Magic Johnson reveals he almost had ownership stake in Golden State Warriors: “Joe Lacob and Peter Guber sat down with lunch with me, ‘We want you to be our partners with the [Warriors]’”
Magic Johnson is unquestionably one of the most admired and revered NBA legends today. It is no surprise that teams around the league will seize the chance to include the LA Lakers legends in their ownership group. It appears that the Golden State Warriors are one of those teams.
Johnson opened up about it on the "Club Shay Shay" podcast hosted by Shannon Sharpe. Sharpe asked the Lakers legend toward the end of the episode if Magic Johnson ever wanted to own an NBA team.
Johnson said he was interested but was reluctant as he will always be a fan of the Lakers. It didn't feel right for him to associate himself with other teams in the league. Johnson mentioned that he was presented with four opportunities and turned them all down.
One of these opportunities came from the Golden State Warriors, who reached out to Johnson. Magic said that he had lunch with two of the major owners of the franchise in Santa Monica. It was at that moment when they asked him to become partners with the Warriors.
"I've had four opportunities and I turned them all down," Johnson said. "Joe Lacob and Peter Guber sat down with lunch with me, ‘We want you to be our partners with the Golden State Warriors.'"
Magic Johnson's longstanding desire to be NBA owner
Magic Johnson is currently a part-owner of the LA Dodgers and the LA Sparks of the WNBA. According to reports, Johnson recently held serious discussions about purchasing the Las Vegas Raiders. This transaction may be the most expensive in sports history. The Lakers legend is no stranger to being the owner of a sports team.
Johnson has expressed on numerous occasions that he desires to own an NBA team. He even went on record and said that he'd happily do so given the right situation. However, we're not entirely sure when the perfect opportunity will arise for him. When it comes to the NBA, Magic Johnson will forever bleed purple and gold.
Having said that, we don't think Johnson will own an NBA team anytime soon. The only way we can see this happening is if he finally gets rid of his obsession with the Lakers. Plus, it doesn't appear that the organization has any ownership shares up for grabs.
He should think more like his rival Michael Jordan, who currently owns the Charlotte Hornets. Jordan may love the Chicago Bulls, but he's willing to do away with them to create new success.
The last time we saw Johnson affiliated with the Lakers was when he was the president of basketball operations for the team in 2017. Had he stuck around a little longer, he might've worked his way into ownership.