 It's very good to see you.
- You too.
- Thank you for being here.
You've been booked
for a few weeks,
and I really appreciate you--
you keeping the booking
and coming tonight.
 You know, Kobe wouldn't
have wanted me to cancel.
JIMMY KIMMEL: That's right.
 I think--
[APPLAUSE]
You know, Kobe would
want us all to carry
on and be great in our lives.
And we should do
something positive.
You know, whether it's making
sure that we love our family
or giving back to an
organization in his name.
You know, we should
do something great
because he was such a great man,
great husband, great father,
incredible basketball player.
And for 20 years, you know?
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, long time.
 To wear the Laker
purple and gold.
Man--
[APPLAUSE]
 And never take it off.
 No, no.
And loved playing the game.
And then to see him,
you know, just become
a great father and husband.
And he was enjoying life, and
went way too-- way too early.
 Yeah, well, you were his idol.
I mean, that's--
that's something.
 Well, we idolized each other.
 Yeah, that-- I think
that's very interesting
because you both
called each other
the greatest Laker of all time.
 Yeah.
 And it didn't seem
like either one of you
was just being nice about it.
It seemed like
you both meant it.
And I could understand
you being his idol,
him calling you the
greatest Laker of all time,
and to be honest I think
of you as the greatest
Laker of all time.
 Thank you.
 It's so unusual to me that you
would give that title to him.
 Well, because we both
poured our heart and soul
into performing every
night in Los Angeles
for the greatest fans on Earth.
And to-- we both were
committed to basketball,
we were married
to basketball, we
were married to winning and
playing the game the right way.
And then every night that
you came to the Forum,
because that's where
he first started,
and then he was actually
able to build Staples Center.
And every night you
came to Staples Center
you knew you were
going to see something
special, something great, that
you've never seen in your life.
And that was Kobe Bryant.
And then he made no
excuses, that's why we
all should never make excuses.
Because Kobe never made an
excuse, whether he was tired,
hurt, he played
through everything.
And the man gave us
everything that he had.
 Who do you think hated
losing more, you or him?
 Both of us.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
 We both hated
losing and we both
enjoyed winning, and
especially winning
in Los Angeles for the Lakers.
And--
 This is a great
photo of you guys.
You posted this from 1998.
MAGIC JOHNSON: Yeah.
[APPLAUSE]
JIMMY KIMMEL: What do you
remember about this, anything?
MAGIC JOHNSON:
Well-- we actually
one time played one-on-one.
And he got so mad at me because
I called foul on every play.
[LAUGHING]
 Can I tell you something?
I actually-- we-- he said
that here on our show,
and we have a clip.
Let's look.
Well, one of the things,
speaking of Magic,
that I thought was
very interesting
is that you only
played with Magic once.
One time.
- One time.
JIMMY KIMMEL: In a practice.
- That was it.
JIMMY KIMMEL: How did that go?
 He called every
single foul, even
the ones that weren't there.
[LAUGHTER]
It was like-- he's like,
hey, that was a foul.
And I was, like I--
JIMMY KIMMEL: All
right, you're Magic.
 What's the score?
Uh, it's 10 to 6.
No it's not, it's 10 to 9.
I'm like, what was--
[LAUGHTER] all right.
[MAGIC LAUGHING]
[APPLAUSE]
 Is that an accurate
account of what happened?
 Of course!
I was older.
He was in his prime, killing me.
So, I was like, I gotta cheat.
I gotta do something.
[LAUGHTER]
 It was like you were on
the Houston Astros almost.
 Oh!
[AUDIENCE GROANS]
[LAUGHTER]
JIMMY KIMMEL: No, we don't want
to-- we can't talk about that.
 The last time we
did that, I got fined.
[LAUGHING]
 I know, I know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But now, you could
be the first man
fined in two different sports.
[MAGIC LAUGHING]
 Only you and I.
 I didn't get
fined, weird thing.
No fine for me.
 There's no for you.
JIMMY KIMMEL: No.
 And all that money
went out of my wallet.
Cookie was not happy.
[LAUGHTER] Hey that
meant she couldn't
shop as much as she wanted to.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, right?
Well, you know--
 So be careful tonight.
 OK, I'll be very careful.
I won't mention it again.
We'll talk about that
next you're over here.
 You got me
sweating up in here.
[LAUGHTER] Well,
hopefully the Dodgers
will have a great season.
- Hopefully the Dodgers--
I'm sure they will
have a great season.
And hopefully it will
be a fair season.
In your basketball career,
did you ever cheat?
Did you ever-- deflate
the ball a little?
[LAUGHTER] No?
Do anything like that?
 No, the Lakers,
we never cheated.
But the Celtics--
[LAUGHTER]
JIMMY KIMMEL: They cheated.
[APPLAUSE] Yes.
That sounds right.
 Red Auerbach-- it was in June.
So, it was, like,
90 degrees outside.
They cut the heat up
in our locker room.
JIMMY KIMMEL: To get you--
 To make us tired.
And it worked.
 Didn't they turn off the,
like, heat on the water
in your hotel also?
 Yes, they did everything.
JIMMY KIMMEL: They
did everything?
 They pulled the fire alarm
at 3 o'clock in the morning.
[AUDIENCE GROANS]
 Would that make you
more motivated to win?
- Oh, yeah.
- Oh, it would, yeah.
 We wanted to just kill them.
We wanted to beat them so bad.
And we did.
JIMMY KIMMEL: And you did.
[APPLAUSE] Most of the time.
All right, we're
going to take a break.
When we come back, I want to
talk to you about our vacations
together.
 That's right.
 And I want--
I have some things
to ask you about.
 OK.
 Magic Johnson is here with us.
[APPLAUSE] We'll get more
with Magic after this.
We are back with Earvin
Magic Johnson, who is--
owns the Dodgers, owns the
Sparks, co-owns, of course,
the LA Football Club.
Has that been fun
for you doing that?
 Oh, it's been great.
I mean, we had the best
record in MLS last season.
And we lost in the
playoffs, but we're
building something special.
I think we're going to win
a championship here soon.
I love women's basketball,
just like Kobe did.
Kobe loved women's
basketball, and I love
being the owner of the Sparks.
We have some-- Candace
Parker is a tremendous hall
of fame player.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah, one
of the all-time greats.
 Exactly.
 And really, you're
easily the most important
man in Los Angeles sports.
You were a huge part of bringing
LeBron James to the Lakers,
and now you're not
working with the Lakers.
 Right.
 So even there you are
having a major impact.
It's Taco Tuesday, by the way.
[LAUGHTER]
 I know.
LeBron hasn't invited me over
for those Taco Tuesdays yet.
JIMMY KIMMEL: He has?
Oh, he hasn't?
 But we'll wait.
We'll wait till he win
the championship first,
and then we'll go
over to his house.
 I feel like he's so taco crazy
that he doesn't want to share
any of them with anyone else.
[LAUGHTER] I've
never seen anyone
this excited about Mexican food.
 Oh, well.
Well, you have to remember
he was playing in Cleveland.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Uh huh, yeah,
not the best for Mexican food,
yeah.
- Exactly.
And then Miami.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Uh huh.
 Not the best.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
 And so he come
here, he get the best.
[APPLAUSE]
 Speaking of the best.
You had-- every year you
go on a vacation in Europe.
You cruise on a
yacht around Italy,
Sam Jackson always
comes with you.
 Right.
 Who else always comes
with you on that trip?
 Well, it just depends.
John and Vicki Palmer.
We have, you know,
Anthony Anderson.
A lot of people came
out this summer.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yes.
 To hang with us and
celebrate our 60th birthday,
both Cookie and I.
 I'm glad you
mentioned Anthony.
And Charlie Wilson
performed that year.
 Charlie Wilson was amazing.
 Who else performed that year?
 Earth, Wind and Fire.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Wow!
 Jeffrey Osborne, Chaka Khan.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Ah, the best!
 You know, yes, yes, yes.
 I mean, really,
like, that's who I
would have at my 60th birthday.
 Yes, yes.
 So, on that note,
I have not just
asked but implored you,
repeatedly, to let me
come on this vacation with you.
 That's right.
[LAUGHTER]
 So, this summer, I started
looking at your Instagram.
 OK.
 Checking it out.
MAGIC JOHNSON: All right.
 And I was like, aw,
there they are again.
MAGIC JOHNSON: There's
my beautiful wife.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Your
beautiful wife.
And so, I decided
that I would put
myself [LAUGHTER] and my
beautiful wife on the trip.
 I like that!
 And then-- and then as you
continued to post photos,
I continued to put
myself in the photos.
[LAUGHTER]
 LL Cool J right next to him.
 There we go.
We've got--
MAGIC JOHNSON: Oh, yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: There's
me back there.
[LAUGHTER] And then--
there are many, many more.
But yeah, I'm here on a
bicycle with you and Cookie.
Now, Anthony Anderson, he
texted me and he's like,
where-- are you here?
What's going on?
[LAUGHTER]
 And no, not just
him, a lot of people
thought you were really there.
 Many people in my life.
My relatives
thought I was there.
[LAUGHTER] They're like,
oh, this is the greatest!
You finally got on
vacation with Magic!
I was like, no I didn't,
I'm at home right now.
 Well, we're waiting on you.
JIMMY KIMMEL: You're
waiting on me?
 You have an open invitation.
 Do I really?
 Yeah, but the
problem with you--
JIMMY KIMMEL: (LAUGHING)
There's always a 'yeah, but'.
 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
JIMMY KIMMEL: What is
the problem with me?
 Because you work every night.
 No, I'll-- in the
summertime I'll come.
Here's what I'll do, I'll tie--
I'll have a dinghy
and I'll tie a rope
on the back of your yacht.
[MAGIC LAUGHING] And I'll
just follow along behind it.
And then when it's time, I'll
come on and we'll, you know--
 You check with your wife--
JIMMY KIMMEL: Uh huh.
 And you can come on.
 And you won't--
now, I know I'm forcing
myself on you, but--
[LAUGHTER]
- You're good.
 Like, are you going
to go home to Cookie
tonight and go, oh no, I
got bad news about our trip.
[LAUGHTER] I got very bad news.
 No, what's great is
she's going to be watching.
So, she get to see it herself.
 So, right now she's canceling.
She's calling the travel
agent and canceling the yacht.
 Exactly.
Jimmy's coming, cancel it.
[LAUGHTER]
 Suddenly Magic has the flu.
[LAUGHTER]
 But we'll take your wife,
we'll just leave you at home.
 OK, all right.
That's fine.
[APPLAUSE] You know what, I
could use some alone time.
So, all right, so you
got a lot going on.
You've got the Dodgers.
Will you go to spring training?
Will that happen?
 Yeah, I go to spring
training, watch a couple games.
 Do the teams
get jealous of how
much time you will spend
with each of the many clubs
you have?
 No, no because I
think they understand.
You know, listen, we're
all here in Los Angeles,
they want to do well.
You know, this city
loves the Dodgers.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Uh huh.
 They're starting to love LAFC.
Our soc-- we sell
out every game.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yeah.
 And then the Sparks
have their fan base.
So, I think
everybody understands
LA just wants a winner.
They want guys who come out and
play the game the right way,
and women.
JIMMY KIMMEL: Yep.
 And so, hopefully, the
Lakers this will be their year.
Looks like it's going to
be the year of the Lakers
playing the Clippers,
probably, for the Western
Conference Finals.
JIMMY KIMMEL: That
would something, huh?
Wouldn't that be something?
- Yeah, yeah.
 Would you love that?
[APPLAUSE]
 I would love it.
 You would love it.
 As long as we win.
[LAUGHTER] As long as the
Lakers win, I'll love it.
 Would you rather lose to the
Clippers or any other team?
 I don't want to
lose to nobody.
JIMMY KIMMEL: OK, all right.
[LAUGHTER]
 I'm a Laker, you know
me better than that.
JIMMY KIMMEL: I know
you better than that.
I figured I'd ask anyway.
- Yeah, OK.
 We'll get to know each other
a lot better on the yacht.
 Oh, yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
 Magic Johnson, everybody!
[APPLAUSE] Go to
dodgers.com, lafc.com
to get tickets to the games.
We'll be back with Ben Schwartz.
NARRATOR: Jimmy Kimmel
Live, weeknights at 11:35,
10:35 Central, on ABC.
