“Been Broke My Whole Life”: Tempted By $200,000 Deal, Magic Johnson Had His Father Sternly Advice Him Against Hastily Signing A Contract

Long before dominating the NBA hardwood, Magic Johnson was representing Michigan State University and causing havoc. Despite being a freshman, Johnson was doing things that no collegiate player had ever done. Following the conclusion of a fairly successful campaign for the Michigan State Spartans, Earvin was receiving calls from teams in the NBA. The Kansas City Kings were even ready to draft the guard as their #1 pick in the 1978 draft and reward him with a six-year, $200,000/year deal. Being ‘broke’ his entire life, Johnson was ready to pounce on the deal at the time. However, making the right decision by listening to his father, the then-Spartan star revealed on the All The Smoke podcast why he returned for his sophomore year.

As an 18-year-old, Magic Johnson was dubbed the leader of the Michigan State Spartans. Lodging a staggering 17 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game, the 6ft 8” guard led the team to an impressive 25-5 record and the Big Ten Conference win. Playing some incredible basketball during the NCAA Tournament, Magic even carried the team to the Elite Eight stage of the campaign. Unfortunately, an off-night in Magic’s production led to the Spartans suffering a 49-52 loss against the eventual national champions, the Kentucky Wildcats.

Magic Johnson turned down a $200,000/year deal

Magic Johnson was good enough to get drafted as the top pick right after his freshman year. In fact, the Kansas City Kings even flew Magic down and offered him a lucrative $200,000/year deal for six years. For someone who didn’t come from money, Johnson had never been more excited upon hearing the deal. However, while he was ready to accept the offer, Magic’s father convinced him to return to college for another year.

“A lot of people offered me money. They were big bags. My father, he always gave these life lessons. So freshman year we win the Big 10, go all the way to the Final Eight. Kentucky beat us. Kansas City had the No.1 pick, so they called me and said ‘Hey, we want to draft you No.1. They were the Kansas City Kings at that time.

So I flew down, met with the General Manager and he said ‘Hey we want to give you a six-year deal, $200,000 a year. So I got excited I’ve been broke my entire life. I’m like ‘Oh man, this is great’. I jumped up and said ‘Oh, I think that’s good’. My father grabbed me and he pulled me, dragged me outside the door. He said ‘Hold on, we’ll be right back’. He said ‘You been broke for 18 years. You can be broke one more year’.”

Listening to his father’s advice turned out to be extremely beneficial for the teenager. Dropping 17.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.4 assists in his second collegiate season, Magic led his team to an NCAA Championship. Further, with the virtue of being the #1 pick of the 1979 draft, the Los Angeles Lakers rewarded him with a much more lucrative deal than what the Kings offered. Johnson received $460,000/year for his first five seasons in the NBA, and a whopping $1,000,000 in the sixth campaign alone.

Magic and Larry Bird produced one of the greatest NCAA Finals ever

Coming back for Year 2, Magic Johnson lit up the collegiate basketball circuit. This time around, the Spartans managed to advance all the way to the NCAA Championship game. Their opponents – Larry Bird‘s Indiana State University.

Often regarded as the greatest NCAA Finals of all time, the Bird-Johnson rivalry lived up to the hype. While Bird lodged a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, Johnson recorded 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists as the Spartans won the contest 74-69. The 24.1 Neilsen rating for this matchup was the highest for any basketball game until as recently as 2017, with over 40 million people tuning in at the time.

A fitting introduction to the rivalry that would eventually go on to keep the NBA alive.