Magic Johnson Could Become Owner of NBA Expansion Franchise

Magic Johnson Could Become Owner of NBA Expansion Franchise: Report By Michael Gallagher Athlon Sports Updated January 18, 2025 7:05 AM NBA legend Magic Johnson is one of the wealthiest business owners in the world with a reported net worth north of $1.6 billion. He’s also a pretty successful owner of multiple sports franchises including the NFL’s Washington Commanders, Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, and MLS’ Los Angeles FC. Johnson also joined a group that invested in the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League. But among all of the professional sports teams in Johnson’s portfolio there’s one league that’s noticeably absent: the NBA – the one league that Johnson has more experience with than any of the others.

Johnson is on-record stating that because of his love for the Los Angeles Lakers – a team he led to five NBA championships and was part owner of in the early 2000s – he likely wouldn’t own any other team in the NBA, though there was one that was particularly intriguing. “The only team I would actually probably think about is the New York Knicks,” he said back in 2023. “I think it would be intriguing. That one you would really have to think about, in terms of being a minority owner of that team. Other than that, I would just stay with the Lakers and even with my role now, just being a fan, I’m happy just doing that with the Lakers because, again, I bleed purple and gold.”

However, according to a new report from the Daily Mail, Johnson could be coming around to the idea of becoming an owner of an NBA franchise not located in L.A.

“DailyMail.Com can exclusively reveal that the five-time NBA champion with the Lakers and Hall of Famer could lead an NBA franchise expansion in either Las Vegas or Kansas City,