The Los Angeles Sparks will hold a celebration of their WNBA championship Monday at L.A. Live’s Microsoft Square beginning at 4 p.m.
Basketball Hall of Fame member Earvin “Magic Johnson, who co-leads the investment group which owns the team, and Mayor Eric Garcetti will join the team and coach Brian Agler at the planned hour-long celebration, which is free and open to the public.
The Sparks dance teams — the Sparks Crew, Ole Skool Crew and SparKids — will perform and DJ Mal-Ski will provide music.
The Sparks won the 2016 championship title Thursday after defeating the defending champion Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.
Hillary Clinton couldn’t pass up the chance to visit NBA legend and longtime supporter Earvin “Magic” Johnson this week on her fundraising swing through California. And if you know anything about the Johnson family, you won’t be surprised they posted a few photos from the evening on Instagram.
It’s somewhat rare for pop culture figures outside the campaign apparatus to post photos from private fundraisers. Nonetheless, three of the family’s accounts lit up with images from the event they co-hosted with Samuel L. Jackson and Denzel Washington and their wives, LaTanya and Pauletta. Snapchat, too, was buzzing with media from the gathering (watch clips over at TMZ).
Clinton is attending as many high-dollar fundraisers as she can before her campaign schedule intensifies in September. Coming up on her California trip? Gatherings at the homes of Justin Timberlake and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Court documents reveal that a request for waiver of arraignment filed by Draymond Green’s lawyer has been approved by East Lansing District Court Judge Andrea Andrews Larkin.
With the approval, Green will not have to be present in the court to be arraigned for the charge of assault that he faces.
The incident involved the Golden State Warriors’ Green who allegedly struck another man on Sunday, as reported by M Live. While no injuries have been reported, if found guilty Green may be fined $500 and/or have to spend 90 days in jail. A video surfaced on Tuesday which showed an individual, alleged to be Green, being led away in cuffs by the police.
Green was subsequently released on a $200 bond.
The former Michigan State standout would have had to appear before July 20 to be arraigned if his request for waiver had not been approved. Green has filed a plea of not guilty and will head to a pre-trial conference, which is scheduled to be held on August 4 at 10 a.m.
According to SF Gate, Michigan State alum Magic Johnson said in a tweet that Green is “very apologetic to the Warriors organization, fans and everyone involved.”
Johnson wrote another tweet, saying that he has “Known Draymond since he was a freshmen at MSU, he’s a good person w/ a big heart and he continues to give back to youth around the country!”
Green also received support in the form of Charles Barkley, who said the media has enabled fans to say on social media “anything they want about these professional players.” He further went on to say the media “read these fools’ tweets. Y’all make them feel like their opinion is important. Y’all have given these fans a voice where they think they can disrespect these players because of the amount of money they make and things like that. So, more power to Draymond for slapping the hell out of that kid, whoever he was.”
Green is a member of the U.S. National Team, and will participate in Team USA training camp in Las Vegas from July 18 until July 21. Team USA will also be taking part in exhibition games scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago in late July.
Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers have cut their official ties.
The name of the team’s Hall of Famer has been removed from the staff directory, which previously had listed him as having the honorary title of vice president. Johnson frequently has been critical of his former team and Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times writes that the team “appeared to want to create distance from his wide-ranging opinions to eliminate conflict-of-interest issues, among other things.”
“Earvin will always be a revered and beloved member of the Lakers family, but he does not have a position or role with the organization at the time,” Lakers spokesman John Black said in a statement. “He is not an adviser or a consultant, and his opinions, comments and social media posts are solely his, and do not represent or reflect those of Lakers ownership or management. Hopefully this will eliminate any confusion over this issue in the future.”
Johnson, who sold his ownership stake in the Lakers in 2010 but remains one of the most visible faces of the franchise, has been especially critical of Jim Buss, a Lakers owner and the executive who runs the basketball side of the organization. Johnson has been especially critical of what he says is Buss’s reluctance to delegate authority to General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
“[He’s] trying to do it himself, trying to prove to everybody that this was the right decision, that ‘my dad gave me the reins,’ and he’s not consulting anybody,” Johnson said on ESPN’s “First Take” in February.
“His father was smart enough to understand that, you know? ‘I can own the team, but I don’t have the basketball expertise to make those decisions, so let me bring in Jerry West who stepped down as GM in 2000.’ “
NORTH RANDALL, Ohio — The former Magic Johnson movie theater at Randall Park Mall was heavily damaged Thursday night by a fire.
The fire started around 9:30 p.m. in the concession area of the now-vacant building and spread to a one of the theaters, Bedford Heights Fire Chief Ken Ledford said.
When fire crews arrived, flames and heavy smoke were coming from the top of the building, Ledford said.
Firefighters from North Randall, Bedford, Bedford Heights, Maple Heights, Highland Hills and Warrensville Heights were able to keep the fire contained to concession area and one theater.
Ladder trucks from Bedford Heights and Bedford were used to douse flames on the roof and firefighters went inside the building to bring the fire under control in about 90 minutes.
There were no injuries.
Ledford did not have a dollar estimate on the damage to the building but said there was smoke damage throughout. The exact cause of the fire is unknown, Ledford said.
Developers own much of the former mall property, including the theater, and had plans to refurbish some of the still-standing buildings for industrial use.
A group of men associated with the property were at the site late Thursday night but declined comment.
Randall Park Mall opened in 1976 but closed in 2009 after years of decline. Demolition of much of the mall started in December 2014.
The 12-screen Magic Johnson Theater, named for former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, opened in 1999, with Johnson cutting a ribbon to welcome moviegoers. Lagging sales resulted in theater owner AMC Entertainment to pull out in March 2008.
An attempt to keep the cinema open under new management was unsuccessful.
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Magic Johnson has gone to Twitter to rant about the lost season for the Lakers
Let’s be honest for a second: The Lakers have been having a terrible season. Not only are they losing the legendary Kobe Bryant to retirement, they can’t seem to win important games. Even though fans are coming in, it looks like they are just there to get one final look at Kobe. Who can blame a fan base that has been tired of failure for years?
Magic Johnson has apparently felt everyone’s pain. The Lakers great is one of the best people to follow on Twitter, due to his random comments and analysis of the game. Most of them are for good fun, but this time he wasn’t messing around. After the Lakers lost in an embarrassing game against the Jazz, Magic had enough. He spoke out, tweeting:
That last tweet may be very realistic. Last year, the Lakers went 21–61. This year, the team is 15-59 with just a few games left to play. It doesn’t sound promising for them. Magic also discussed the one bearable part of the Lakers season (like I stated above).
For a legend like Magic Johnson to say that is like a dagger to the heart for the Lakers. The bright spot for the team down the line will be the young talent that they have. With Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell turning heads, and a possible star coming from the NBA Draft, things will be looking to pick up for the Lakers. If they have a coach that fits their style (like when Phil Jackson was there), we might see some sparks in Hollywood again.
Maybe Magic will take notice of the progress of the Lakers (when it happens) down the line. I can’t wait to see him tweet about the team then. Actually, I can’t wait for him to tweet in general.
Magic Johnson has a simple piece of advice for today's tech giants: "Care about your people."
Johnson, the all-star basketball player turned entrepreneur and philanthropist, has been watching closely as Silicon Valley stumbles its way toward improving diversity and inclusion.
In an interview this week with Mashable over e-mail, Johnson said he feels the current "underrepresentation" of minorities in tech is"disappointing" and just plain bad business.
"Diversity helps companies be better caretakers of their employees, and in turn, their customers," Johnson explains to Mashable. "
Have an employee base that reflects your customer base. At the end of the day, it’s these employees that make or break a business."
More than that, he argues the diversity of staff affects how well tech companies can serve a more diverse audience, in the U.S. and abroad. "You can’t make products or services for a global audience if your company doesn’t represent that audience," he says."I think more can be done."
Now he's putting his money behind that cause.
On Wednesday, Johnson's organization, Magic Johnson Enterprises, joined a group of prominent backers who invested $3.5 million in Jopwell, a startup building a platform to connect businesses like Facebook, Square and Box with black, Hispanic and Native American job candidates.
A spokesperson for Jopwell declined to disclose the size of Johnson's investment in particular.
"Leaders in tech and beyond need to understand that workplace diversity is a real commitment. It’s more than just a CEO statement on a website. You have to work at it. It doesn’t just happen overnight," Johnson says. "Companies need to be deliberate and persistent in their efforts to ensure their employee base is diverse. I also think you need technology, like Jopwell’s, to turn goals into real change."
Many of the biggest names in Silicon Valley began disclosing their less-than-impressive diversity numbers for the first time two years ago and talking up the need to improve. Despite plenty of rhetoric, symbolic hires of diversity chiefs and unconscious bias training, the biggest tech companies remain overwhelmingly white and male.
As those companies were first ramping up those efforts in 2014, Johnson spoke out urging them to "give me a call."
"I've been doing this for over 35 years. I've done this for other big corporations as well: Best Buy, Aetna, on and on. I know how to do it," he told USA Today in 2014. "They just need to give me a call. If they're looking for talent, give me a call. If they are looking for companies to partner with, give me a call."
Since then, Johnson has cemented his footprint in the tech industry by joining the board of directors at Square, the payments service founded and run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and investing in startups like Jopwell and Walker & Company, which develops shaving products specifically for the hair of black men and women.
"We’re in a time in which there’s a critical mass of tech companies that are at the intersection of profits and positive social impact. I like working with companies that can really innovate the way we do things and make them better," Johnson says when asked to explain his newfound fascination with the tech industry.
"I like companies that bring quality goods, services, opportunities and resources to historically underserved communities. Those things have always been a part of my investment strategy," he continued. "It just so happens that many of the companies doing those things now happen to be within the tech sector."
