Magic Is Now the Point Man for Charities

The background noise was the sound of summertime: kids yelling and screaming, music blaring.

There were rides and slides, carnival games, clowns and hot dogs.

In the middle of it all was Magic Johnson, explaining why he had taken his place at the front of a marching band and stepped along like a drum major, why he had green and red plastic beads on his head.

“I’m a kid today too,” Johnson said.

It’s his offspring, A Midsummer Night’s Magic, that’s all grown up.

What began as a fun-filled charity game has expanded to include concerts, black-tie corporate dinners, a Mardi Gras festival and parties, parties, parties, spread out over four days. About 40 students will receive college scholarships from the money raised. About 30,000 people will attend the various events, Johnson said.

“I can’t believe it’s this big,” Johnson said. “We started with one day. We’ve added so much.

“We used to just give the money to [United Negro College Fund]. Now we are the ones who interview the kids. We mentor them--my whole company has to take a kid or two kids. We went from raising probably $100,000 to now, millions. Then we added this component.”

This component is the children’s Mardi Gras. Almost 2,000 underprivileged kids were lining up to ride the Ferris wheel, thrill rides or ponies. All free, all day.

“This is my favorite thing, today,” Johnson said. “You see all these kids riding and screaming. You can’t get any better than this.

“These thousands of kids have never been able to go to an amusement park before. They can ride all day long, they can eat as much as they want.

“What we’re trying to do is tell them that somebody loves and cares about them. That’s what we’re trying to express to them. And if we can do that, then maybe they can say, ‘You know what? When I make it one day, through educating my mind, then I’m going to come back and help somebody too.’

“I love it, hearing the screams in the background, that’s what it’s all about.”

After a quick get-together featuring primarily local players at Loyola Marymount in 1985, the Midsummer Night’s Magic concept was developed in 1986 at Pauley Pavilion.

The game has been played at the Forum, and one year at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, when NBA lockout restrictions prevented the Forum from being used or Johnson, by then a minority owner of the Lakers, from even attending his own game and associating with the players.

Players have included Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas, and new-school stars like Vince Carter last year.

Among the players scheduled to appear at Sunday’s game at Pauley are Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Nick Van Exel and Ray Allen.

The game and surrounding events have become part of the NBA’s summer circuit, along with Alonzo Mourning’s “Zo’s Summer Groove” in Miami.

Sometimes there’s so much going on that it’s easy to forget the purpose behind it all.

“What people don’t see is that every [scholarship] student, all weekend they go through seminars,” Johnson said. “They have to go through class Friday, Saturday, Sunday. College skills, the dos and don’ts, registration, getting books.”

But what everyone in Lakerland is talking about is the transition and adjustment associated with Executive Vice President Jerry West stepping aside, and it was impossible for Johnson to escape questions about that issue Friday.

“I think we all should just be happy for Jerry,” Johnson said. “Because Jerry is responsible for all the championships that the Lakers have. He’s been a committed employee and a committed person to the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles for over 40 years. That’s amazing.

“I don’t think that Jerry will just go away. I think that he’ll work from home or wherever he is, and then hopefully take a year or two off and maybe come back. I think he loves the Lakers so much that he can’t just get away altogether. We want to wish him well because the most important thing is his health and his family.”

Johnson said he provides input on the background of Laker prospects, but the final say was always West’s. And when West had his heart set on someone, Johnson and General Manager Mitch Kupchak knew better than to stand in the way.

It’s Kupchak who will take over West’s duties.

“I wouldn’t want my role to change,” Johnson said. “I don’t want more, I don’t want less. I just want to be where I am. I’m happy where I am. I think that I don’t have time to do more. I have just enough time to play what role I’m in now.”

His role Friday was to be a big kid. Sometimes, when you’re all grown up, it’s a richly deserved perk.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: [email protected].