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Magic Johnson buys stake in NWSL's Spirit: 'I got 14 world championships. I need 15'
Magic Johnson wants to win another championship.
He won five with the Showtime Lakers and another nine as a partial owner for LAFC, the Dodgers, the Sparks, the Lakers (five times before selling his stake in the team in 2010) and esports' Team Liquid.
Some of those teams could deliver Johnson another title before the end of the year.
So could another — the Washington Spirit.
Read more: Magic Johnson: Billionaire point guard of the city
Johnson has joined the ownership group of the Spirit, a Washington, D.C.-based franchise that currently has the second-best record in the National Women's Soccer League. The team announced the move Thursday morning, as Johnson and team majority owner Michele Kang appeared together on “CBS Mornings.”
“You know me, I love sports," said Johnson, who also has a stake in the Washington Commanders. "I love to be in ownership because it’s important that [the players] see minorities in an ownership position. But the main thing, too, is that I love helping the athletes transition from their sport to hopefully business or whatever they want to do after their time being an athlete.
"Michele cares about the same thing, and so we’re gonna help these women not only on the field. We want to win championships, so I got 14 world championships. I need 15 now. We’re gonna help them also after their career is over.”
Kang is a Korean American businesswoman who joined the Spirit's ownership group in 2020 and became the majority owner in 2022, months after the team won its only NWSL title. She spoke Thursday about how Johnson helped the Lakers and NBA reach new levels of success decades ago and how he can help the Spirit and NWSL do the same now.
Read more: Magic Johnson skillfully rips Anthony Edwards for saying old-school players lacked skill
“He shared with me about the transformation of the Lakers, how to turn a team into a winning team, shape fan experiences, and how to transform a sports franchise into a lasting dynasty, which is exactly what we need and what we’re going through," Kang said. "We’re probably slightly ahead relative to where the Lakers were back in ’79, but those lessons and wisdom and experiences are something that we just absolutely need and we’re looking forward to learning from him.”
The Spirit (12-4-2) also announced Thursday that star midfielder Croix Bethune will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury. The former USC star and member of the U.S. soccer team that won gold at the Paris Olympics reportedly suffered a torn meniscus while throwing the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals game last week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
