As is the custom for every national champion, the Los Angeles Dodgers visited the White House recently. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman were all, obviously, in attendance, but one glaring absence was that of part-owner Magic Johnson. Rather than be part of his team’s White House visit, Magic took the time to celebrate his close friend Billie Jean King, who was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the same time.
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Funnily enough, King is also a minority owner of the Dodgers, making her Magic’s business partner in a sense. Her presence at her Walk of Fame inauguration was undeniably more important. Magic certainly felt the same, believing his time would be better served celebrating such a close friend of his.
In a tweet talking about the event and congratulating King on what she means to women’s sports in general, Magic called the 12-time Grand Slam winner an “inspirational force and a change-maker.” More importantly, he celebrated her off-court career, where she championed equal pay for women athletes and equal rights for women and the LGBTQA community.
The main tweet showed the two champions posing with Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis at the site of King’s star.
I am so honored that I was able to attend the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony for my incredible business partner and one of the greatest tennis champions in the world, Billie Jean King! Billie Jean is an inspirational force and change-maker. I will always admire how she… https://t.co/XnvlEFIPrO
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 7, 2025
Of course, wanting to celebrate his friend and business partner is a huge reason Magic Johnson wasn’t at the White House. It should also be noted that owners of sports teams, especially minority owners, do not traditionally visit the sitting President along with the team. Though, if he wanted to, they would be in no position to deny him.
However, there could be other reasons for his absence too. He was part of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, where he came out to show his support for the Democratic candidate in his home state of Michigan.
“[Trump] promised a lot things last time to the black community last time that he did not deliver on,” he said. “And we gotta make sure we help black men understand that. That’s why I’m here.”
His speech, where he encouraged black men to go out and vote for Harris, made it clear that he is no fan of Donald Trump. Him skipping out on the White House could also be attributed to that.
