Los Angeles will not forget the last two weeks so quickly, nor will former NBA giant Magic Johnson. Two weeks after the Los Angeles Lakers won their first NBA title in a decade, the City of Angels was toasting the end of another great sporting drought when the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series for the first time since 1988.
If the Lakers’ return to the top of the basketball world was obviously special for Magic, who won five NBA titles with the Purple and Gold in the 13th season with the franchise, the Dodgers’ triumph had a very different note, as it was celebrated from the perspective of a franchise owner.
I would like to thank @Dodgers Chairman, Owner, & my great friend Mark Walter for allowing me to be one of the owners of this incredible team. We talked about this 8 years ago when we bought the team. We wanted to win the World Series & tonight our dream came true! #Dodgers
– Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) October 28, 2020
“I would like to thank @Dodgers Chairman, Owner and my great friend Mark Walter for letting me be one of the owners of this incredible team,” Magic tweeted on Tuesday night after the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in Game 6 to win the Fall Classic.
“We talked about this 8 years ago when we bought the team. We wanted to win the World Series & tonight our dream came true! #The Dodgers. #
The three-time MVP of the NBA finals became co-owner of the Dodgers in March 2012 and bought the franchise as part of a group of investors that included former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals Stan Kasten, film director and co-owner of the Golden State Warriors Peter Gruber, and global investment firm Guggenheim Partners.
#Dodgers ððð pic.twitter.com/1xfwgpM3rg
– Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) October 28, 2020
The Magic-led group paid approximately $2 billion to purchase the Dodgers from Frank McCourt, who in 2004 paid $430 million to purchase the team, Dodger Stadium and 250 acres of land, including FOX parking lots.
The $2 billion Magic and his co-investors paid for the Dodgers was the largest amount ever spent on a sports franchise, eclipsing the $1.47 billion deal by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose owner Malcolm Glazers and his family agreed to buy Premier League giant Manchester United in 2005, and the $1.1 billion paid by Stephen Ross four years later to buy the Miami Dolphins.
According to court records released two months before the Dodgers were sold to Johnson and its partners, the franchise company’s debt totaled $579 million.
The Dodgers missed the playoffs in the season that began shortly after the deal closed, extending their dry spell for the third consecutive season.
Since then, however, the team has changed completely and has evolved from an “Also-ran” to one of the biggest financiers and a dominant force in the MLB.
The Dodgers have won eight consecutive division titles and reached the 2017 and 2018 World Series in a row, only to lose to the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox.
The Dodgers dropped out of the National League Championship Series in 2013 and 2016 and were eliminated in the National League Division Series in 2014, 2015 and 2019.
A roster already filled with stars like Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager was further strengthened in February when the Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts along with David Price from the Red Sox in exchange for Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs.
The Dodgers invested heavily in the four-time All Star in July and signed a gigantic 12-year extension for $365 million – the richest deal in the Dodgers’ history and the third most lucrative deal in the history of North American sports.
Oh and ð£@KingJames is the best basketball player in the world and @mookiebetts is the best baseball player in the world!
– Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) October 28, 2020
Betts paid back the investment by hitting .296 with nine extra base hits, eight RBIs, 15 runs and six stolen bases in the off-season, in addition to a series of eye-catching and player-preserving plays in the outfield.
The 28-year-old started the game in Game 6 and then scored a home run at the end of the eighth inning to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1, prompting Johnson to compare him to Lakers star LeBron James.
The current year has been one of the strangest in living memory, but Magic and the Mehrhei
