Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan were the biggest superstars the NBA had seen before the turn of the millennium and their legacy off the court has also been intertwined with one another thanks to one infamous decision from Magic. Before Michael Jordan essentially became the face of Nike and started his brand within the company, Magic was the one Nike co-founder Phil Knight pursued.
While talking about the new HBO show Winning Time, about the Lakers dynasty that Magic was one of the central figures of, Johnson spoke about his decision to choose Converse over Nike as a rookie in 1979. Knight famously offered Johnson stocks instead of cash, which made the star choose Converse, but that stock would have been worth $5.2 billion today, making it quite the regret for Magic.
Magic Johnson telling us about passing on the Nike stock and taking the cash with Converse. #WinningTimeHBO #WinningTime pic.twitter.com/40EBT0rE9J
— B E A N Z The Games Whisperer (@BeanzGotGamez2) April 11, 2022
“Now, I’ve never heard of stock at 19-years-old. I had to take the money; I had to take the cash. Man, I would have been a trillionaire by now. If you think of getting that stock in 1979 and what it’s worth today? Yikes. It kills me every single time I think about that. Man, Michael Jordan would have been making me so much money.”
Michael Jordan’s signing with Nike was a large part of what helped the company explode after the deal, the company reportedly sold $126 million worth of shoes in 1984. If Magic had shares within the company, he would also have been able to profit vastly from the situation.
Of course, there is an alternate universe where Magic Johnson did sign with Nike and his popularity made him the main client at the company, and Michael Jordan struck out on his own and signed with someone else. There’s no way to tell how things would have played out if different decisions were made, but thinking about the behemoth that Nike has become today, it’s easy to see why Johnson seriously regrets his decision in 1979. Worked out real nice for MJ, though.
