National Basketball League Hall of Famer Magic Johnson missed out on a massive money-making opportunity in his early days. According to Sports Illustrated, the former point guard turned down a sneaker brand deal from Nike all the way back in 1979 that would’ve been valued today at around $5.2 billion.
Johnson sat down for an interview on the All The Smoke podcast, hosted by fellow former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. In a recent interview, Johnson discussed the first mistake he made before even stepping onto the basketball court to play.
He told the story of how he signed with Converse instead of Nike. Johnson explained, “So, here I am, just winning the National Championship against Larry Bird, and three companies came in; Converse, Adidas, and Nike. Nike was just a year or two old. Converse offered me the most money.”
Johnson explained his decision to sign with Converse, who offered more money upfront, instead of Nike, who offered him stocks.
“So you know when you grow up broke, take the money. Phil Knight came in and said, ‘Hey, I can’t offer you the same type of money. But I can offer you stock’.”
He continued to express his frustration, “My family didn’t come from money. That hurts us sometimes when you don’t come from money. I didn’t even know what stocks was at that time. So, I passed on the stocks. Can you imagine? Forty-five years and $5 billion of stock.”
Magic missed on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with Nike.
Luckily for him, everything turned out alright.
Watch episode 165 of #AllTheSmoke with @MagicJohnson on our YouTube.#ATSBestofSeason4 pic.twitter.com/3YZK469tr3
— SHOWTIME Basketball (@shobasketball) August 9, 2023
Barnes and Johnson made it a point to bring attention to how well Johnson had already done for himself. They spotlighted his Converse Weapon sneakers that he wore on the court and even all of his ad campaigns with Bird. Following his retirement from the NBA, the LA Lakers legend became a billionaire on his own with his own business and sports-related endeavors.
