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Magic Johnson Quotes

Article Overview: Magic Johnson Quotes

Magic Johnson Quotes

One thing about me is I have unbelievable stamina.

I would sit in the chair behind the desk and dream I was the CEO.

[My father] didn’t care if I scored 40 points for my high school team Friday night. I had to be up at 6 o’clock Saturday to help him work.

My work ethic, for sure. See, I prepared for games; I prepare for business…It comes naturally because I’m a workaholic.

You don’t build what I have if you’re not a hands-on businessman. I have to have some knowledge and I have to know my figures. I don't need Ken or anyone else to talk for me because when I go out to talk to…I go in and I make my own deals because I can do that.

I've always studied business. Even when I was a ball player, I'd read business journals and the business sections of newspapers. Or I'd study what people like, as well as my own [preferences] - why do I like this restaurant; what makes it the highest-grossing restaurant? And then I talked to entrepreneurs who were already doing very well. That's why it came naturally. I'm a natural talker, and I love to ask a lot of questions - because I'm nosy.

I've been playing basketball since I was 7 or 8 years old. I can still just get out there and play, like I did this morning. But business - you have to get into the numbers, research and asking people what their needs and wants are, picking the right locations. There's a lot that goes into business. It's not just, ‘OK, I want to be a businessman. Boom - go with something,’ and hope they come in. It doesn't work like that.

Everything for sale was stuff I liked, and I figured everybody would like it, too. Well, I learned you got to find out what the customer wants and satisfy the customer.

The experience was great because it was my first time playing on a major league level. I got exposed to the meetings with bankers, dealing with customers, working with a client base. You work all the way from dealing with mom-and-pop grocery stores to talking with the Marriott Hotel chains. We didn't get every account, but we got a lot of them. I learned just how important relationships are.

Even that situation helped me to grow, to be a better player. So I don't worry about that. If you do what you're supposed to do, people will come – you hope. And we do everything possible to keep our customers happy and keep them coming through the doors.

With businesses, you go to the same places because you like the service, you like the people and they take care of you. They greet you with a smile. That's how people want to be treated, with respect. That's what I tell my employees - customer service is very important.

It's like playing basketball. You come down the court looking at the defense and set up your play.

Approximately 32%-35% of the movie audience is minority, but we have [no theaters] in our neighborhoods. We have to drive 30-40 minutes to get to a theater. So it seemed like a natural.
So you’re sitting there with almost 2 million people in a four-to-five-mile radius. The math was easy.

I told them that this is going to be your theater, and your mother, your sister and your daughter will come here. This has to be a neutral zone. No gang colors, no hats, no graffiti.

In everything I do, I want to make sure people see it like it’s theirs. It’s there, they have a piece of it, and they feel good about it.

I laid my plan out to him. I told him Starbucks could boom in the urban community and said minorities are driving 40 minutes right now to get to a Starbucks. So you know if you put one right here they're going to come. He was like, `How do you know that?' And I told him because my theaters are in the same situation.

They knew they were missing a market. African-Americans make up more than 30 percent of all the movie-going business. So it wasn't like African-Americans weren't going to the movies; they always have. It's just that there were no theaters in our neighborhoods, and Sony recognized that. It's the same thing with Starbucks. We'd drive anywhere to get a cup of Starbucks, but now we have it in our own communities, and that's why our [company's] numbers have been so high. [Corporations] just didn't know how to go about [breaking into the market].

Business is business - you have to understand that and have that attitude. If it were just about charity, the business side wouldn't last long. But if you understand you're building this Starbucks or these theaters because of business and you can also give back to the community, then I think it becomes a win-win situation for everybody.

All of my businesses deal with people, customer service and entertainment because that’s what I’m good at. Everything flows together from that, and all the companies help each other.

I can promote my Friday's and Starbucks in the movie theaters and do the same thing in those venues promoting the theaters. We have 1.8 million [people who go] through our theater doors every year in Los Angeles. The goal is to get a lot of that same audience to go to your eateries. Then, on the music side of it, it works because we can play our artists in those same theaters or restaurants. There's great synergy, and it all works together.

I say everything is working together. We’re growing but not so fast that it’s not manageable. And as long as I have knowledgeable people working with me, I’m not worried about branching out.

People who don’t need my money. People who have done well themselves…If you’re the best, you have to go with the best

Magic Johnson makes up Magic Johnson. I've got a team of people who work for me and advise me. But I call my own shots. That's one thing about me. I'm my own businessman. I'm my own person. The team I built taught me how to get into business, how to run a business. They gave me the knowledge I needed to have. But now I'm on my own. If you ask Howard Schultz, if you ask the Sony people, they'll tell you I make my own deals. Everybody knows they have to deal with me.

People thought I was going to go away. But I never planned on going anywhere.

When I was an NBA player, I was always dreaming of business plans. As a black man you have to. Minorities make money, but we don't generate wealth. But a business generates wealth - it is power, it is something that you can pass on to the next generation.

Yes, race matters. I've based my business on it. I wanted to show the business world that you can be successful in minority communities. It was uncharted waters and took some convincing. I would drive companies through places like South Central and say, ‘I want to bring your business here,’ and they would look at me like I was crazy. I knew it would work, though.

It's that tag that's been put on athletes for a long time - that we're not serious about business. So in the beginning, people didn't take me seriously, but they found out I was a persistent guy and that I really believed in my dreams. I believed I could make them money as well - it could be a viable business deal for both of us and be good for the community.

I got turned on when people said it was all over for me. I wanted to show them I wasn't going away.

It comes naturally. [In basketball,] under pressure, I wanted to take the big shot. And I think that pressure helps me with this pressure in business.

You have to be persistent in business, especially for me because, like I said, doors didn't just open right away. I almost had to kick them down. I had to keep coming back, coming back, because many corporations weren't going into the inner cities like they are now. The theaters were like a test model, and that's why I now have the other deals, because we've proved it can happen and it can work.

You’re the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it.

Research your idea. See if there's a demand. A lot of people have great ideas, but they don't know if there's a need for it. You also have to research your competition.

It’s all a process, you know. And I stay on top of it.

Everything is for a reason; I don't go back. HIV happened for a reason. I'm a person who moves forward, and I continue to do it.

You’ll have to ask somebody else that. I haven’t failed at too many things, so I don’t know.

Those kids who come to my theatres have to know they have someone they can look up to in the business community, so that’s why I want to be the best and the biggest. You get gratified even more so with business because you're touching so many people's lives. I love doing that.

Everyone looks at me and still sees basketball. But I run all my companies. People who don't know me may not believe that. But if they come in here and want to do some business, they'll find that out fast enough.

Yeah, I'm used to pressure, and that's why I've done well in business. When I'm under the gun and I've got pressure on me, I don't panic. I look for the right solution, and then I go for it. Of course, I'm not in it for the quick hit; I'm in it for [the long haul].

Magic is who I am on the basketball court. Earvin is who I am.

I want to be remembered for my business, because it helped my community and my people. I used to [play basketball]. Now I do this. And I want to be one of the best.

I love it. I wouldn't want it any other way. It keeps me on my toes; it keeps me sharp.

Related Articles
  Lesson #4: A Great Businessman is Only as Great as His Vision
  A Champion is Born: The Early Years of Earvin “Magic” Johnson
  Magic Johnson: Superstar in the Business Arena
  Turning the Magic On: How Johnson Built an Empire
  Lesson #5: Do What Cannot Be Done

Article Tags: 8 years, boom, business journals, business sections, businessman, ceo, desk, friday night, grocery stores, hotel chains, magic johnson, major league, marriott, marriott hotel, mom, newspapers, playing basketball, stamina, work ethic, workaholic



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