Magic to be Honored

Magic Johnson will be honored on February 11, 2004 with the unveiling of a Magic Johnson statue at Staples Center.

For ppl in L.A., the ceremony will be televised on KCAL 9...

I'm not sure, but I think it will also be on TNT....

Here's a transcript from an interview with Travis Smiley done last month....good stuff, he touches on a lot of different issues, including his disappointment with the Lakers so far this season...also, they mention of the statue...


<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Tavis: All right. What's wrong with the Lakers?
Johnson: You know, I think that when we first started, I said we were not going to play well until January or February. I thought that when you bring in that many new faces and then 2 people who are used to being superstars on their own team--
Tavis: Gary Payton and Karl Malone.
Johnson: Right. And both having strong personalities, Karl and Gary, then to mix with the other 2 strong personalities--
Tavis: Who would that be?
Johnson: Kobe and Shaq. I thought it would take us a while. It's really bothering me, though, the way we have approached the games. I know that we still have it in us to play well, and we're gonna be a force when it's all said and done. But right now, I'm sort of discouraged because we're not approaching the games with the attitude of going out here really respecting our opponent and playing the game the way the game's supposed to be played. The last couple of games have shown me that: Minnesota, the Clippers. We've lost what--4 or 5 in a row here.
Tavis: 7 out of 10. I know you don't wanna hear that.
Johnson: Yeah, thanks for correcting me.
Tavis: So what are they not doing? What are they not doing?
Johnson: They're not coming to work. You gotta show up to do your job and you gotta respect who you're playing because what happens is, the way I look at it, we're saying we got the talent and we can beat anybody. But we're not playing hard. We're not doing the things that it takes to win ball games because?
We're supposed to beat the sub-500 teams, and we're not even doing that. Golden State blew us out up in Golden State. That shouldn't happen. So I'm thinking that we're not really into it the way we're supposed to, and if we don't collect ourselves and get ourselves together, there's 2 teams in the West that can definitely beat us if we're not playing our game, and that's Sacramento and San Antonio.
So I'm looking at this like we have to first get healthy--Shaq and Karl Malone-- and then we have to play basketball. Like we had a stretch where we won, what, 7 in a row where we were playing. We were really playing basketball. But right now, we're just goin through the motions. </div>

Link To Rest of Interview

 

The statue was unvailed today...Any of you guys see the ceremony? Magic truly deserves this, he's wasn't just a great ball player, but he is a great man who has contributed so much to the city of Los Angeles....can anybody say "Mayor Johnson?"...you know its inevitable....