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NBA Stat: 10 longest shots ever (in feet): Baron Davis - 89 (2001) Norm Van Lier - 84 (1977) Magic Johnson - 84 (1987) LeBron James - 83 (2007) Herb Williams - 81 (1986) Ziaire Williams - 79 (2023) Zoran Planinic - 77 (2005) 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗞𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮 - 𝟳𝟱 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲) Keon Clark - 73 (2000) Vince Carter - 72 (2016) #NBA
NBA commissioner Adam Silver met with Gov. Joe Lombardo last week on a Zoom call to discuss expansion and the Las Vegas market, according to a person familiar with the situation. Silver told Lombardo the league probably would add two expansion franchises, with Las Vegas and Seattle the destinations of choice, the person said. NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and his group, the MAGI, expressed an interest last week in being part of the ownership group if Las Vegas gets a franchise. Lombardo met with Johnson in February, the first NBA expansion-related talks between the top government official in Nevada and an interested ownership group.
As Castro described his background and answered regulators’ questions, one board member encouraged him to use vacant land at the Strip property to build an arena for use by a likely National Basketball Association expansion team for Las Vegas. “I think it would be fantastic for the north end of the Strip and for the entire city of Las Vegas and the state for that matter, to have an NBA team here,” Board member George Assad said in the hearing. “And that venue could also be used for concerts and other things as well,” he said. “I saw in the paper the other day that (businessman and former Los Angeles Laker) Magic Johnson met with Gov. (Joe) Lombardo and he’s interested in moving forward with some type of ownership structure that would be able to bring an NBA team here. I hope Mr. (NBA Commissioner Adam) Silver is listening and watching and we definitely will support an NBA team.”
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NBA owners are set to decide on the next steps in the expansion process at league meetings planned for the end of March in New York. Johnson is aware that there could be logistical hurdles to clear as part of those discussions, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver running the expansion process. “The numbers have to be right, and the league owners would require a lot from the commissioner, but if anyone could do it, it’s him,” Johnson said. “I’m not bragging; I’m just simply stating a fact that I have been doing this long before current and retired players.”
Benjamin Royer: Lon Rosen on Magic Johnson’s role with the Lakers going forward, adding that he’ll to have some type of involvement — like he also does with the Dodgers: “He’s not going to have day-to-day involvement at all. He is a super Laker fan, and he'll continue to be a super Laker fan.“
Q: Do you have any sort of player comparison for him? Muggsy Bogues: Melo’s got the height, so his game is different. We kind of look at him as more like a Penny Hardaway, Magic Johnson and that sort of thing. But he’s more of a scoring point guard. LaMelo likes to score but he’s still got the vision of making the guys around him better.
The Hall of Famer was asked by Overtime to eat the Shaq-A-Licious Slam if he could name a player better than Curry in his prime. The candy stayed untouched. Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, and even O'Neal himself were mentioned, but Shaq picked Curry over them all. "Steph is the GOAT," O'Neal said.
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Ivica Zubac: It was the third year. I finished my first season strong, played pretty well. Then Magic Johnson came to the team. Before Summer League, they told me I had to be Summer League MVP. If not, they’d be disappointed. I wasn’t MVP. Q. You weren’t? Zubac: No. We won the Summer League. I played well, but not MVP. That team was loaded. The best team in Summer League history. Me, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, Thomas Bryant was coming off the bench. Seven or eight legit NBA guys. How can you be MVP on that team? Sometimes you can’t even get the ball. We won it all. Summer League ends. The season starts soon. Two weeks before the season, they sign Andrew Bogut. Magic Johnson calls me in. Says I didn’t improve all summer. “You didn’t improve. You won’t play.” Camp hadn’t even started. And he’s telling me I won’t play. I’m thinking, I stayed all summer, didn’t play for the national team. All summer in L.A. with my trainers. Strength coach, skill coach, did everything they wanted. What else could I do? If I didn’t improve, that’s on you. Second season, I barely played at all. Third season starts, they sign JaVale McGee. He’s the starter, no other real center. Michael Beasley plays backup center.
Still, in 1983, no one was as good as Erving. “Magic, he had a great game even though we lost. Kareem played well. Isaiah Thomas played well, and of course, Dr. J was Dr. J,” Thompson said. “Doc was still good for a game like that. He could still get up and could show that he was the best player on the floor. He could do some things that other people couldn’t do with his big hands, the way he could move the ball around.” One play, in particular, stood out to him. “He had one dunk on my friend, Artis Gilmore,” Thompson said.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Shifting to the current stars, what do you like about Anthony Edwards? Where do you see him in 10 years? Cedric Ceballos: I like his smile, his warmth, and his honesty. You can see his fun for the game all over his face. When he’s disappointed, you can see it too. His smile isn’t “Magic-esque” because Magic did everything with a smile, but you do see the passion. I think that’s why people gravitate to him as old-heads—because he’s explosive, he’s charismatic, and you really know what you’re dealing with when you’re playing against him. If he’s feeling it and he’s on fire, the WHOLE stadium, the whole world, the camera… EVERYONE is going to know about it!
Ivica Zubac: Magic never called from his own number. Nobody had his cell. It was always a team line, then Magic comes on. After my second year, there was a team option. At the exit meeting, they said they’d pick it up. Ivica Zubac: “One day before the deadline, they tell my agent they won’t.”