5x Champ Virtually Left Lakers for $3 Bil Pistons, Sending a Apprehensive Jeanie Buss to Her Father

Magic Johnson and the Lakers legend sound synonymous to the extent it’s laborious to think about Buck in every other franchise ever. The 12x All-Star claimed 5 NBA championships, 3 NBA Finals MVP, and three MVP with the Lakers. However might this legacy have modified? It seems Johnson had set plans for one more franchise the second he landed with the Lakers.

The revelation got here from Jeanie Buss on episode 81 of ‘All of the Smoke’ podcast. Buss recalled she was 17 and “Magic was 19” when drafted into the league. The draft information again then was delivered over a name, as there have been no huge draft occasions. Jeannie revisited the day she met Johnson at her father’s home when the LA Lakers had drafted him and he had come for a go to with Invoice Sharman, then GM. “So I opened the door and all I might see was this smile, like dazzling smile. Magic Johnson,” Buss stated.

She additional recollected her dialog with the 5x NBA champ. “Magic stated, ‘you already know I’m actually, actually excited that I used to be drafted by the Lakers, however I’m solely going to remain for 3 years as a result of I wish to play for the [Detroit] Pistons. That’s the place I’m from I wish to return house and play.’” Notably, Johnson hails from Lansing, Michigan, which is roughly 96 miles from Detroit — house to $3 billion value Pistons. The knowledge was fairly a shocker for the Buss again then, as Johnson had simply landed with the crew.

The Lakers current controlling proprietor said on the podcast she by some means excused herself from the dialog and ran to her father, Jerry Buss, upstairs. Nevertheless, the then Lakers proprietor couldn’t be much less bothered listening to the information from his daughter. “My dad didn’t miss a beat. And he stated ‘Jeanie, the primary time he places on a Laker uniform, he’s by no means going to depart,’” she recalled on the podcast.

As future would have it, the 13x All Star performed all his NBA profession for the Lakers. And Jerry himself was one of many main causes that Johnson caught with the crew.

Magic Johnson thought-about Jerry Buss a “second father or mother”

Throughout an interview with Mike Trudell from NBA.com, the 5x NBA champ had said each he and Jerry simply clicked. He additional talked about the bond between them was not that of an owner-player, however of two guys hanging out. “I believe he knew, with me being 20 and alone all the best way from Michigan, he turned a father determine to me,” he stated.

Johnson even credited his success as an entrepreneur to Jerry Buss’ mentorship. “I didn’t even take into consideration being an proprietor of a crew — it simply blew my thoughts,” he stated. This got here throughout an interview with LA Instances’ Broderick Turner, the place Buck said Jerry ensured he had all of the instruments obligatory to achieve success.

As per the reviews, Buss had even referred to as upon the 13x All Star throughout his ultimate days battling with most cancers. The 2 reportedly talked for about 5 hours and sobbed whereas recalling tales from the previous. Whereas Magic received 5 NBA championships with the Lakers, he additionally made vital cash (near $40 million) to enter the sphere of enterprise. So all-in-all, the choice to stay with the crew turned out fruitful for Magic Johnson.

Keep tuned for extra such updates. And to comply with what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say concerning the notorious Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and extra, watch this video.