Magic Johnson: 'Mark Walter is the right person' to take over the Lakers
Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, through his TWG Global company, agreed to purchase a majority ownership stake in the Lakers last week and released information about the sale on Wednesday in a statement announcing the deal would be completed later this year.
When news broke that Walter would take controlling interest of the Lakers from the Buss family at a valuation of $10 billion, we reached out to Magic Johnson about his thoughts on the matter. Speaking from a yacht off the coast of Croatia, here's what the Lakers legend had to say about Walter, Jeanie Buss and the sale:
About Walter's approach
'Mark is a man who cares and loves winning and will always care about investing the money in making not only the team better but the organization better. He's somebody who is family-driven. He's a great man.
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'You saw what happened to the Dodgers once Mark and all of us took over."
On the Buss family selling to Walter
'One thing that Jeanie [Buss] was going to do is put [the franchise] in the right hands. If she was going to sell, it had to be the right person, and Mark Walter is the right person to take over and lead us for the next 30, 40 years. So, this is the best news that could have happened for all Laker fans across the world. Mark has had his eye on the Lakers for a long time. That's why he bought [Philip] Anschutz's [minority ownership] piece first and then he was sitting there, and Jeanie knew this.
Read more: Mark Walter, Jeanie Buss comment on Lakers sale expected to close later this year
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"If she ever wanted to sell, he wanted to be the one that bought the team. And they formed a friendship, because that had to happen first. Jeanie had to know that he was going to do just like her father [Dr. Jerry Buss] did and just like she did and that was to make sure that he would do great things in the community as well, like both her father and her have been able to do and also educate him on how much the Lakers mean to not only the Laker fans but to the NBA and to the world."
On the sale of the team
'I think the [Buss] boys were ready before. I think they wanted to cash out. We're seeing this happening all around sports. 'Sometimes, let somebody else have it.' We saw Mark Cuban do it. Boston did it. So, you are seeing it happen and maybe they [Buss family] said, 'We just want the money and go on and live out our lives.'"
'Mark loves being a part of Los Angeles and now he's got the premier baseball team and now the premier basketball team."
On Walter's success
'The one thing great about Mark is that he'll hire the best people. He will always have really good people around him to help him bring back championships to Los Angeles and to Lakers fans. I'm excited. This couldn't have gone any better for Laker fans and the Buss family and the NBA. The NBA knows Mark. It couldn't have gone better for the Buss family because Mark is a caretaker. You got to be a caretaker, a great caretaker.
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"What did Mark do for the Dodgers? He's been a great caretaker of the brand and of the team. How much money he put into Dodger Stadium. He's always willing to make the big and bold moves to win. But Mark is a visionary. So, he's probably already got a vision for the Laker organization and for the team. So, that's the great thing about him.
'The funny thing is, his personality is just like Jeanie. You won't see him out front a lot, just like now he's not out in front of the Dodgers. So, people need to understand that. That's not his personality. Just like Jeanie's personality. She hasn't been out front."
About Jeanie Buss and the sale
'You saw Mark let Jeanie stay on the Board of Governors. That was smart. One thing that is smart about Jeanie is she was never going to say, 'Oh, the Lakers are up for sale! Anybody can own them.' That's not who she is. She wasn't going to put it in anybody's hands.
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'And I think because of the success of the Dodgers and how he has run the organization, now it's easy for the fans. We already know him. We've seen his work already. We've seen what he's been able to do, led us to a couple of World Series [wins] and going to the World Series four times. That's success right there. That's what Laker fans are looking for.
'He's got a track record. This is what Laker fans would want, somebody that they can trust, just like they trusted Dr. Buss. They trusted Jeanie because of her father saying, 'This is who I want in charge.' So, this is beautiful for all Laker fans."
Upon hearing the news
'I'm going crazy too. I was screaming all over this yacht, because I know how great Mark is and how great of a man he is and how smart he is. He's got a big heart.'
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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