Magic Johnson Credits MLB Legend Jackie Robinson for $2 Billion Dodgers’ Acquisition in Honest Admission

If you enjoy the national pastime, April 15 is special. MLB players from every team wore the #42 on their backs, a retired number. The man who immortalized that number and a legacy transcending baseball is Jackie Robinson. That’s a name that changed the history of sports. It’s also a fact that if it wasn’t for Jackie Robinson then, there’d be no Magic Johnson. The NBA icon-turned-sports mogul is involved in the Dodgers franchise, the very team that took a gamble on Robinson. He’s time and again hailed Robinson as his hero. On Jackie Robinson Day, Magic made sure the Dodgers led the great’s celebration throughout the league.

Because it’s Magic, it’s not complete without sending a message on X. “Jackie Robinson paved the way for me. Without him breaking the color barrier in the MLB for the Brooklyn Dodgers, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become a part owner of the Dodgers. I’m forever grateful and proud to be a part of an organization with a history of promoting advancement and equality.”

Interestingly, Magic has nearly recycled his speech on the late Jackie Robinson. But that’s how much the icon’s significance in his life is a fact. That’s why he attached the clip of his 2017 speech when the Dodgers unveiled a statue dedicated to the sports revolutionary.

That day was one of his biggest accomplishments since joining the Dodgers franchise, apart from winning the World Series. After selling his stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, the team he started and ended his NBA career with, in 2010, he bought a 2.3% stake worth $50 million in the Dodgers in 2012. The ownership group spent $2 billion collectively to acquire the team. The franchise is currently valued at $4 billion, which puts Magic’s stake at a cool $92 million.

Before the Washington Commanders, Magic built his sports ownership status with stakes in the Lakers, Sparks, and LAFC. Today he was also there for the Sparks celebrating the new acquisitions of the WNBA draft. But his connection to the Dodgers runs deeper.

Magic Johnson hails his hero

For a long time, Magic Johnson’s life was compared to Jackie Robinson, though they were in completely different eras. Robinson broke the color barrier across sports on April 15, 1947, when the Dodgers brought him into the MLB. He went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Magic had a celebrated basketball career from Michigan to Los Angeles. Then in 1991, he announced his retirement along with his HIV positive diagnosis. He still played in All-Star games and the Olympics and today he’s just as much an inspiration in sports as much as the great Robinson.

During Jackie Robinson Day in 2017, the 70th anniversary of the day, Johnson took extreme pride in unveiling the statue of his hero. On that day, he said, “Between Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali, they opened the door for me to be an owner of the Dodgers. Jackie paved the way for that. I couldn’t be an owner of the Dodgers without Jackie breaking the color barrier and playing in Major League Baseball.”

He was so honored that he even confirmed he was happier than when the Lakers installed his statue outside Crypto.com Arena. Talk about influence.