No-look passes, spinning feeds, on the money alley-oops, he was the king of the perfect assist.
âGuys always like passers,â he told the crowd at the Central State Hall of Fame luncheon Friday at the Country Club of the North. âI used to go to Kareem (Abdul Jabbar) and say, âWhere do you like it? Just tell me and Iâm gonna put it on that spot.â
âAnd heâd say, âWhen I put my hand up, I want you to throw it right to my hand.â And thatâs what Iâd do and heâd swing in and shoot that beautiful hook shot.â
Johnson said he did the same with Jamaal âSilkâ Wilkes, James Worthy and Byron Scott during the early days of his career.
But Friday the 59-year-old Hall of Famer dished off one of his greatest assists ever.
Instead of Kareem, he targeted CSU president Dr. Cynthia Jackson-Hammond and her school.
He was talking about the importance of HBCUs (Historically Back Colleges and Universities) and how â after meeting with Jackson-Hammond and her husband in Los Angeles a while back and visiting the CSU campus a couple of times in recent years and meeting students â he believed in the school.
And with that came the no-look, hand-off.
âSo today Dr. Hammond Iâm going to give you $1 million!â he said.
The stunned crowd responded with an almost -giddy âOooooooh!â Then came whoops of joy from some of the students and a warm and sustained round of applause from everyone.
When the students began to chant âMagic! Magic! Magic!â Johnson flashed that trademark, 1000-kilowatt smile, then shrugged:
âI gotta do my part. I canât say Iâm a believer without writing a check.â
Johnson is the CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, a billion dollar conglomerate that invests in malls, movie theaters, fitness centers, restaurants, entertainment shows, a TV network and scores of other entities.
Heâs also a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks and the cityâs new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise and said his sports ownership portfolio began when he became part owner of the Dayton Dragons 18 years ago.
Last year he also became President of Basketball Operation for the Lakers, the team with whom he won five NBA titles in his 13 years as their 6-foot-9 point guard.
Where Johnson especially has made a mark though is with his social consciousness and philanthropy. Heâs made it a point to open businesses in minority communities in order to provide services and jobs to the underserved.
His Magic Johnson Foundation has, among other things, focused on HIV/AIDS.
Back in 1991 â when there was still a real stigma attached to the disease and it claimed 35,000 Americans that year â he announced he was HIV positive and said he was going to be a champion in the fight from them on. And he has been in every way imaginable, from funding research to changing perceptions.
Heâs now working with former First Lady Michelle Obama on a Global Girls Alliance that helps adolescents in need.
And Central State seems to hold special favor with him.
He spoke at the school in 2012 and three years later he made a donation and was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Student Center. Last year he became a honorary chairman of CSUâs capital campaign.
âMagic Johnson really is a part of our family,â CSU Vice President Jahan Culbreath said. âWe refer to him as a CSU Believer. He has a special place in his heart for Central State.â
A nod to his parents
Johnson â who shared the dais Friday with keynote speaker, radio mogul Tom Joyner â paid special attention to the students among the 250 people in the crowd.
He encouraged them to ask questions and one of the first was how he had gone from an athlete to likely the most successful black businessman in the world.
He said it went back to his upbringing with six sisters and three brothers in Lansing, Michigan and he especially talked about his beloved parents.
He said he got his work ethic from his dad:
âHe worked two jobs his whole life. He worked 30 years at General Motors and never missed a dayâs work or was late. He worked there at night and he hauled peopleâs trash in the mornings. I had to work on the trash truck on Saturday mornings during the year and every day but Sunday during the summer.
âMy job was to pick up the loose trash and he got the barrels. One time in the winter, when it was about zero degrees outside, I just grabbed what I could around some cans and got back in the truck,
âThatâs when my dad came and grabbed me out of there and brought me back to the cans. Some trash was stuck in the ice and cracks, but I hadnât bothered to try to get it out
âHe said, âListen, if you do this half way, youâre gonna do everything in your life half way.â
âI went and got the shovel, broke the ice and got the trash out of there and that stuck with me. Everything my father taught me in life I applied to my game and now in business. I thank God I had such a loving, caring father.
âAnd my mom? I have her personality. I love to save the world like her.â
Magic told how â even when times were tough for them â she cooked extra food for people in need in the neighborhood and had him go and give it out to them.
âThe lessons of my parents have carried me through life,â he said.
His first foray into sports ownership came when he listened to Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, and they partnered on the launch of the Dayton Dragons.
âPeter and I came and talked to the city council and they built a beautiful stadium,â he said. âI tell you itâs just beautiful.
âI just want to thank everybody in Dayton â the mayor, the city council and especially the people who live there. No matter what our record was, they came for the experience and we ended up breaking the old sell-out record of the Portland Trail Blazers
âNow Peter and I own the Dodgers together and an esports franchise called Team Liquid. We have about five or six businesses together. And while he owns the Golden State Warriors, Iâm now with the Lakersâ.
And his coup with them in the offseason was signing LeBron James to a four- year, $153.5 million contract, a move he hopes will help returns the Lakers to glory after an uncharacteristic five straight years out of the playoffs.
âLeBron James is the biggest athlete in the world right now, in terms of on the court, in the locker room as a leader and making an impact in the the community,â he said. âYou very rarely get to see a man who can do all those things very well. Heâs a once-in-a-generation athlete.â
Actually LeBron and Magic are a lot alike.
And while Magic is 26 years older, heâs never been busier.
He said he gets up every morning around 4 a.m., prays, works out and then heads to the office. He admits heâs a workaholic.
Before coming to Beavercreek, he was in Las Vegas for a Wednesday night Lakersâ preseason game and then had made a quick trip to L.A, where his Dodgers are in the National League Championship Series with Milwaukee.
Saturday he spoke in San Francisco. Sunday night heâs scheduled to fly back out of Los Angeles for a Monday speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan and another Tuesday in Washington, D.C..
He said he tries to reserve many Friday and Saturday nights for âdate nightâ with his wife, Cookie, and Sunday mornings he said he takes her to church.
âIf youâre smart,â he grinned, âyou keep your wife happy.â
Xxxx
One of the students asked Magic about some of his biggest challenges as a Lakers rookie in 1980.
He talked about getting the veterans to accept him, adjusting to the NBA after dominating at Michigan State and then he spoke about the NBA Finals against Philadelphia.
Abdul Jabbar had been hurt in game five and was out for game six in the Spectrum. The visiting Lakers were suddenly 20 point underdogs he said, but he went to each of his teammates and told them they would be OK.
Lakers coach Paul Westhead had Magic play all five positions in that game and he finished with 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. The victory gave the Lakers the NBA crown and Magic was named the championship MVP.
Friday in Beavercreek he played all five positions, as well:
Entrepreneur, mentor, preacher, cheerleader, storyteller.
Earlier in the day, he stressed to me the importance of an HBCU like Central State:
âEverybodyâs not able to go to the University of Dayton, Ohio State, Ohio University and those places so we have to make sure all kids gave an opportunity not just to get a quality education, but be among their peers and have a great experience.â
Friday, two CSU students who especially reveled in the experience of this homecoming weekend were the schoolâs homecoming king Kalyn Payne and the queen Amber Turnbull, both of whom were wearing their crowns.
Johnson asked them to stand for round of applause and then he called them to the podium so they could pose for a photo they could send to their parents.
As Payne took Turnbullâs arm in his and made the slow journey forward, Magic had some fun:
âOh, look sat him, heâs struttinâ! Nothinâ like being THE man on campus!â
Payne smiled, but he â like everyone else in the crowd â knew the guy wearing the real crown at CSU this day was Magic Johnson.
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