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Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson has always been candid.
Such was the case last weekend during the McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden Event in Chicago, Illinois.
The five-time NBA Champion was asked if there would ever be another Kobe Bryant following the legend’s tragic death in a helicopter crash which took the lives of nine people, including Bryant’s daughter.
“There will never ever be another Kobe [Bryant] and what he meant to this family as a husband and a father,” said Johnson.
“And then to see him take time with his babies like he did. We often don’t give black men any credit when we are good fathers and so, Kobe was an EXCELLENT father, loved his wife, and we already know what he meant to us as a basketball player.”
Kobe Bryant’s Death
The crash which took the lives of Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers, happened in Calabasas, California on January 26, 2020. The group was en route to a basketball game at Bryant’s Mamba Academy located in Thousand Oaks, California.
Kobe Bryant is now fourth on the NBA’s career scoring list with the Black Mamba registering 33,643 points. He played 20 seasons, all of which were with the Lakers, tallying marks of 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists over 1,346 career games.
Bryant’s NBA resume was one of the strongest in history, as he made 18 NBA All-Star Games, was named to the All-NBA team 15 times (11 All-NBA First Team nominations) and led the Lakers to five championships.
Magic Johnson Addresses Houston Astros Scandal
Magic Johnson also weighed in on the Houston Astros cheating scandal and how it could possibly affect the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“One thing for me that’s hard being an athlete, I just want a level playing field,” said Johnson.
“When I played against the Bulls, same rules Michael Jordan had and I think for the Dodgers, I want the same thing. We just want a level playing field. We didn’t get that. So I was really disappointed not because I’m the owner, but I was disappointed for my players. Because they deserved — everything needed to be equal, and it wasn’t and we feel that that’s the reason they won the World Series so, no I’m not happy.”
Johnson continued his opinion on the situation by talking about the competitiveness of sports and the type of message this could send to kids.
“I’m not happy for myself, I’m not happy for my players, and last but not least I’m not happy for the fans because they deserve to win and so…I’m never going to be satisfied with all the excuses, and what they say. I’m never going to be happy and never going to be satisfied especially because I used to play competitive sports. And again, we just want the same rules as the other team and when you cheat, it sends a bad message also to the kids. So this was bad all the way around. I don’t know what can happen to make us feel better, I don’t think anything other than winning the World Series if we had the trophy.”
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