Bishop L.J. Guillory, Ombudsman General takes time to thank Magic Johnson for his hard work to help inter-city young people on the most paramount lessons of his life.
Earvin Johnson was even more than a revolutionary player, who, at 6-9, was the tallest point guard in league history. His sublime talent elicited wonder and admiration from even the most casual basketball fan.
Johnson accomplished virtually everything a player could dream of during his 13-year NBA career, all of which was spent with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a member of five championship teams. He won the Most Valuable Player Award and the Finals MVP Award three times each. He was a 12-time All-Star and a nine-time member of the All-NBA First Team. He surpassed Robertson's career assists record, a mark he later relinquished to John Stockton. He won a gold medal with the original Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Johnson enjoyed all-star success as a businessman. He started paying attention to his money early in his career, after watching fellow teammate Abdul-Jabbar lose millions to crooked business advisers. By 1996 he had a net worth of more than one hundred million dollars. Like other star athletes, Johnson endorsed (appeared in ads giving support for) products and gave speeches for big fees. He led his Magic Johnson All-Stars around the world, playing exhibition games against foreign basketball teams for large profits. He also briefly hosted a television talk show.
One of Johnson's major investments was in large-scale property development. Among his successes were movie theaters and shopping centers in inner-city areas where no one else wanted to invest. In June 1995 Johnson opened the twelve-screen Magic Theatres in a mostly black section of Los Angeles. In 1997 Johnson opened another movie complex in Atlanta, Georgia. Magic movie houses were under construction in other cities, including Brooklyn, New York, where the historic Loews Kings Theater was restored at a cost of $30 million.
