SAN DIEGO—Earvin "Magic" Johnson, chairman and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, took the stage at the MBA CREF conference on Monday where he discussed with Kristy Fercho, MBA's 2022 Chair, a few winning business strategies and inspiring life lessons he has learned both on and off the court. 

It is important to have people around you who will push you to become better, he said. "I love that I played basketball during a time when there were so many great and incredible players," he said. "We motivated each other to be better. That blond haired dude had the greatest impact on me."

That "dude" he referred to was Larry Bird who helped make him the player he became. "We all have competitors. I knew he was shooting thousands of shots the day I had shot thousands of shots. We made each other better. He pushed me to a level that without him, I don't know if I would get to that level. Since we had each other, we were both able to excel and become great basketball players."

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Natalie Dolce

Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.

National
Southwest