Transcription
I'm at peace, so the NBA's two greatest point guards, in my view, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas, were able to revive and rejuvenate their very fractured friendship and relationship. Let's see how everything transpired. Not because he's just one of my best friends, but because he is, he shakes, bakes, hips to do, put in the hoop, super jump, or plays defense. He's my baby boy. Hey, look, I know what like your brother thinking right now, okay? I know what y'all thinking. Look, my video is not going to be delving too much into whether or not Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas were engaging in some form of homosexual relationship, all right? I honestly don't have enough quantifiable evidence to make any type of allegation like that.
I've already done a video about Magic Johnson stating that he was an apprentice of Dr. Jerry Buss, who was an MK handler and who was very closely affiliated with Hugh Hefner. I also did a video about Hugh Hefner. I've also, as a matter of fact, done a video about Isiah Thomas and the fact that he has not one, but two homosexual sons. Now, does that mean that he is a homosexual? No, not necessarily. There are so-called heterosexual men that have homosexual sons. That's a whole other issue for another day. But anyway, we do know that Mr. Magic Johnson is a pansexual, or was, from what I understand. Now he runs a church, so who knows? Maybe he's trying to negate his form of life and his exploits in his form of life. Who knows? Or maybe that's just a cover. But let me just say, I know what you brothers are thinking when you saw that little, that little tidbit of interplay between Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson. [Laughter] Here on this corner, best friend, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. Let me also say this, you know, a lot of people make much of the fact that they kiss each other on the cheek. Even in the scriptures, they tell you about the holy kiss. In the Eastern cultures, because the thought process of men in the Eastern cultures, or what they call in the Orient, Oriental cultures, or the indigenous cultures, is it's not as sexuality-based as the Western cultures. They don't think as much of a man kissing another man on the cheek as, of course, they do in the Western or quote-unquote European or Europeanized cultures, where many times people make overt assumptions based off of what they view as acceptable forms of expression between genders or even amongst a single gender. To make a long story short, people will naturally assume that when two men kiss each other on the cheek and they're not related, that there must be some form of sexual interplay going on. Look, as for me, I leave it alone. Once again, I leave it alone. I won't say though, that where there's smoke, there's fire. Do I believe that Isaiah Thomas and Magic Johnson did have done anything or did anything? Not necessarily. Once again, I have not seen enough empirical data to jump to that conclusion. But I don't doubt that do their sons, the both of them, seem to be paying for some type of, they seem to be paying for some type of conduct and discretion in their, in their previous, in their past. I'll leave it at that. [Music]
Magic, only two guys basically, a championship to understand. Absolutely. And as we saw in Game 7 of the, uh, Game 6 of the 1980 Finals between the Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers, Magic Johnson had 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists at center. If you listen to the basketball analysts today, quote-unquote analysts, and the basketball fans today, you would think that the triple-double was invented by Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, or that being able to play various positions did not start until LeBron James. As I stated in the video that I did about the comparison between Magic Johnson and LeBron James at point guard, anyone who says that it's not a conversation as to who's the, who's the better player of Magic Johnson or LeBron James, does not know basketball. I don't necessarily have a problem with anyone stating that LeBron James is the better player, but to me, you can take him, Magic, and Larry Bird, and throw them all in a bag, and whoever you come out with is who you come out with. I think that they're basically all pretty much at the same level and pretty much the same player. [Music]
You see how Isaiah Thomas used to handle it? It wasn't like the Allen Iverson handle where Iverson was bringing it up all high and then carrying it where the NBA had to change the rule. Like I saw somebody saying that Steve Francis had the greatest handle. Steve Francis, Kobe Bryant, and Allen Iverson in the late 90s, they tried to, they tried to engraft that playground carry handle, that carry crossover into the NBA, and thankfully the NBA stopped it. Because a real handle, if you want to see a real handle, then you look at Isiah Thomas. You look at Rod Strickland. Today, you have Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry. Thankfully, they brought back real handle. Also, Tim Hardaway in the past, they had a real handle. Allen Iverson had great manual dexterity with the basketball. He had a great handle also, but a lot of what he did is illegal according to the rules. Okay, he used to carry the basketball. But Isiah Thomas had probably the cleanest handle of anybody who ever played, even cleaner than Kyrie's, even though I think Kyrie could do a little bit more as far as trickery is concerned. But then in getting back in this era, they really want to allow to do that with the basketball because the coaches were more concerned about getting the ball to the big man and initiating the offense. But let's look at what Isiah Thomas did once more. [Music] Yeah, although he had the ball because he knew it, as long as he had that low, pretty much nobody to steal it. [Music] It's like we all started to be like perfect. If he wasn't there, not only as a friend, but as a competitor, I don't know if I wouldn't get all myself. No doubt in my mind, the greatest player in NBA history under 6'1". No doubt in my mind. It's him and Iverson, clearly. But to me, there's no doubt that you must give it to Isaiah Thomas because he made his teammates better way more than Allen Iverson ever did. Allen Iverson was a supernova. He was the 2000s version of Westbrook. You'd watch him just to watch him. You know that more than likely, he's gonna shoot about 13 for 33, but he's gonna excite you. You watch Isiah Thomas, and you're gonna watch a maestro who can direct the entire offense, the entire defense, control the pace, floor the game, and is thinking five, six, seven steps ahead, and can take over the game offensively if you so chose. It's unbelievable. [Music]
And let me also say this, you know, many of the New Age NBA fans, they get frustrated because a lot of the old school friends try to project an image of the NBA from that era that is a little extreme. And to a degree, I agree with them. Much is made of how the NBA players today are friends. There are no players playing today who were close to friends and Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson were. Of course, Jordan and Barkley were very close. Pippen and Carmelo, some people don't know, they were very close back in the late 80s into the 90s. So friendships existed back then. You know, there's no new thing under the sun. And that's that's what that's referring to. As I stated in the video that I did on reincarnation, when the scriptures say there's no new thing under the sun, it means every generation, you have the same dynamics, the same interactions, the same reports, the same spirits. Okay? Because human nature doesn't really change. [Music] Look at Isaiah Thomas. It's the 1980s version of Carmelo. He brought the pink out way before Killer Cam did. [Music] [Music]
So I might as well get the quote out there. Magic Johnson writes, "Isaiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him. Michael Jordan didn't want to play with him." And these are Magic's words. Scotty Pippen wanted no part of him. Bird wasn't pushing for him. Karl Malone didn't want him. Who was saying, "We need this guy"? Nobody. Hey, I'm happy that they finally come out with that quote in regards to what Magic stated, because they've been blaming Michael Jordan for years in regards to why Isaiah Thomas was not on the '92 Dream Team. And Michael Jordan was not the only guy who did not want him on that team. No one wanted him on that team. Dick Ebersol did not want him on that team. The NBA wanted nothing to do with the Bad Boy Pistons. Okay? NBC wanted nothing to do with the Bad Boy Pistons. They were done with them. In their view, they played a very unappealing style of basketball. They brought, in their view, a lot of thuggery to the, to the, to the game. To a degree, the Bad Boy Pistons were like the first hip-hop basketball team. The only difference is that, you know, they were more NWA/Public Enemy, very much in your face, did not care what you thought. It's gonna be what it's gonna be. That was their style. They wanted to bring in the Jordan Chicago Bulls style, which was much, much more appealing, not just within the United States, but internationally. When this HIV announcement came and the reaction of all these people around, people that he thought were his friends, to back away and to shy away from him, and then to find out that Isaiah Thomas, the one guy he thought he was gonna be able to count on through all of this, to find out that he was questioning his sexuality, how he got this disease, and questioning people about it, it was devastating to him. I had no role in starting any kind of rumor. Well, Magic Johnson did not say that you had a role in starting the rumor. His quote stated that you kept asking people about it. Isaiah Thomas is a very, very intelligent man. It's often signs with intelligent people, what they'll try to do, or super intelligent people will try to do, is they'll try to play word games. They'll say things like what he just stated, "I had no role in starting rumors." Well, that's not what Magic said. He said that you were asking people about it. In other words, you were trying to confirm if he got HIV from homosexual intercourse. Now, we've all heard the rumors about Magic Johnson and the 1980s R&B singer Jermaine Stewart. We've heard about that fairy about Magic with various people. Please keep in mind, Magic Johnson was a pansexual, and may still be today. I don't know. But he definitely, well, he definitely wasn't in the 1980s. He ran in that circle, the Black Ball circle with Eddie Murphy and all the people of course ran around with Hugh Hefner. You know, if there was a whole, Magic tried to plug it. Okay? So that stuff was going around for for a very long time, particularly in the 80s. LA was it was a city of cocaine and debauchery. You know, Magic was a freak. He didn't have to get high or drunk to get his freak on. He just woke up a freak. I'm disappointed that he believes that. [Music]
Well, he said we don't have one. So I guess let me say this, for Magic Johnson to believe that that strongly, that tells me that he, he has some insight inside their Thomas's character in regards to, you know, some people just like to meddle. They like to meddle, and they like to intervene, and they like to inject themselves into other people's business. And some people have little snake characteristics. Not saying that that's necessarily true about Isaiah Thomas, but many people have said that about him. Doesn't necessarily mean that he's a bad person or an evil person, but some people just invest too much time in getting into other people's business and seeing if they can sow some type of confusion or dissension. And for me, for Magic Johnson to know him that well and to believe that, tells me that Magic Johnson has a lot of experience with Isaiah Thomas trying to intermeddle with other people. And that's what made it so easy for Magic to believe that. The same way that Magic confirmed that Isaiah Thomas led the freeze-out of Michael Jordan. So if you would do something like that with someone who you have no history with, what would you do with someone who you have fallen out with because of the acrimony that entered your relationship after you competed for two straight NBA Finals championships? No competition can turn great friends into bitter enemies. Please keep in mind that Isaiah Thomas knows that, or knew that Magic Johnson is one of the NBA's golden boys. So he understands that if he hitches his wagon to one of those stars, he knows he can't hit you too. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, those guys, if Isaiah was on fire, those guys would have put water on him. And he knows that. But Isaiah is smart enough to know that if he can find a way to hitch his wagon back on a Magic Johnson star, that maybe people can view him in a greater light. It will lead to more business opportunities for himself and get my chance to make more money. I hope as as two African-American men, that we do have the compassion and understanding to one day come together as two brothers. If, if Magic Johnson needs me, I still be there for him. Let me say this quickly in regards to what Isaiah Thomas said. What he said was very relevant, very true. Hopefully, as as two so-called black men, they could find a way to many offenses or just agree to disagree without being, you know, without going out of their way to express enmity when you don't have to. But sometimes that can be difficult depending on what you feel someone did to you and what they owe, what they attempted to do to you. And sometimes people try to pull the "we're both black" card when they know, as I already stated, that they're in a lesser position, a lesser station. You really don't know how compassionate somebody is unless, unless or until they're in a position of power over you. That's when you learn about compassion. Anybody can be compassionate when they're on the ground. How much compassion do you show when you're in a position of power? So that to me is once again, Isaiah Thomas trying to make a chess move, knowing that Magic Johnson is a golden boy image of the NBA, but of the sports world. And he understands that Magic Johnson is the only one of the golden boys that he has a close enough relationship with to try to hitch his wagon to Magic's star and hopefully use him to gain greater, to gain greater visibility and to have people remember him. Because Isaiah Thomas knows what he knows that his team was hated. And let's be for real, until they came out with that Bad Boys biographical documentary a few years ago, nobody was even thinking about that team. That team had been forgotten until that documentary, which is probably the best documentary on a basketball team that I've ever seen, showed you how colorful they were and how many powerful personalities they had on that team. But they had pretty much been written out of NBA history until that documentary. So that's the power of the, the NBA quote-unquote Illuminati that they make and remove certain people. And if you're not down with the team, down with the program. So once again, Isiah Thomas knows if I can repair this relationship with Magic Johnson, it will go a long way into making me much more a part of the NBA fabric. All right, so now we've jumped ahead into the interview. Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas are in their sit-down. Isiah Thomas is supposed to be interviewing him, but they're really just having a chat. They both have very, very similar personalities, which is probably why they fell out in the first place. They're both extremely outgoing and expressive. So let's see what they have to say. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]
And let me say this, when you watch this feature, you see a lot of the ego that made Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas as great as they were because they spent a lot of this feature talking about what they did and what they contributed to the league and what they started. Like, a lot of it, Magic Johnson does a very good job of hiding how egotistical and egocentric he is. He'll say things like, "Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker," and "Michael Jordan's the greatest NBA player." But he doesn't really believe that in his heart of hearts. If you catch Magic off camera, I guarantee he'll still tell you that he's the greatest Laker of all time, and in his view, he's the greatest player of all time. And then, then wrong with that. I'm gonna push the rock, and we gonna make them come on. Funny man. [Applause] I'm Dr. J. Dr. J. Dominique got to be Dominique. And you know, J, were they on my side? George Gervin on my side? Notice Magic didn't mention Michael Jordan. He didn't say Michael Jordan. He got to be Michael Jordan because was there. Thomas had his drugs. Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan would have been frozen out of every game also. Notice also notice Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, George Gervin. You had the Michigan connection there. Of course, Magic Johnson and George Gervin, uh, from Michigan. Isiah Thomas played in Michigan. So they became a very tight clique in the early 80s. Please keep in mind, those are the three main names that Michael Jordan said he hurt was involved in his freeze-out. It wasn't like he arbitrarily picked names. Supposedly, if I remember the story correctly, he was in an elevator with them, and he had on his Nikes, um, his Nike tracksuit, his warm-up suit, the red and black one, and he had on like two or three gold chains. And supposedly they were hatin' because they were upset. Remember, at the time, all of the NBA players for the most part wore either Adidas or Converse. Most of them wore Converse. If you remember, the NBA players, the NBA stars had a Converse All-Stars commercial. We had Larry Markov, Magic, Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, all in the same commercial. So they were pretty much all just, they were in the very early rudimentary stages of sneaker contracts. And here comes this dude, Jordan, advertising for Nike, who pretty much nobody wore. And not only was he advertising for Nike, he was like a Nike billboard, and everybody was talking about him. So that was one of the main issues that caused the rift between Jordan and Isaiah Thomas and Magic early on. Magic Johnson. But in much the same way that Isaiah realized that he had to hitch his wagon to Magic's star, or, or he realizes that he has to do that if he wants to stay relevant on a higher level, Magic realized by the late 80s, early 90s, that if he wanted to be as popular as he wanted to be, as he wants to be, he has to come off, he has to come up off any form of overt disdain or jealousy towards Jordan. He realized that in the early 90s, and that is that was the genesis of their quote-unquote friendship. All right, so Magic realized early, he's a businessman. He knows what the good stocks are. He knows what stocks to invest in. He realized that Jordan was a stock that he had invested in if he wanted to, if he didn't want any problems down the line. You see what Magic said, and he was attacking these modern-day players and them not playing hard in the All-Star game. And rewind it back a little bit. But we will not hurt nobody, but at the same time, we won't just let your house up, right? Um, the NBA All-Star game has become a big joke. All you basically have now are guys taking 30-foot shots and clowning and turning it into a walk-through. And at one time, the NBA All-Star game was by far the best All-Star game of any sport, of any of the three major sports, I should say.