After Magic Johnson missed out on $5.2 billion, another Lakers legend revealed that he missed out on $2 billion because of rent issues
Magic Johnson and Spencer Haywood have a few things in common. They used to play for the LA Lakers and they missed out on at least $2 billion after turning down Nike. Johnson made the error in 1979 while Haywood committed his mistake in 1973. To this day, both rue the missed opportunity that was offered to them.
Haywood’s name may not ring a bell to casual and young basketball fans, but he was one of the best to play in the NBA in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He was the Seattle SuperSonics’ best player when he started his career.
Nike, a running-based company at the time, wanted to branch off to basketball and looked at the young, athletic, and popular Haywood as the perfect endorser. “Woody”, however, eventually refused the company’s offer.
Haywood was offered stocks as Nike didn’t have the money back then to sign him. Haywood explained in an interview with Kevin Garnett (via SHOWTIME Basketball) that the stocks would have amounted to $2 billion in today's market had he held onto them.
“I was on the road and he [my agent] had the power of attorney. He said, ‘I can’t pay my rent. I got all these things. We need to cash this in. We need to cash the stock in so I can pay my rent and I can live a little bit. The shoe ain’t never gonna make it. You’ll get a contract with Adidas next year. So I said, ‘Hey, do what you gotta do.’"
“This is 1973! The joke was, that shoe is never gonna make it. And the first time I wore the shoe, the players were walking up behind me while I’m playing and popped the shoe off. Step on the back of the shoe and the shoe would pop off. I was so discouraged by my shoe."
Magic Johnson, six years later, committed the same mistake Spencer Haywood did. Given how Nike grew and how Johnson’s NBA career turned out, his was an even bigger mistake than Haywood’s.
Magic Johnson could have been Nike’s first big star
Before Michael Jordan became Nike’s biggest and most popular athlete, Magic Johnson could have earned that mantle. The flamboyant rookie just came off an NCAA championship after Michigan State beat Larry Bird’s Indiana State in the 1979 finals.
Johnson promptly received shoe deals from Converse, Adidas and Nike. The “Swoosh" brand at the time had offered something different to the incoming LA Lakers superstar.
Magic Johnson was riding the popularity of a superb college career that was capped off with a championship. He and Bird were favorites to win Rookie of the Year and become basketball superstars.
The five-time NBA champ had this to say on the “All The Smoke” podcast about his error in picking the right shoe deal:
“Nike was just a year or two old. Converse offered me the most money. So you know when you grow up broke, take the money. Phil Knight came in and said, 'Hey, I can't offer you the same type of money. But I can offer you stock'.
"My family didn't come from money. ... I didn't even know what stocks was at that time. So, I passed on the stocks. Can you imagine? Forty-five years and $5 billion of stock."
Magic Johnson became the face of the NBA in the ‘80s along with Larry Bird. The “Magic Man” also became a savvy businessman after retirement and is now worth millions. To this day, that missed opportunity with Nike may still gnaw at him from time to time.