How Earvin "Magic" Johnson Applies What He Learned on the Court in CRE
“I love when people say I can’t do something…I love to prove them wrong.”
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.”
Proving people wrong was another thing that made Johnson tick. “I love when people say I can’t do something…I love to prove them wrong.”
But humility is key. When asked when he believed he could be truly great in basketball, Johnson said he just was never that dude. “I didn’t get ahead of myself. I lived in the moment.”
He explained that he could have gone pro after his freshman year, but he wanted a championship. After he got that, he felt he was then ready both mentally and physically. “I had a lot of work to do too. I had to prove that I belonged,” he said. “The first three days on the Lakers, I got to practice early and the entire team ended up showing up early…When you want to change your mindset and your attitude it can change everything. I wanted to win.”
Winning that final game his first year, and being named MPV as a rookie really shaped him, he said. “It changed my mindset and attitude and helped me to understand, that ‘hey, you took care of business in college’ but you have to work even harder to play in the NBA,’” he said. “I worked hard in the off season.”
What it taught him is about being prepared, and doing things the right way. “I am about excellence.”
Johnson also touched on the importance of having conversations around diversity and inner cities. “I remember I had a real estate fund and I went to get money from Calpers but got turned down three years in a row. They were not ready to invest in Earvin America. The committee said that the business plan was strong, but said ‘why should we invest in the inner cities/?’ My answer was that we were short on housing in inner cities, and short retail in the inner cities. The demand is there. If I meet the demand, we are going to hit a home run.”
They ended up giving him $50 million. “There is money to be made in Urban America. That is when I took off.”
Johnson then partnered with Canyon Partners and did a real estate fund for 11 years. “We made a lot of money. We brought housing to the inner cities when no one was doing it. We built mixed use with housing on top and retail on bottom.”
But education is the key. “We had to go in and educate the community first. There has to be a part of your offering to educate minorities on the housing market. If you do that, you will hit a home run,” he said. “That is the most important part of it…the education part. That is what we were able to do and that is why our real estate fund took off.”
And others have followed suit, he said. “I am starting to see companies finally starting to see that there is money to be made investing in Urban America.”
Urban America, he said, deserves the same quality product and goods…”If we wanted the best, we had to drive outside of our community to get it. I had to bring on partners…I convinced the Starbucks board and shareholders to bring Starbucks to the inner city. My per caps were higher because I knew my customer.”
The impact he brought to those communities, he said, is what makes the work important. “Look at what has happened to Harlem. When I first started, there were so many empty buildings and lots. I put that Magic Johnson Theater and a Starbucks and now they have so many restaurants. It is a direct result of my investment into Harlem,” he said.
And in South Central…you are starting to see all new investment, he said. “Many companies are now following suit. I know that when I look at what I was able to do over the last 30 years now and to see that our community now has quality retailers, housing options we didn’t have before, I know I made a difference.”
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