Now it’s Magic Johnson’s turn.
A night after embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling sat down with Anderson Cooper in what was a public relations disaster of an interview, Magic Johnson sits down with Cooper for an interview on Tuesday to respond. You kind of know how this is going to end.
Magic gets public relations, he takes the high road.“My whole life is devoted to urban America. So, you know I just wish he knew the facts when he’s talking. But he’s a man who’s upset and he’s reaching. He’s reaching. He’s trying to find something that he can grab on to help him save his team. And it’s not going to happen….
“I’m going to pray for the man because even if I see him today, I’m going to say hello to Donald and his wife as well. I’m not a guy who holds grudges and all that. Yes, am I upset? Of course! But at the same time, I’m a God fearing man and I’m going to pray for him and hope things work out for him.”
Here is what Sterling said about Magic, one of the lowlights of Sterling’s interview (which is saying something).
“He’s got AIDS. Did he do any business? Did he help anybody in South LA?… What kind of a guy goes to every city and has sex with every girl and he catches it, HIV, is that somebody we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. What does he do for the black people? The Jewish people have a company, it’s for people who want to borrow money at no interest. We want to give them a fishing pole. We want to help people. You don’t have any money, we’ll loan it to you, without any interest. One day you’ll pay us back. I’m just telling you he does nothing, he’s all talk.”
The comments caused NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to publicly apologize to Johnson.
Sterling also said in the interview Magic Johnson called him and told him to wait and not doing anything, that Magic said he would help him. Magic’s people told TMZ the opposite happened — Sterling called Magic and wanted to have him next to him in an interview, to show Sterling was not a racist and was friends with Magic. According to that report Magic said no. Decide for yourself who to believe.
Sterling clearly has an issue with Magic Johnson. It likely stems from the fact the Clippers are still “the other team” in Los Angeles while the Lakers are the stars (even despite the recent fortunes on the court, trust me as someone who lives here L.A. is a Lakers town). In the business world Magic is seen as a shining light around Los Angeles, Sterling a slumlord. It’s not that hard to see where jealousy and a vendetta might have come from.
But Magic is going to win the battle of interviews as well.
When the league eventually forces the sale of the Clippers from the Sterlings, don’t be shocked if Magic and his partners (the group that already owns the Dodgers) win the bidding process. Which would be the ultimate insult to Sterling.