Larry Brown Sports

Magic Johnson ripped into Dwight Howard for the big man’s performance in Game 4 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-92 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday that culminated with an automatic ejection following a second technical foul.

Magic made his feelings known via what else? Twitter, of course. Here’s what the former Lakers legend said about Howard:

Laker Nation: Dwight Howard that was a big No, No. Your teammates and the fans were counting on you.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 29, 2013

LN: Dwight, I’ve been swept before but I never let my team down by getting kicked out of the game.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 29, 2013

Magic also directed two tweets to “Laker Nation”:

“[Laker Nation]: Dwight with an already depleted team you couldn’t afford to foul out or get kicked out. Having you on the floor was the only chance for the @Lakers.

“Laker Nation: I’m sooooooooooo happy the season is over. With the talent on this team this could go down as one of the worst seasons in Lakers’ history!”

Read The Rest of the Story…

Magic Johnson sat down for a candid interview with TMZ earlier this week in the wake of his son EJ walking hand-in-hand with his boyfriend down the streets of LA. Johnson and his wife Cookie have made it clear that they fully support EJ’s decision to come out publicly, which has led to a great deal of praise from athletes and other people who feel the Johnsons should serve as an influence for others in a similar situation.

As an NBA legend, MLB owner, father of an openly gay son and someone who lives with HIV, Magic is at the center of many issues involving the LGBT community. And if a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers ever decides to come out, Johnson said he will be his biggest supporter.

Read The Rest of the Story…

Being the son of an NBA legend has to come with a lot of pressure, and EJ Johnson has likely felt some of that throughout most of his life. Earlier this week, the 20-year-old son of Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson went public with his boyfriend. His parents were thrilled for him.

“(My wife) Cookie and I love EJ and support him in every way,” Magic told TMZ. “We’re very proud of him.”

EJ told TMZ’s camera crew that he is “hoping and praying” for the Los Angeles Dodgers to have a big year, which isn’t a surprise considering how close he and his parents are. Earvin Johnson III is one of Magic’s three kids, and Magic has spoken highly of him on Twitter in the past.

Many of you are probably thinking, “Big deal, does the guy deserve a medal for loving his son?” Hardly, but the fact of the matter is there are many people in Magic’s position who would be embarrassed by having a son who is openly gay. On the flip side, there are several people in EJ’s position who would feel inclined to keep their homosexuality a secret out of fear of the effect it would have on his or her parents. Their relationship should serve as an inspiration for people who find themselves in the same situation.

LeBron James has been teasing NBA fans about appearing in the Slam Dunk Contest ever since entering the league in 2003, but he has yet to participate. He even said in December that he was too old for it. But after a recent string of dominating dunks LeBron threw down in pregame warmups went viral, the hunger for James to participate has grown. Now, Magic Johnson is getting in on the act with an offer that would be difficult to decline.

During ESPN’s pregame show Friday, Magic said he would put up $1 million for LeBron to do the dunk contest. He then somewhat changed his stance by offering $1 million to the winner if LeBron participates, making the offer more of a purse than appearance fee for King James.

“Please, LeBron, get in the dunk contest. I’m going to put up a million dollars,” Johnson said on ESPN’s Kia NBA Countdown. “A million dollars from Magic to LeBron. Please get in the dunk contest. I go every year. I want to see you out there. A million to the winner.”

At halftime, ESPN’s Bill Simmons even said he would throw in $200,000 to the offer, though it seemed like he might have been joking.

Now it is all on James, assuming Magic sticks to his word. LeBron said last year that he would do the dunk contest if they paid $1 million, so he has no excuse now. The dunk contest currently pays $100,000 to the winner and $50,000 to the runner up.

Here is the dunk LeBron did in pregame warmups over the weekend to get everyone excited, and below is a video of LeBron throwing down some jams before Friday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies:

Read The Rest of the Story…

Magic Johnson believes Michael Jordan is one of the most unstoppable forces in NBA history and that the former Chicago Bulls legend would cream LeBron James in a game of one-on-one.

ESPN has been running daily features on Jordan legend leading up to his 50th birthday on Sunday. One of the debates the network tried to ignite on Tuesday was who would win in a one-on-one game between Jordan and LeBron. The debate has a little more spice given how well James has been playing lately.

Magic, who is an NBA analyst for ESPN and one of the best players all time, chimed in on the debate via his Twitter account.

Read The Rest of the Story…

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their sixth straight game at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, and as a result Magic Johnson has decided to close the book on their season. L.A.’s record has dipped to 15-21 — the furthest under .500 they have been all year — and the Laker legend sees no way the team can recover.

“It’s over for my Lakers,” Johnson said as the Lakers trailed 64-48 at halftime. “No playoffs, no nothing.”

Earlier in the season, Magic was so upset with Jim Buss for hiring Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson that he decided to take a two-day leave of absence from Twitter. Last week, he turned his attention to the players and blasted them for not being able to respond when facing adversity. Now, with 46 games still remaining in the season, he has given up hope.

While the Lakers have more than enough talent to turn things around, it’s easier to envision things getting worse rather than improving. L.A. has held its opponents to less than 100 points in just 11 of 36 games this season. They have been able to put up points but look far too old and slow to keep up with anyone on defense — let alone a young, explosive team like the Thunder.

As Kobe Bryant recently summed up to perfection, the Lakers are old. Even if they somehow sneak into the postseason, it’s impossible to envision them making any type of deep run with the way they have looked all season long.

Magic Johnson has become surprisingly critical of the Los Angeles Lakers over the past year, and the franchise legend went after several of the team’s players during a Twitter rant on Monday.

Few players were spared from Magic’s criticism. During his Hit ‘Em Up 2Pac style rant, Johnson told Dwight Howard to stop complaining, called Pau Gasol soft, and said Kobe needed to be a better leader.

Magic’s total body count for the rant included: five All-Stars, one coach, all the bigs, and the rest of the team’s reserves.

Here’s what he wrote on Twitter:

I’m tired of blaming the coach, the responsibility is on the @lakers players.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 7, 2013

.@dwighthoward has to stop complaining and start dominating on offense….@paugasol has to stop playing soft and get back to 18pts & 10rebs!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 7, 2013

.@mettaworldpeace has to stop making great quotes and start playing great defense…@jmeeks20 has to start making better shot selections.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 7, 2013

Some of his criticism was so lengthy it didn’t fit into a 140-character tweet. Those included his criticism of the team’s big men and perimeter players, as well as Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash:

Read The Rest of the Story…