STILL IN THE GAME

THREE FORMER ALL-PROS SHOOT FOR ENTREPENEURIAL GLORY.

By Sarah Max/ Photography By Robin Twomey

“IF YOU CAN’T DREAM IT,” Earvin “Magic” Johnson likes to say, “you can’t live it.” But as a teenager growing up in Lansing, Michigan, he didn’t spend all his time fantasizing about playing college ball or getting drafted by the National Basketball Association. Instead, he dreamed of an imaginary assistant who made cameo appearances at Johnson’s part-time cleaning job. “I’d go up to the boss’s office and dream that I was the CEO,” says Johnson. “I’d sit in the desk and say, ‘Sally, will you bring me some coffee and donuts and today’s paper?’

Three decades later, Johnson, 49, has that office, an assistant, and an estimated $700 million portfolio of companies ranging from fitness centers to Starbucks franchises. Johnson has turned himself into an authority on doing business in urban communities, and he has even written a how-to book on entrepreneurship: Thirty-Two Ways to Be a Champion in Business hit bookshelves in November.

While Johnson does more than his share of public speaking events, his role as CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises goes well beyond company figurehead. “I’m a control freak,” says the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard and five-time NBA champion. “I don’t go in to one of my Starbucks and tell people how to pour coffee, but if I see that the floors aren’t clean or the line is backed up, I will say something.” Worrying about dirty floors and caffeinecrazed customers is a far cry from Johnson’s initial image of the life of a CEO. But as Johnson figured out early on, running a company isn’t just about putting his size-15 feet on the desk and calling for coffee. “If you’re going to be successful in business, youhave to be as committed as you were on the court or on the field.”

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