Magic Johnson Double Pump Collegiate Business Conference
August 4-5, 2006
Universal City, CA
Year 4
Speaker: Magic Johnson
LA Lakers
– Loved the film room as a player. Credits watching film as a major part of his success.
– Jud Heathcoate introduced him to the concept and he became passionate about it.
– Jud was a perfectionist and made Magic practice all of his ‘game-shots’, i.e. floaters, spin moves in lane, etc.
– He helped Magic become a smarter basketball player and that was one of Magic’s greatest strengths.
– He owes Jud everything. Special relationship between coach and player.
– In tournament play or the playoffs, you must take your game to an entire different level of play.
– He realized as a freshman at MSU in a loss, that the opponents’ will to win was greater than theirs. This drove him to work harder in the summer. He would practice different things until he mastered them. Some days he would only pass the ball in the gym to managers.
– He loved the game. He was Always in the gym. Had his wife rebounding for him during college.
– His basketball knowledge allowed him to make the right plays at the right moments. He prepared himself for these moments.
– He is big on playing the game the right way. Fundamentals.
– Michael Jordan had 2-3 dunks a game. Can’t get caught up on dunking. He had to work for the other 30+ points per game.
– Magic was always in better shape than anybody else. He could play all day long. He loved to play with the worst players to prove he could beat anybody.
– He made his teammates better and had a great will to win games.
– Bird/Jordan challenged him every summer to add something new to his game. If they wore putting up 1000 shots a day, he had to do more.
– He shot 3 balls with Cooper/Scott everyday to improve his 3 pt. shooting. He couldn’t beat them, but it made him better and grew confidence. He took exception to defenses playing off of him because he couldn’t shoot. Mastered 15-18 ft. jumper, then the 3.
– He stole moves from the greatest players.
– Used the summer to do things he wasn’t comfortable with.
– One year Riley asked Magic to score more points next season. He asked if that was ok with Kareem, the most focused player he has ever seen. Kareem agreed. The answer was posting him up more.
– He spent all summer learning how to post up- spoke with some of the best players he knew to learn their secrets. He worked hard at it and thrived as a passer out of the post.
– Big Game James Worthy was always ready to play. All it took was a look from Magic and it was on. Byron needed boosts of confidence at times. He didn’t need to say anything to Kareem.
– Magic learned the skyhook from Kareem. Loves the shot and marveled at how deadly Kareem was with it and why nobody uses it anymore. Kareem could go either way.
– Magic uses his basketball skills and leadership in the business world today. Hugely successful businessman. Owns 100 Starbucks, 32 Burger Kings, 6 movie theatres, and fitness centers. Involved in 900 million dollar condo project.
– Has made adjustments in business, spoke with great business leaders to learn business before he jumped in.
– He outworks everybody, took his ego out of everything.
– Makes his employees and teammates better. Hires the smartest people and lets them do their thing.
– Learned how to uplift his teammates. Took his teammates to the movies all of the time. Got to know his teammates on and off the court, to know what buttons to push on the court when he needed to.
– Kareem was quiet, he couldn’t yell at Byron, he always got on AC Green, Rambis would hurt you as he only knew one speed.
– Good leaders know what buttons they can push in teammates.
– Worthy would always take his game to a different level in big games.
– Star players can’t yell at a teammate, unless a teammate can yell at him when appropriate. Cooper would always get on Magic on defense when he got beat by his man.
– Best player must lead in practice- must be 1st in, last out.
– Pat Riley was the Master of Motivation. If Riley could yell at Magic, team knew coach could get on anybody. No favoritism. He made Magic lead his team.
– Magic did whatever it took to win in anything in life. He knew he had to motivate Byron in Boston Garden where he didn’t play well.
– Game ritual- always wanted it quiet, by himself, ate at same time, slept at same time, and got to arena early before anybody else- PREPARATION WAS EVERYTHING.
– Turned off all phones on game day- no phone calls! Great idea. Would stay in trainer room until Riley was ready.
– If you don’t dream it, you can’t become it. Always dreamed of greatness.
– Dream Team success was due to TEAM DEFENSE!. That team took pride in defense.
– Wanted to show the world that they were the best ever.
– MJ wanted to guard the other team’s best player. No doubt. Pippen wanted 2nd best player.
– They realized that they couldn’t win just because they were the NBA! This has been a problem with recent teams.
– Goal was to be up by 30 by every half, or they were disappointed.
– Today’s game needs more fundamentals/defense.
– Kobe needs to uplift his teammates, trust them to be the best player possible.
– Magic would swing the ball to teammates to get them involved early in the game. This spread the defense for later in the game. If his teammates were hitting, this opened the game up for Magic to destroy his defender 1 on 1.
– He made the game easier for everybody. It may have cost him shots early in the game, but it helped the team.
– Magic is a winner in all facets of life.
– Does your team’s offense fit the talent?
– Listen to your players!
– When Kareem was injured in Game 6, Magic knew he had to take over and play center. He knew that the other team couldn’t hold him in the post and he could match up defensively and they could keep the tempo very fast and win. He sat in Kareem’s seat on the plane to tell teammates, never fear, Magic is here!
– Read up on Magic’s business career- he is an amazing story and a true business success.
Click on the pdf link to download the Magic Johnson Notes:
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