Magic Johnson and Dr. Jerry Buss had an incredible relationship. They came to the Los Angeles Lakers almost simultaneously, with Buss picking Johnson as the face of his franchise as soon as he landed.
His daughter Jeanie revealed why her father picked Magic, saying that he did a lot of great things and did it with style, which was perfect for Buss and what he was trying to build in Los Angeles at the time.
From that point on, they were really close, as Buss even cried after learning that Magic had HIV. Johnson also told Buss he loved him and would never forget him before the owner left this world. They really developed a very close relationship that lasted until the legendary owner sadly passed away.
Magic Johnson Reveals Reasons Why He Preferred To Spend Time With Dr. Jerry Buss Over His Lakers Teammates
Great as it was, this friendship wasn’t met with good eyes at the beginning, as Magic told Shannon Sharpe that his friends didn’t like that he was friends with the team owner, but Johnson just didn’t care about it.
Magic gave them a short, hilarious and clear explanation, leaving no doubt that he would go with Dr. Buss whenever he was invited to any event.
“I did something that a lot of guys [didn’t approve]. Remember, it’s an unwritten rule, you couldn’t befriend the owner, so the Lakers are looking at me like– they had a meeting on me. They were like, ‘you can’t be Jerry Buss’ friend.’ I said, ‘Imma put it to ya’ll like this: Ya’ll millionaires, he’s a billionaire, I’m going with him.’ And that’s what I did, so I said, ‘y’all can be mad if you want, that has nothing to do with my job. I do my job and I do it well. Ain’t nothing gonna change, but when he say come to lunch and dinner, come to my house to play pool, and I’m soaking all that knowledge, you’re crazy.'”
He really shut that down that quickly, showing once again why they called him Magic and how easily he could get away with things during his career. Magic and Jerry were really close and you can tell that the former learned a lot from the latter, as he’s a successful owner right now, doing a lot of big moves in different sports to guarantee his teams a lot of success, just like Dr. Buss did during his active days.
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