Magic Johnson at midfield for the start of the Rose Bowl turned into something of a spectacle online.
The retired NBA legend Johnson had the honor of doing the coin toss before Thursday’s Rose Bowl game between Indiana and Alabama in Pasadena, Calif. But his unexpected appearance led to a wave of memes quickly flooding social media.
Many users on X questioned why Johnson was even there in the first place. Others though poked fun at Johnson’s style of tweeting and imagined how he might analyze his own coin toss.
Need Magic Johnson to explain this coin toss to me pic.twitter.com/FgYXDM9Uon
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) January 1, 2026
Magic Johnson did a great job handing the coin to the referee for The Rose Bowl coin toss pic.twitter.com/jjFccMP6dl
— Nick Farley (@farlesbarkley62) January 1, 2026
Magic Johnson standing at the 50-yard line for the Rose Bowl coin toss pic.twitter.com/IkCinCQlOO
— Onyx (@OnyxOdds) January 1, 2026
"The coin toss involves a coin that is flipped in the air. If it lands on one side, one team wins it, if it lands on the other, the other team wins it. Good luck to both teams!" pic.twitter.com/QVd1MXxCMS
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) January 1, 2026
Magic Johnson never misses an opportunity to get his face on TV. pic.twitter.com/1HjhjKZgQ0
— Augusta Bulldog "Hitch" (@TheNo1OGGolfer) January 1, 2026
Magic Johnson is gonna be so hyped to find out he did the coin toss tomorrow morning pic.twitter.com/sKCmfG5elX
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 1, 2026
The 66-year-old Johnson is quite notorious for commenting online about various sporting events with extremely simplistic and fairly obvious “analysis.” It even happened again a couple of months ago during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2025 World Series victory.
Meanwhile, Johnson is obviously a Los Angeles sports legend and was thus named the Grand Marshal of this year’s Rose Parade by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. That explains why he was out there at midfield for the Rose Bowl and providing all kinds of fodder for “Thanks, Magic” jokes to last throughout the entire 2026.
