Sports
How the Magic Johnson-led Lakers’ Showtime dynasty nearly never happened
Sunday evening marks the launch of the HBO sequence “Profitable Time,” which relies on Jeff Pearlman’s e-book “Showtime” in regards to the eponymous Lakers’ dynasty of the Eighties. The muse for one of many trendy NBA’s most storied championship runs was laid in 1979, when Jack Kent Cooke bought the franchise to Dr. Jerry Buss. Earlier than the Magic of the Showtime years, nevertheless, the Lakers wanted somewhat luck.
Earvin Johnson wished a hamburger.
He was a 19-year-old child, keen on burgers and pizza and French Fries and every other delicacies assured to dam the arteries. Positive, he occurred to be sitting within the presence of Lakers proprietor Jack Kent Cooke, maybe the world’s least possible man to ever order a burger of any kind. However, hey, Johnson was hungry.
Scratch that. Ravenous.
It was a heat Could afternoon in Los Angeles, and probably the most dynamic participant to grace faculty basketball since Louisiana State’s Pete Maravich a decade earlier was on the town to determine whether or not he ought to return to Michigan State College for his junior season or soar to an expert sports activities league that had been crippled by poor TV rankings, participant indifference and a dwindling fan base. On the one hand, in East Lansing, Michigan, Johnson — an area child out of Everett Excessive College — was a king. He had been nicknamed Magic as a fifteen-year-old highschool freshman and now, having simply led the Spartans to their first NCAA males’s basketball title, he couldn’t stroll the streets with out being mobbed. “He actually was past reproach,” stated George Fox, his highschool coach. “Earvin may do no improper.”
There was, nevertheless, the siren name of the NBA and particularly the siren name of Jack Kent Cooke’s thick pockets. On April 19, 1979, the Lakers and Chicago Bulls had engaged in a coin flip to find out which staff could be gifted with the primary decide within the upcoming draft. Coming off of a 47–35 season, Los Angeles was in such a place as a result of, three years earlier, the New Orleans Jazz dedicated one of many worst free-agent acquisitions in league historical past. The staff signed thirty-three-year-old Gail Goodrich, a long-ago star on his final legs.
On the time, league guidelines mandated that the Jazz needed to compensate Los Angeles with gamers, draft picks or cash. After a lot haggling between the Lakers and Jazz common supervisor Barry Mendelson, New Orleans agreed to half with its first-round picks in 1977 and 1979, in addition to a second-rounder in 1980. “Gail was nice,” stated Invoice Bertka, the Jazz vice chairman of basketball operations. “However he was older, and he got here to us and instantly tore his Achilles. That didn’t make us look so good. Particularly once we misplaced nearly each stinkin’ recreation in 1978–79.” (The Jazz went a league-worst 26-56.)
When Larry O’Brien, the NBA’s commissioner, ready to flip the coin contained in the league’s New York Metropolis headquarters, the Bulls and Lakers felt their futures momentarily hovering in midair. Executives from each groups listened to the toss through speaker cellphone from their respective places of work.
“Chicago, do you need to make the decision?” O’Brien requested.
“We’d like to,” replied Rod Thorn, the Bulls’ common supervisor, who was sitting contained in the staff’s places of work on the thirteenth ground of a Michigan Avenue constructing.
“Is that OK with you, Los Angeles?” O’Brien stated.
“Positive,” stated Chick Hearn, the announcer, who additionally labored as an assistant common supervisor with the staff.
“We name heads,” stated Thorn. A pause.
“OK, gents, right here we go,” boomed the deep voice of O’Brien. “The coin’s within the air.”
One other pause. One other pause. One other pause.
“Tails it’s!” O’Brien stated.
Hearn let loose a triumphant whoop.
“I used to be taking part in basketball at Venice Seaside,” stated Pat O’Brien, on the time a reporter for KNXT-TV in Los Angeles. “The information came visiting a transistor radio, and folks began screaming. ‘Sure! Sure! We’re getting Magic! We’re getting Magic!’ ”
Johnson was equally euphoric. The final place he wished to go was Chicago, what with its terrible winters (he was by no means one for the snow) and perennially dreadful basketball groups. The Bulls performed in dumpy Chicago Stadium, and put forth an uninspired roster highlighted by the likes of Andre Wakefield and Wilbur Holland. Los Angeles, in the meantime, was however a dream to Johnson, who rightly envisioned a paradise of palm timber and 80-degree days and beautiful ladies in wallet-size bikinis. Had the coin landed heads, Johnson would have returned to Michigan State for an additional season.
“There was a robust perception, for a short time a minimum of, that Moncrief, not Magic, would wind up a Laker.”
Wealthy Levin, who coated the Lakers for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
So right here now, a mere few weeks later, the child was itching for a hamburger, befuddled by what was positioned earlier than him. Sitting at a desk contained in the Discussion board’s Trophy Room, Johnson was on the town for lunch, certain, however actually to really feel out Cooke and the Lakers. The draft was nonetheless two months away, and each side wished to know whether or not a partnership might be reached.
Accompanying Cooke and Johnson had been Hearn and Earvin Johnson Sr. Two of the participant’s representatives, George Andrews and Dr. Charles Tucker, additionally attended. “Gents,” Cooke bellowed, “I’m going to order lunch for you! We’re going to have some marvelous fish!”
Moments later, the plates arrived. The very first thing Johnson observed was the terrible odor. He regarded down and noticed one thing bland and crusty.
Cooke noticed Johnson’s bewildered expression. “They’re sand dabs!” he stated. “Sand dabs!”
Johnson glanced at his father, leaned shut and whispered, “I don’t know what a sand dab is.”
Cooke was nonplussed. “Younger man, are you aware how a lot a sand dab prices?”
Johnson shook his head.
“Effectively, they’re very costly,” Cooke stated. “It’s a really effective fish. Now eat.”
Johnson stabbed the listless sand dab together with his fork. Nudged it round a bit. Pushed it left. Pushed it proper. “I can’t eat this,” he stated.
Cooke was outraged. “What are you speaking about?” he stated. “Have you learnt how a lot that fish prices?”
“If it’s OK with you, Mr. Cooke, I feel I’d moderately have a hamburger and a few French fries,” Johnson stated softly. “Would that be OK?”
This was not the best way to make an excellent impression. Cooke was a proper man with formal tastes. If he wished sand dabs, dammit, everybody was consuming sand dabs. On this explicit case, nevertheless, Hearn — one of many few males who had the proprietor’s ear — intervened. “The man’s solely nineteen,” he stated. “The one factor he is aware of is hamburger and pizza.” A resigned Cooke sighed, then yelled towards the kitchen, “Can we’ve got a hamburger?”
Nothing.
“A hamburger!” he screamed. “Get the person one!”
Inside minutes, Earvin Johnson was gripping a burger. The accompanying smile was that of an eight-year-old securing a Completely happy Meal.
“You understand,” Jerry West later stated to Johnson, “no person has ever completed what you simply did to Jack Kent Cooke.”
Starting with that very second, gazing a peppy teenager biting some meat, Hearn knew one thing about Johnson sparkled. As spectacular as he was on tape, hovering previous defenders, connecting on unattainable no-look passes, spinning left, driving proper, he was considerably extra dazzling in particular person. At 6-foot-9 and 215 kilos, Johnson was a mountain of a person, the largest, strongest level guard anybody had ever seen. But it was his charisma, particularly at his precocious age, that floored individuals. On the time, the face of the Lakers was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a moody soul who brooded 100 occasions for each pressured smile.
Johnson, then again, was a ray of sunshine. He regarded individuals within the eye, shook fingers, talked about basketball as if he had been describing an exquisite lady. Oh, and that smile — that blinding, all-glowing smile. “He was only a magnet,” stated Claire Rothman, former supervisor of The Discussion board. “You wished to be round him. You wished to see him smile. You wished to have lunch with him. Earvin Johnson was completely nicknamed. He had … it.”
Cooke, nevertheless, wasn’t one to be swayed simply. Although he and Buss had already agreed in precept to the sale, Cooke insisted — with out a lot argument from the soon-to-be proprietor — that the primary decide within the 1979 draft be his name.
As he watched Johnson munch on his burger, Cooke requested what the child was looking for as compensation. Conscious that Abdul-Jabbar, arguably the NBA’s greatest participant, was making $650,000 yearly, Johnson confidently uttered, “Someplace round $600,000 could be ideally suited — plus, I would like an schooling allowance so I can end at Michigan State.”
Cooke was not amused. “Let’s get one factor straight proper off,” he stated. “I’m not paying in your schooling. I put myself by way of college, and if I may do it, you actually can. Now, we are able to give you $400,000. It’s not what you’re asking for, nevertheless it’s a hell of some huge cash. And let me remind you that the Lakers have made the playoffs seventeen occasions within the final nineteen years. We’d like to have you ever, Earvin, and I hope you’ll play right here. However the staff has completed simply effective with out you.”
The one factor Johnson didn’t know on the time (and wouldn’t know till greater than 20 years later) was that, in Cooke’s thoughts, he was merely one other good faculty participant in an ocean of fine faculty gamers. Why, instantly after the draft, Cooke instructed these inside his small circle of confidants that the staff may have gone with Sidney Moncrief, the high-scoring guard from the College of Arkansas. That was the recommendation offered to him by Jerry West, the outgoing coach, who wasn’t totally satisfied a 6-foot-9 level guard would perform within the fast-paced NBA. Of all of the ex-basketball gamers working for the Lakers, West was the one Cooke trusted most.
“Jack believed in star energy. He deserves credit score for that.”
Former Former supervisor Claire Rothman on Jack Kent Cooke
“West wished Moncrief, and he made it very clear to Jack Kent Cooke,” stated Wealthy Levin, who coated the staff for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. “There was a robust perception, for a short time a minimum of, that Moncrief, not Magic, would wind up a Laker.”
Even when he weren’t the neatest basketball man round, Cooke understood that sports activities had been as a lot about salesmanship as on-court success. Regardless of successful 47 video games and reaching the playoffs in 1978–79, the Lakers bought out solely as soon as, and averaged 11,771 followers in an area that seated 17,505. The child sitting earlier than him was a 100,000-foot-high neon signal screaming see the Lakers! His roster, then again, was composed of standout gamers who appeared both detached (level guard Norm Nixon), shy (ahead Jamaal Wilkes) or downright offensive (Abdul-Jabbar). Cooke had waited a very long time for Abdul-Jabbar to activate the attraction. He now appeared to appreciate it will by no means occur. “Jack believed in star energy,” stated Rothman. “He deserves credit score for that.”
So, when Johnson met Cooke’s rebuff with a fair stronger one — “I suppose I’ll be going again to highschool” — the proprietor cracked. He invited Johnson and his entourage to remain the evening in Los Angeles and return to the Trophy Room the next morning. On the drive to the lodge that night, Earvin Sr. lit into his son. He was a person who’d spent years working a number of blue-collar jobs, struggling alongside his spouse, Christine, a faculty cafeteria employee, to feed their ten youngsters. Now his nineteen-year-old son was insulting sand dabs?
“I’ve labored in a manufacturing unit my complete life for what he’s providing you for one 12 months!” Earvin Sr. stated. “And for one thing you like doing! Don’t be grasping, son.”
The following day, Cooke and Johnson negotiated forwards and backwards till, lastly, a deal was reached. The $500,000 contract made Johnson the highest-paid rookie in league historical past. With smiles throughout, Cooke let his new celebrity select lunch.
“Pizza!” Johnson stated. “Let’s order pizza.”
Cooke agreed, and earlier than lengthy, one in all America’s richest males was munching on his first-ever slice of pepperoni. “These items,” he stated, “is fairly good.”
From “SHOWTIME: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the Eighties,” revealed by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random Home, LLC. Copyright © 2014 by Jeff Pearlman. You should purchase the e-book right here
Sports
Bengals snap losing streak after Cowboys' head-scratching blunder on 'Monday Night Football'
The Cincinnati Bengals have had some crushing defeats this season, but something finally went their way to cash a 23-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football.”
The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak, moving to 5-8 on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ win streak of two games comes to a halt and they are also 5-8 on the year.
At the two-minute warning, the Bengals were in their own zone after a potential game-winning drive went awry. Facing fourth-and-27, they had no choice but to punt, and things got much worse when Cal Adomitis blocked the punt which should’ve given the Cowboys perfect field position to take the lead late in the game.
Then, that big Bengals break came for Zac Taylor’s squad.
Amani Oruwariye thought it was smart to try and recover the bouncing ball as it was making its way downfield, but he was unable to field it cleanly.
Since it touched Oruwariye, the Bengals could recover and regain possession, and that’s exactly what happened as Maema Njongmeta fell on the ball at the Cincinnati 43-yard line to give Joe Burrow and his crew another shot at taking the lead.
JOE BURROW PLAYS COY WHEN ASKED ABOUT $3 MILLION BATMOBILE PURCHASE: ‘DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT’
Just three plays later, Burrow found ol’ reliable, Ja’Marr Chase, on a short pass where he made a Cowboys’ cornerback miss, and he was off to the races for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 27-20 after the extra point.
That capped another “Monday Night Football” highlight reel for Chase, who finished the game with 177 yards on 14 catches with two touchdowns, which also included the first for the Bengals on the night.
Cooper Rush and the Cowboys did have enough time to move downfield for a potential game-tying drive. But on fourth-and-7 near midfield, Rush overshot Jake Ferguson and the ball hit the turf, sealing Dallas’ fate as a loss.
CeeDee Lamb, who scored the game’s first touchdown and had 93 yards on six catches, was jumping up and down because he was wide open in the middle of the field. Rush didn’t see him, and thus the result.
Burrow’s night was another spectacular one, as he went 33-for-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns – the other a catch-and-run by running back Chase Brown in the first half – as well as an interception.
For the Cowboys, a positive trend continued for Rico Dowdle despite the loss, as the young running back rushed for a game-high 131 yards on just 18 carries. Since taking over the lead role in the backfield, Dowdle has really turned it on late in the season.
Both of these teams might not be in playoff position with four games remaining, but a primetime thriller was seen at AT&T Stadium where the Bengals finally tasted victory again.
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Sports
Stephen Barbee resigns as football coach at Long Beach Poly
Stephen Barbee has resigned after seven seasons as football coach at Long Beach Poly.
That opens up a job at a school that has won 20 Southern Section championships.
It is a tougher job than in a previous era, because private schools have been taking away players and attendance boundaries play a major role.
But Poly is Poly, with lots of talent around campus.
Sports
Red Bull F1 faces tough decisions as Sergio Pérez finally signals his looming exit
Bringing his car to a stop after a hit from Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez must have known that would likely be his final act as a Red Bull Formula One driver.
At the end of a disappointing — in his own words, “terrible” — year, Pérez didn’t even get the chance to complete a single lap in the Abu Dhabi season finale. The clout from Bottas, for which the Sauber driver was penalized, caused Pérez’s RB20 to lose power and come to a halt.
It denied Pérez the chance to sign off from F1 2024 on a positive note. But speaking after the retirement, he admitted for the first time he may not race for Red Bull in 2025.
“We’re talking to try and see what’s best going forward, and we’ll see what happens in the coming days,” Pérez said. He added he and the team would “discuss what is the situation for both parties and see if we’re able to reach an agreement.”
It became clear heading to Abu Dhabi that Pérez’s time at Red Bull was running out. The team had lost out on the constructors’ championship, ending the season third behind McLaren and Ferrari — and, with it, the associated prize money. It’s only the third time since 2000 that the drivers’ champion, Verstappen, does not drive for the constructors’ champion.
At the end of a year of speculation about Pérez’s future, it at last seems that Red Bull decided enough was enough and that a change is required for 2025.
Until Sunday, Pérez had been defiant — that he would be at Red Bull next year, despite his underperformance this season, scoring barely one-third of Max Verstappen’s points total and failing to finish on the podium since round five in China. As he kept saying, he had signed a contract extension in June.
Pérez stuck to his guns about his 2025 contract through Thursday’s media day. After qualifying on Saturday, he still didn’t entertain a thought about Sunday being his last race with Red Bull, saying there was “nothing new to add to what I’ve been saying before.”
The change in tune from Pérez on Sunday was also present in Red Bull’s post-race press release. In it, the team quoted Pérez as saying: “We will see what happens in the coming days, I don’t know what is going to happen at the moment, I have a contract and the team and I have been talking. It’s a case of discussing what is the best for everybody moving forwards.”
Talks started in Abu Dhabi between Pérez’s camp and Red Bull about working on the agreement that Pérez referred to, essentially a deal for him to give up the race seat for next year. Given Pérez’s contribution to Red Bull’s recent success in F1, some kind of ambassadorial role is certainly on the table.
After the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the team wanted to sit down with Pérez and “work out what is the right and appropriate way forward.” He highlighted Pérez’s efforts at the team, particularly the two constructors’ titles and his assist for Max Verstappen at the 2021 finale in Abu Dhabi. Despite the difficulty of 2024, there remains a lot of respect for the driver at Red Bull.
“Sitting here now, he’s still our driver,” Horner said. “So it would be wrong for me to speculate on what next year may look like until he and I have sat down and discussed this year, and we reflect on it as a team.”
But Horner also said the drop to third in the championship showed why having two drivers consistently scoring was crucial, especially going into another competitive season in 2025. “Ferrari will be strong with their line-up next year,” he said. “McLaren have a strong line-up. Mercedes will have an inexperienced driver in one of their seats. And so for us, it’s very important that both of our drivers are delivering and there’s not a significant gap.”
Once Pérez’s presumed exit is agreed upon, Red Bull’s next task will be to decide who will race alongside Verstappen. Horner said the four-time champion is the “hardest teammate in the world to have.”
All the signs in Abu Dhabi pointed to RB’s Liam Lawson getting the nod and becoming a Red Bull Racing driver in 2025. The New Zealander retired late in Abu Dhabi after an earlier loose wheel cost him the chance to fight for points, and he only has 11 F1 races to his name. However, he has always been highly regarded within the Red Bull setup, particularly by adviser Helmut Marko. Red Bull also has a history of backing such inexperience, promoting Alex Albon to become Verstappen’s teammate after only 12 races in 2019. Lawson, 22, has just one retirement and six points.
Promoting Lawson would be a blow to Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified ahead in all six races they spent as teammates this year. Tsunoda, 24, has raced for RB since 2021 and made decent progress each year, yet doubts appear to linger from Red Bull over promoting him to the senior squad.
“I think Liam, in challenging circumstances, he’s done a very good job,” Horner said post-race in Abu Dhabi. “If you analyze what he’s done in the time that he’s had and the race pace that he’s had, I think he’s done a good job.
“I think Yuki has done a good job. In the event that anything were decided with Checo, they’d be the candidates that we would look towards.”
If Red Bull named Lawson as Verstappen’s teammate for 2025, it would open up a seat alongside Tsunoda at RB that looks likely to be filled by Isack Hadjar. Hadjar, 20, finished runner-up in this year’s F2 standings and participated in two F1 practice sessions for Red Bull in 2024. He hinted in Qatar that he already knew his plans for 2025, having emerged as the leading youngster in Red Bull’s junior program waiting to move up to F1.
Pérez’s struggles through 2024 have been tough to watch. He started strong, scoring four podiums in the first five races. At Suzuka, a true ‘driver’s track’ where Verstappen’s natural gifts come to the fore, he was within a tenth of taking pole. When his form started to dip, Red Bull thought the new contract would provide the backing and boost he needed. Horner admitted on Friday that it simply “didn’t work.”
That effort to support Pérez has left the team in its current position, trying to work out agreeable terms for his exit and ending a rollercoaster four-season partnership. Horner said there was “no immediate rush” to work things out, but a swift resolution would surely suit all parties.
It would give Red Bull the chance to turn the page and put full focus on 2025 — and, presuming he gets the seat, give Lawson the most amount of time to prepare for the most formidable job in all of racing: being Verstappen’s teammate. It is a task that Pérez warned on Thursday, perhaps knowing how the wind was blowing, would be a big test for any young driver.
“Being teammates with Max at Red Bull as a young driver, I wouldn’t like to be in those shoes, if I’m honest,” Pérez said.
“People cannot underestimate the level of challenge that there is in this seat.”
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
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