In a new interview with Variety, Magic Johnson talks all things Lakers, his new docuseries on Apple TV+, and his history with Jerry Buss.
Johnson’s four-part docuseries They Call Me Magic premieres on Apple TV+ on April 22, giving fans an inside look at his time playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Another show about the team’s Showtime era, Winning Time, was recently released on HBO, but Johnson says he has no interest in watching the series as he’s baffled that nobody involved sought participation from him or his teammates.
“First of all, you can’t do a story about the Lakers without the Lakers,” the basketball legend said. “The real Lakers. You gotta have the guys. There’s no way to duplicate Showtime. I don’t care who you get.”
He continued, “Showtime started on the court — just unbelievable. We changed basketball! Every time out, Paula Abdul and them beautiful Laker Girls came out on that floor. First time ever. Dancing girls! And they turnt it out. All the latest music, and all the latest dances. You can’t duplicate that. We entertain you. Show you moves that you’ve only seen in the nightclub. Then you move up to the Forum Club.”
Of course, They Call Me Magic features insight from Johnson himself, along with an A-list roster of talking heads including former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, NBA competitors Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, plus Snoop Dogg and Spike Lee. While Magic didn’t ask for creative control of the series, he hand-selected director Rick Famuyiwa for the project.
As for Famuyiwa, he looked to Johnson’s 1992 memoir, My Life while preparing to shoot the docuseries.
“It’s definitely a different voice,” he says of the 30-something Johnson who wrote the book. “The voice you hear now is of someone who’s looking back and taking full stock of their life, versus that first autobiography, which was really immediate, a person who wasn’t sure if that was going to be the end of it.”
They Call Me Magic also chronicles the coming out story of Johnson’s son, EJ, now 29. In 2013, after TMZ published photos of his son in a black boa holding hands with a male friend, he decided to come out publicly.
“He changed me,” he says of EJ. “He was so proud. This dude here is just so proud of who he is.”
You can read Magic Johnson’s full interview over at Variety. They Call Me Magic hits Apple TV+ on April 22.
