He played a part in M torching Clyde Drexler, Blazers
1. Before I get to the meat of this story, I just have to say that Magic Johnson is awesome.
We focus so much on Jordan vs. LeBron and Magic’s famously bonkers Twitter account that we sometimes take his infectious personality for granted.
The legendary Lakers guard was a guest on Wednesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and I couldn’t help but feel happy while watching the interview.
Magic’s powerful laugh alone should make you feel good. His self-deprecating stories, like when he mocked his failed stint as a late-night talk-show host, are amusing. And his humblebrags, such as talking about having 13 championship rings, don’t come off as humblebrags.
His 12-minute appearance on Kimmel is just what you may need to clean your palette while dealing with stress and bad news all day.
The best story told by Magic on the show was about Michael Jordan’s famous shrug during Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals against the Trail Blazers.
“I’m on NBC calling the games,” Johnson told Kimmel. “So I’m at his house the night before. He called me, ‘Come on out.’ So I went to his house and we played cards. So we were playing cards and it got to be about 1 a.m. and the game’s the next night, so I said, let me go so you can get some rest. ‘No, you stay here because I’m gonna tear Clyde Drexler up tomorrow.’ And he got this look on his face that he wanted to play him right then. So I’m thinking, ‘OK, maybe he just said that.’ So we get to the game and he hits the first three, the second three, the third three. Remember, he’s hitting them in a row. He hit six 3s. The last one he hit, he turned and looked and me and said [shrugs] ... saying, what did I tell you I was gonna do.”
And of course, when Magic finished telling the story, he let out a great belly laugh.
2. News broke Wednesday that Chiefs center Daniel Kilgore was in the middle of getting a haircut from the team barber when it became known that the barber had tested positive for COVID-19. After the story hit social media, Kilgore reacted in spectacular fashion.
3. If you are a loyal Traina Thoughts reader/SI Media Podcast listener/Twitter follower, you know I believe DirecTV is the worst company in America. So all I can say today is, Welcome to the club, John Clayton.
4. Crying is not part of the TB12 ethos.
5. In honor of Super Bowl week, I had Erin Andrews from Fox Sports and Kyle Brandt from NFL Network's Good Morning Football join me for a roundtable conversation on this week's SI Media Podcast.
Andrews explains why this week is like Christmas, while Brandt explains why this week is a drag. The duo also talks about how weird it is to not be in Tampa for the Big Game, and Tom Brady's looking younger than ever. We also discuss the best halftime shows of all time, who we'd want to see perform at halftime of next year's Super Bowl, some of the fun prop bets being offered on the game and whether the Super Bowl should be played on Saturday or the Sunday of Presidents' Day weekend. Other topics covered include boy bands, favorite alcoholic beverages, reality shows and much more.
Here are a couple of clips.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher.
You can also watch the podcast on YouTube.
6. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: On this week's SI Media Podcast, I asked Andrews and Brandt for their all-time-favorite Super Bowl halftime show. They both had the same answer.
Of course, the correct answer is ...
7. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: If you're a degenerate who will be betting on which color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning head coach this Sunday, just remember that it was John Madden during the 1987 Giants-Broncos Super Bowl who put the Gatorade dump on the map.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.