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WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCEMENTFebruary 5, 2014Magic JohnsonLAUREL RICHIE: Today in terms of welcoming is about welcoming our newest ownership group to the WNBA, led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Mark Walter of Guggenhiem Capital, and I want to say that the WNBA and NBA Board unanimously approved this ownership change and I couldn't be more thrilled and on behalf of the league, our teams, our players and our fans, welcome and, genuinely welcome to the WNBA. And I know you've been a fan but this is in an exiting prospect for us. We talk about what we look for in an owner and I will say that this group met all the criteria we look for. First and foremost a passion for this game that we all love and proven business acumen which I think this team and ownership has in spades and deep roots in the LA community. I got off the plane last night and the first thing I saw was the Magic Johnson shot and I thought, okay, this guy is established in this city, so that was a great thing. And we look for an overall will to win and succeed. We know we are a sports league, we know that we're 18 years young, and we want to be in partnership with people who have an incredible drive for success and we have no doubt that this new group embodies all of that. I will say not that there was any doubt, but the way in which all of this unfolded for me, absolutely affirmed just sort of how excited and sort of the strength of our new ownership team. I got a call from Michael Alter who is the owner of the Chicago Sky and he said you know I think you ought to talk with Mark Walters, so I picked up the phone and had a conversation and he said, "yeah, yeah, yeah, we'reinterested. I'll bet back to you," and that was in the stage where we were having lots of conversations. Well, three days later he called and said "We're in. What do we need to do?" And in under thirty days we are sitting here today making this announcement. So I am not only very grateful but also incredibly impressed with this organization's ability to identify an opportunity, analyze it and execute it in literally under a month. Now, speaking of a month and thirty days I know to the loyal fans of the LA Sparks while from a business stand point that was an incredibly tight time lime for closing the deal but to fans who love a deal thirty days I know felt like an eternity so thank you for hanging in there, thank you for your patience and I hope through this process we have made good on the old saying that really, really good things come to those who wait! Thank you to our fans and I couldn't be happier to have Magic and his crew and I hope you will share and join me in welcoming them. I think that's about it. I'm not going to try to introduce you. You know what you are, everybody else knows who you are. We know what you've done on the court, we know what you have done off the court and I couldn't be prouder that in the long list of your accomplishments it will now say, WNBA owner as well. (Applause.) MAGIC JOHNSON: God is so good and what a wonderful, wonderful day it is. I think about a year and a half ago how I felt when we got the Dodgers and me being a part of that. Now to be part of this incredible organization, the Sparks and keeping the team here in LosAngeles is really tremendous. Then when I think about the leadership of Laurel Richie, because without her leadership, Mark and I wouldn't have bought the team. So I want to thank first of all my partner Mark Walters because his daughter plays basketball and my sister, I watched her growing up, actually she probably beat me a few times but don't tell nobody I said that. (Laughter.) I had a daughter who played and then I watched this incredible tall, beautiful woman win back‑to‑back championships, win MVPs, named Lisa Leslie who is like a little sister to me, we have the best player in the world, Candace Parker, playing here for the WNBA for the Sparks because, Laurel, it's because of your leadership that we invested in this team and also the city of LosAngeles. Our fans wanted to keep the team here, we didn't want to see the team leave. We have a great coach, general manager, staff, and I love basketball and I love women's basketball. So this was really simple and easy for Mark and I. It's funny, we were on a plane and we turned to each other and said "Let's buy the Sparks" and I said "Okay, let's go do it!" And here we are. It was real simple. I think because of the brand that started with Lisa and Coach Cooper and my boy who led them to championships, it's wonderful to know that a team like the Sparks will stay here in this beautiful city. I'm truly excited. I can't wait to go to practice and I won't get on the floor because I leave that to the coach and the players, but I want to sit in the stands and just be a part of it and come to the games and my wife, Cookie was very excited, she can't wait. We have been to many Sparks games so this is truly an exciting day for the fans of the Sparks but also those who live in LosAngeles. So from my partner, Mark Walters and I we are truly excited. We're ready to go! I just got through talking to Penny about the team and where we need to do improve as we were walking up here. As you know, I love to win and I hate to lose and that's always been my mind‑set and it will be no different with the Sparks as it is with our Dodger organization. I'm ready to go get started, raring to go, I will meet with all the employees and everybody within the next day or two and we will start getting a plan together, getting strategy in place so we can have a successful year. Not just one year, we want to be successful for the next 20 years and we know with Laurel's leadership, this league is in very good hands. Also, too, I want to thank all the owners and the board who said that it was okay for us to own the Sparks, because that was truly a blessing and last but not least before we go to questions, I want to thank Eric Holoman, because Mark and I said to this man, "You got to get this done in a week," and he was able to. I want to thank him, my business partner and friend, so Mark and I owe a lot to Eric and we want to thank him. I'm too excited, so I think we're going to open it up for questions. Q. Magic, how will you use your financial skills to turn the team around financially? MAGIC JOHNSON: Both Mark and I have invested our hard‑earned dollars to buy the team and like anything else that we have done together, because Mark and I want to be successful, so we will get with Penny, our incredible coach of the year and say, "Hey, what do you need? What do you want to see happen?" That will be decisions of theirs and we will sit back and let them do their jobs. We're not micro managers, we let them do what they do and we are going to sit in the stands and enjoy it. It's all about investing money, you have to invest money in order to put a good product out on the floor, but I think we got a good starting point when you have the best players in women's baseball, in the world in Candace Parker playing for our franchise but we will invest, no question about it. Q. Earvin, what was the thing that really clicked for you in order to do this and are you surprised or how surprised are you that it got done so fast? MAGIC JOHNSON: I was surprised that it got done so fast. But Laurel, I mean, we were all working, Eric was working with Laurel and we went through the financials of the organization, and, you know, we just said, man, we can improve the team, we can improve the organization, and it was something that we wanted to do. We were both of us, Mark and I, were very excited. We're looking forward to getting going. Mark and I would not run the team, in terms of we have people in place to do that. What we would do is invest capital and hire the right people that we need and let them do their jobs. We're excited. Then you had a first question? Did I cover it? Okay, good. Q. Magic, was owning a WNBA team something you always considered or was it a spontaneous decision on the airplane that day? Can you walk us through what was going through your head during that airplane ride? MAGIC JOHNSON: You have to remember going back I was at the first Sparks game, right? So I've been a fan of the Sparks and the WNBA for a long time. But my love for women's basketball goes back to my sister. I played on Fridays and Tuesdays, she played on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I used to go to her games, she would come to my games and so on. Then my sister went on to the University of South Carolina and played and I followed her there but I had three sisters on the high school team at the same time. So I go back to that day when we were all growing up. Then I watched the Final Four in women's basketball on TV all the time, so I'm a big fan. I think today the game is so exciting because the women can do so much today! It's unbelievable! I mean, I think the game is in good hands, and I'm excited to be a part of it, so I never thought I would be an owner of the WNBA and the Sparks, but I am happy that I am and I'm sure Mark is the same way, he's very excited. I think when he sees his daughter play now ‑‑ he can bring her to the game and say, look, sweetheart, we own the Sparks, and that's kinda cool and my daughter, I can do the same thing. So this is great! We bought not just a franchise but I think we bought the best franchise. That was really appeal to go both of us. Keep it in LA. We're already‑‑ the Sparks are already a fabric of the city, of this incredible town and they have an incredible fan base and we're just happy to be a part of it. Q. Magic, with you being a fan yourself and a lot of people are excited that you're purchasing the team. With the success of the Dodgers, how do you get the fans, get their excitement not too high where they don't reach expectations? Is there pressure for you and the team now all of the sudden think championship, championship, championship? MAGIC JOHNSON: No, there is no pressure, we expect to win every year, that's how I did as a player and it won't be any different from the Sparks. Expectations are good. We embrace them, we want them! If we're not trying to win a championship, what am I in it for? I'm in it to win it every year. No different than I told the Dodger players when I called them a couple of weeks ago to get ready for Spring Training, hey, I laid it out there. It's time for us to go to the next level. So we are excited! Look, this town is about championships. No matter what we say, right? This is a town that loves winners, they love champions, it has always been that way, it will always be that way. There is no pressure. I think the ladies have been under pressure their whole lives since they were playing in Pop Warner leagues, they wanted to play in high school then get a scholarship to play in college and, then get in the WNBA, but that's good. That's what makes us all perform. We're excited, we build on last season. We didn't go as far as we want to go but I thought we improved from the year before that. We improved last season so now we want to take the next step. We know that we have tough competition in Minnesota and Phoenix and I can go on and on. I know WNBA very well so don't try me, don't think I don't know the WNBA because I do know it very well. So I'm excited. We're going to take it, get to training camp and then take it from there. But, no, the expectation is always going to be high and I want them there and let's see what we can do. Q. This is a relatively young league compared to the NBA so when I say this it's not as a criticism but rather a reality. At the moment there are only a handful of franchises that have been profitable and a great deal was said at the time of the announcement of the Williams group withdrawal about how many millions have been lost. You said you looked at the financials. Do you expect to be able to turn a profit on this franchise and if so what do you think needs to be done because a great product has been put on the floor for going on 18 years now? MAGIC JOHNSON: Well, we know what we're up against and that's okay. We love challenges, we're going to make a profit, no doubt about it. That's why we are in business, to make a profit. But first of all we want to make sure we come in and understand first of all, the league, working with Laurel, we will do that, we understand the staff, we want to increase the fan experience because that's what we did for the Dodgers, that's why we're number one in MLB for attendance, that's why we went from the middle of the pack to being number one, so we want to make the fan experience better for our fans coming to see the Sparks play so we would do that. The product on the floor is already good but we're going to leave that to Penny to make it better. We'll just play our role, we know what we have to do and we'll do it. Will that happen in a year? Probably not but in a couple of years we will be able to turn it around in terms of making it a profitable business and we know how to do that. Q. Magic, congratulations first. MAGIC JOHNSON: Coach, what's happening? Q. You've got a great coach and great players and nobody loves to win more than you? What will it take to build a championship team? MAGIC JOHNSON: First it starts on the defensive end, buying in on the defensive side of the ball and then they have to understand their role and play their role and then it's all about "team" no "I" in team, and if you can get them to play defense, rebound, transition game, let the ladies do what they do best. When we had back‑to‑back championships, it's all about the defensive end and then rebounds and then let the Sparks do what they do. The Sparks are an entertaining team, we have good players, we have that, we have a great coach, coach of the year, so we have to build on that. But I wanted the fans to understand one thing, we are going to play 100% every single game, we are going to be tough mind and we're coming to win every single game. We may not win every single game but we're coming with that intention. THE MODERATOR: Thank you all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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