,204 I would go to school and be who I wanted to be, 828 00:45:44,287 --> 00:45:46,581 but when I was at home-- No. 829 00:45:49,084 --> 00:45:50,961 It was a spring break with the kids. 830 00:45:52,254 --> 00:45:54,881 EJ, you know, was, like, 13. 831 00:45:54,965 --> 00:45:59,511 And that's when I saw him looking at another boy when we were in Hawaii. 832 00:46:01,096 --> 00:46:02,973 I had a conversation with him and said, 833 00:46:03,056 --> 00:46:05,892 "Do you think that you are gay or you like boys?" 834 00:46:05,976 --> 00:46:09,771 And he was like, "Yes, I do." And he was really nervous to tell me. 835 00:46:09,854 --> 00:46:14,234 Before he really said it, I was like, "EJ, you don't have to worry about me. 836 00:46:14,317 --> 00:46:16,820 I already knew who you were." 837 00:46:16,903 --> 00:46:21,825 And I could see, like, the weight kind of fall off of his shoulders. 838 00:46:21,908 --> 00:46:24,619 I think he had a conversation with Cookie at that point, 839 00:46:24,703 --> 00:46:27,706 but he hadn't had a conversation with my dad yet. 840 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,710 I said, "I'm with you, and I support you, and I love you. 841 00:46:31,793 --> 00:46:34,129 So next step, how do we tell Dad?" 842 00:46:35,881 --> 00:46:38,008 When we got back from that vacation, 843 00:46:38,091 --> 00:46:41,928 I decided to tell him right away because I wanted to get it out of the way. 844 00:46:42,012 --> 00:46:43,930 Because I was ready to move forward. 845 00:46:44,848 --> 00:46:47,517 He said, "You need to be masculine. You need to be this way. 846 00:46:47,601 --> 00:46:49,978 This isn't the life I wanted for you." And it was just sitting there, 847 00:46:50,061 --> 00:46:52,814 which was like, "Well, this is very hard to hear." 848 00:46:53,899 --> 00:46:57,569 I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you and say that, you know, 849 00:46:57,652 --> 00:47:01,740 I accepted what he was doing in the beginning, 'cause I didn't. 850 00:47:01,823 --> 00:47:04,618 EJ left the room. I lit into him. 851 00:47:04,701 --> 00:47:06,411 Like, "I can't believe you said that. 852 00:47:06,494 --> 00:47:08,455 You know, this is who he is. Leave him alone. 853 00:47:08,538 --> 00:47:10,332 Let him be who he wants to be." 854 00:47:10,415 --> 00:47:13,168 I remember talking to EJ afterwards, 855 00:47:13,251 --> 00:47:14,544 and that was tough. 856 00:47:15,503 --> 00:47:16,546 That was tough. 857 00:47:17,172 --> 00:47:20,133 -What's good, brother? -What up? What up? 858 00:47:20,717 --> 00:47:23,511 I was out one night in LA just minding my own business, 859 00:47:23,595 --> 00:47:27,474 and me and my friend, who was a guy-- We were holding hands. 860 00:47:28,099 --> 00:47:31,436 When I woke up that next morning, everything had changed. 861 00:47:31,519 --> 00:47:33,521 I mean, it was everywhere. 862 00:47:33,605 --> 00:47:36,191 It's Magic Johnson's son, EJ, 20-year-old. 863 00:47:36,483 --> 00:47:39,736 pictures of him just showed up with him holding hands with his boyfriend. 864 00:47:40,612 --> 00:47:43,031 Everybody was trying to chase down stories 865 00:47:43,114 --> 00:47:45,909 and trying to say, "Hey, was he gay?" 866 00:47:46,493 --> 00:47:47,869 You know, that was hard for me. 867 00:47:48,578 --> 00:47:50,455 I'm supposed to protect my kids. 868 00:47:50,956 --> 00:47:52,999 My father passed that down to me. 869 00:47:53,083 --> 00:47:56,711 And so with EJ, I had to check myself 870 00:47:57,754 --> 00:48:00,549 and say, "This is who he is, 871 00:48:00,632 --> 00:48:03,927 and you can't put your life on your son. 872 00:48:05,804 --> 00:48:07,889 You gotta change. Not him. You." 873 00:48:10,934 --> 00:48:13,353 So one day, we were at home. 874 00:48:13,436 --> 00:48:16,189 And I heard them talking down the hallway, near EJ's bedroom, 875 00:48:16,273 --> 00:48:18,858 and I was thinking, "What are they-- Why is he up so early?" 876 00:48:21,778 --> 00:48:26,074 I told him. I said, "No matter who you want to be, 877 00:48:26,157 --> 00:48:29,160 and whoever you are, I'm gonna love you." 878 00:48:29,244 --> 00:48:33,623 He literally hugged me so hard. I thought he was gonna break my back in half. 879 00:48:33,707 --> 00:48:36,585 And, like, that's when I knew. I was like, "We got this." 880 00:48:36,668 --> 00:48:38,879 The fabulous EJ Johnson. 881 00:48:38,962 --> 00:48:41,840 You didn't just come out of the closet, you kicked the hinges off the door. 882 00:48:43,383 --> 00:48:44,718 This is what it's all about. 883 00:48:44,801 --> 00:48:47,554 -I'm gonna love him for who he is, and-- -That's right. 884 00:48:49,180 --> 00:48:50,557 That he was there for me, 885 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,810 it spoke volumes a lot, to a lot of families 886 00:48:53,894 --> 00:48:56,146 and a lot of, you know, fathers and sons. 887 00:48:56,229 --> 00:48:58,440 Especially, you know, those of color. 888 00:48:58,523 --> 00:49:00,191 All I saw was a father's love 889 00:49:00,775 --> 00:49:03,028 and just how proud he was talking about EJ. 890 00:49:03,653 --> 00:49:08,116 And I didn't know that I would be dealing with something similar many years later. 891 00:49:08,825 --> 00:49:10,744 And for me, I can go back to that. 892 00:49:10,827 --> 00:49:14,915 I can go back to a proud dad talking about his child. Nothing else. 893 00:49:15,498 --> 00:49:20,170 He really respects me and who I am and showing who you are 894 00:49:20,462 --> 00:49:21,922 and not being afraid. 895 00:49:22,005 --> 00:49:25,967 What he did for so many young people, 896 00:49:26,051 --> 00:49:27,677 that made me feel so good. 897 00:49:27,761 --> 00:49:29,304 He's mentioned that to me before. 898 00:49:29,387 --> 00:49:33,516 And he's like, "I've, you know-- I've learned so much just by being your father 899 00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:34,893 and watching you and--" 900 00:49:34,976 --> 00:49:37,812 And I think that that's really when he got to see that, like, 901 00:49:37,896 --> 00:49:41,358 we are way more alike than we are different. 902 00:49:41,441 --> 00:49:46,780 The gag is, you'll never know that we are closer than close. 903 00:49:50,700 --> 00:49:56,456 Earvin recognized that there was lots of young people who had struggles. 904 00:49:56,539 --> 00:50:00,168 So we were gonna expand the foundation 905 00:50:00,252 --> 00:50:06,508 from a single-focus, HIV/AIDS focused, and we expanded it to scholarships. 906 00:50:06,591 --> 00:50:09,302 The Magic Johnson Foundation was my extended family. 907 00:50:10,220 --> 00:50:12,222 I'm a former scholarship recipient 908 00:50:12,305 --> 00:50:15,809 of the Magic Johnson/Taylor Michaels Scholarship Program. 909 00:50:15,892 --> 00:50:19,479 The scholarship focused on identifying students 910 00:50:19,563 --> 00:50:25,318 that needed not only financial support, but that also needed a mentor. 911 00:50:26,403 --> 00:50:31,157 The vast majority of students who are selected face significant hardship. 912 00:50:31,241 --> 00:50:34,828 They had the grades to go to college. They just didn't have the financial means, 913 00:50:34,911 --> 00:50:38,039 and so the Magic Johnson Foundation helped them with that. 914 00:50:38,748 --> 00:50:41,877 Not only did we provide scholarships, 915 00:50:41,960 --> 00:50:45,881 we gave them the tools to succeed. 916 00:50:45,964 --> 00:50:49,467 We realized you can't just give these students money to go to college, 917 00:50:49,551 --> 00:50:52,095 but they need support the entire way. 918 00:50:52,679 --> 00:50:55,265 We had technology centers in multiple cities 919 00:50:55,348 --> 00:51:00,854 to provide laptops, résumé training, interview workshops. 920 00:51:01,855 --> 00:51:05,859 There were about 30 of us who started in the program, 921 00:51:05,942 --> 00:51:07,944 and then year after year, it grew. 922 00:51:08,528 --> 00:51:11,740 All the thousands of kids, all those young people 923 00:51:11,823 --> 00:51:13,909 that we put in college, you know. 924 00:51:14,993 --> 00:51:16,703 It's just beautiful, man. 925 00:51:16,786 --> 00:51:20,123 Magic Johnson, whom we affectionately call "Daddy Earv," 926 00:51:20,790 --> 00:51:22,083 was like a father figure. 927 00:51:22,167 --> 00:51:26,671 And I have an excellent father, but he was like a bonus dad. 928 00:51:26,755 --> 00:51:29,841 We call him "Daddy Earv." It's hard for me to say "Magic" at this point. 929 00:51:29,925 --> 00:51:31,468 They called him "Daddy Earv," 930 00:51:31,551 --> 00:51:37,057 and he was a big, big part of their lives. 931 00:51:37,807 --> 00:51:42,020 He wasn't the basketball star around us, 932 00:51:42,103 --> 00:51:44,689 so he wasn't Earvin "Magic" Johnson. 933 00:51:44,773 --> 00:51:48,151 He was warm, and he was tender, and he was compassionate. 934 00:51:48,235 --> 00:51:51,780 And he is someone who likes to see you grow. 935 00:51:51,863 --> 00:51:56,785 He loves to see the potential, invest in it, encourage, water. 936 00:51:57,619 --> 00:52:00,705 He gave us that confidence. Like, shoulders back, chin up, chest out. 937 00:52:00,789 --> 00:52:04,834 You are somebody. You have something to say. People need to hear it. 938 00:52:04,918 --> 00:52:06,336 No fear. Go forth. 939 00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:10,382 Like, that's what really makes him a legend and an icon in my eyes. 940 00:52:10,465 --> 00:52:14,678 And he went higher than-- probably than he could even have imagined. 941 00:52:14,761 --> 00:52:17,389 And he just kept going and going, and he keeps going and going. 942 00:52:19,057 --> 00:52:20,225 He's one of the best guards, 943 00:52:20,308 --> 00:52:22,686 perhaps the best basketball player of all time. 944 00:52:22,769 --> 00:52:25,814 The first player ever to win a high school, 945 00:52:25,897 --> 00:52:29,568 an NCAA, an NBA and an Olympic championship. 946 00:52:29,651 --> 00:52:33,321 He's won five MVPs and five championship rings. 947 00:52:33,405 --> 00:52:36,783 Johnson has made an impact as a successful businessman. 948 00:52:36,866 --> 00:52:38,618 He has helped revitalize urban neighborhoods. 949 00:52:39,244 --> 00:52:43,039 He's become synonymous with the city of Los Angeles and much more. 950 00:52:45,500 --> 00:52:49,921 I brought my mom, I remember, 'cause my father didn't make it that time. 951 00:52:50,005 --> 00:52:53,341 And all of a sudden, she-- I saw her tear up. 952 00:52:54,426 --> 00:52:55,969 And I said, "Mom, what's wrong?" 953 00:52:56,803 --> 00:53:00,682 She said, "I cannot believe it, and your grandfather-- 954 00:53:02,058 --> 00:53:05,937 He would have just been out of his mind 955 00:53:06,021 --> 00:53:09,149 to know that-- Jackie Robinson was his favorite player. 956 00:53:10,025 --> 00:53:13,486 He cheered for Jackie, listened to every game on the radio, 957 00:53:14,571 --> 00:53:20,368 and now the team that Jackie played for, you own-- One of the owners of the team." 958 00:53:20,452 --> 00:53:22,203 And I was like, "Wow." 959 00:53:31,421 --> 00:53:36,259 I was born the day after Jackie Robinson played his first game in Brooklyn. 960 00:53:36,343 --> 00:53:39,596 That was very significant in my household. 961 00:53:45,810 --> 00:53:47,312 Sixty years later, 962 00:53:48,772 --> 00:53:49,773 and it's Magic. 963 00:53:50,190 --> 00:53:56,363 And that was the type of good luck that you cannot-- you can't order it up. 964 00:53:56,446 --> 00:53:57,739 It just happens. 965 00:53:57,822 --> 00:54:01,243 Magic Johnson is joining a new team, the LA Dodgers. 966 00:54:01,326 --> 00:54:04,996 His winning lineage with the Lakers and his megawatt smile 967 00:54:05,080 --> 00:54:07,374 have all of a sudden, by themselves, 968 00:54:07,457 --> 00:54:10,669 lifted a cloud that's really plagued Dodgers and their fans. 969 00:54:12,671 --> 00:54:13,797 I can't-- 970 00:54:15,340 --> 00:54:17,092 I can't even put into words how it is. 971 00:54:17,175 --> 00:54:20,136 So, it's a great time. 972 00:54:24,182 --> 00:54:28,019 Well, my father was about never owing anybody anything. 973 00:54:28,103 --> 00:54:34,192 So he would always teach me about owning the car that he drove, 974 00:54:34,276 --> 00:54:35,986 owning the house that we lived in. 975 00:54:36,778 --> 00:54:38,405 That's the power in America. 976 00:54:39,531 --> 00:54:42,325 Dodgers have won it all in 2020. 977 00:54:45,996 --> 00:54:47,372 This is what it's all about. 978 00:54:47,455 --> 00:54:49,583 And you know what I had told them when we bought the team? 979 00:54:49,666 --> 00:54:55,005 "I got all these Laker championship rings. I wanted a World Series ring." 980 00:54:55,088 --> 00:54:57,382 And sure enough, I got one. Yeah! 981 00:54:58,133 --> 00:55:00,260 The Black kid from Lansing, Michigan. 982 00:55:00,844 --> 00:55:02,762 It's all about ownership. 983 00:55:02,846 --> 00:55:04,180 That's the game he's in now. 984 00:55:04,264 --> 00:55:06,141 Once again, Johnson is bringing the magic 985 00:55:06,224 --> 00:55:07,809 back to a beloved franchise. 986 00:55:07,893 --> 00:55:10,645 They said, "Let's buy the Sparks." I said, "Okay, let's go do it." 987 00:55:12,272 --> 00:55:13,690 Let's go, Sparks! 988 00:55:13,773 --> 00:55:15,859 If you ask him right now, "So, what's next?" 989 00:55:15,942 --> 00:55:19,112 He's gonna be like, "Glad you asked. So here's the thing." 990 00:55:19,195 --> 00:55:21,406 Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson 991 00:55:21,489 --> 00:55:24,826 is part of a powerhouse group financing LAFC, 992 00:55:24,910 --> 00:55:28,330 a new soccer club recently approved by the MLS. 993 00:55:28,413 --> 00:55:30,916 That's what I like seeing, as a older Black man. 994 00:55:30,999 --> 00:55:35,837 You know, he's doing things that we couldn't dream of doing. 995 00:55:37,839 --> 00:55:40,258 Earvin's always been a trailblazer, 996 00:55:40,342 --> 00:55:43,637 and I think the important part of that 997 00:55:43,720 --> 00:55:45,305 is we don't just kick the door open. 998 00:55:45,388 --> 00:55:49,100 We make sure that we leave it open and provide a path for others to follow. 999 00:55:50,393 --> 00:55:52,312 Everything that I've always wanted to accomplish 1000 00:55:52,395 --> 00:55:53,772 or didn't think was attainable, 1001 00:55:53,855 --> 00:55:57,567 once-- Magic has shown us, once again, "Hey, guys. You can do it." 1002 00:55:57,651 --> 00:56:00,737 That's one of the reasons all the brothers admire Earvin. 1003 00:56:00,820 --> 00:56:06,534 He's the first guy who taught us how to make money away from basketball 1004 00:56:07,285 --> 00:56:12,540 and also go back in your communities and give people of color economic opportunity. 1005 00:56:12,624 --> 00:56:14,209 That's a really big deal. 1006 00:56:14,292 --> 00:56:15,752 We all owe Magic. 1007 00:56:16,795 --> 00:56:19,381 Like, you know, you talk about generation from generation, 1008 00:56:20,257 --> 00:56:21,341 I owe Magic. 1009 00:56:23,301 --> 00:56:26,221 Magic Johnson made it very, very popular 1010 00:56:26,304 --> 00:56:29,349 to not have any excuses to fall and stay down. 1011 00:56:29,432 --> 00:56:30,642 Because if anybody could have 1012 00:56:31,268 --> 00:56:34,020 he could have, and he refused to do so. 1013 00:56:34,104 --> 00:56:35,605 And look at how he's shining today. 1014 00:56:37,816 --> 00:56:40,694 Although he took the long way around 1015 00:56:41,194 --> 00:56:43,029 to get to this point, 1016 00:56:43,113 --> 00:56:45,657 how he is with Cookie… 1017 00:56:48,201 --> 00:56:50,495 -It's amazing. -It's what everybody would want. 1018 00:56:50,579 --> 00:56:53,623 -It's a wonderful love story. -It's what-- Yeah, it is. 1019 00:56:53,707 --> 00:56:56,459 Wherever they are at as a couple, 1020 00:56:56,543 --> 00:56:58,545 he's looking out for Cookie. "Where's Cookie?" 1021 00:56:58,628 --> 00:57:00,547 He's got her by her hand, or he's looking for her. 1022 00:57:00,630 --> 00:57:02,632 -Right. -And I love the way he does her 1023 00:57:02,716 --> 00:57:04,759 and the way he treats her and the way he looks at her. 1024 00:57:04,843 --> 00:57:08,430 It is just-- You can-- It's so much love, and I just-- 1025 00:57:08,513 --> 00:57:10,891 That's one of my favorite things about their relationship 1026 00:57:10,974 --> 00:57:12,642 is that love that they have for each other. 1027 00:57:13,226 --> 00:57:17,981 Leading up to their extravaganza in Nice, France, 1028 00:57:18,064 --> 00:57:21,818 -was just incredible. -I got videos of that. Wow. 1029 00:57:21,902 --> 00:57:24,154 -And, yeah. He did that for her. -Saint-Tropez. 1030 00:57:24,237 --> 00:57:26,281 It just was amazing. 1031 00:57:32,120 --> 00:57:33,663 Surprise! 1032 00:57:33,747 --> 00:57:38,627 We say thank you for coming and being a part of our 25th anniversary. 1033 00:57:39,502 --> 00:57:43,006 You look back and reflect back, 'cause it's 25 years, and I go-- 1034 00:57:43,840 --> 00:57:45,217 Even though I'm praying every day, 1035 00:57:45,300 --> 00:57:47,260 like, thinking that a miracle is gonna happen… 1036 00:57:49,304 --> 00:57:51,806 it hit me that the miracle did happen. 1037 00:57:52,557 --> 00:57:53,934 Because he's still here. 1038 00:57:55,769 --> 00:57:57,145 He's still healthy. 1039 00:57:58,855 --> 00:58:00,482 We are living our miracle. 1040 00:58:02,609 --> 00:58:05,779 You can argue all you want about the GOAT. 1041 00:58:06,404 --> 00:58:09,241 You can talk about Bill Russell, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, 1042 00:58:09,324 --> 00:58:11,743 Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 1043 00:58:11,826 --> 00:58:14,204 You know, talk about Michael Jordan, LeBron James. 1044 00:58:14,287 --> 00:58:15,538 You can go on and on. 1045 00:58:16,414 --> 00:58:19,125 And not because I coached him, 1046 00:58:19,209 --> 00:58:22,003 not because I just love him, I think he's the greatest of all time. 1047 00:58:23,255 --> 00:58:25,340 You know, everybody has their own opinions. 1048 00:58:25,423 --> 00:58:26,967 I have my own opinion. 1049 00:58:27,050 --> 00:58:29,427 But it doesn't matter who's better. 1050 00:58:29,511 --> 00:58:31,263 We'll be linked together for the rest of our life. 1051 00:58:32,389 --> 00:58:33,390 His name is Magic. 1052 00:58:33,473 --> 00:58:36,017 So we knew it was gonna be something magical. 1053 00:58:36,851 --> 00:58:40,188 He does not realize the impact of his name. 1054 00:58:41,064 --> 00:58:42,524 His name will be there forever. 1055 00:58:45,110 --> 00:58:46,861 I never got caught into "Magic." 1056 00:58:46,945 --> 00:58:50,740 I didn't think it was going to stick, and I didn't think it was going to last. 1057 00:58:50,824 --> 00:58:52,534 And here I am. 1058 00:58:52,617 --> 00:58:56,288 I'm 61 now, and people are still calling me Magic. 1059 00:58:56,371 --> 00:58:57,914 So I guess I was wrong, 1060 00:58:59,791 --> 00:59:01,167 and everybody else was right.