1992 Olympic gold medalist and basketball Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson has been named one of two vice-chairs of the Los Angeles bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.
He was joined by labor leader Maria Elena Durazo as one of two new Vice Chairs named on Wednesday to serve alongside four-time Olympic champion swimmer Janet Evans.
Johnson was a member of the USA Basketball “Dream Team” that had one of the most dominating performances in any sport in Olympic history in 1992. The team won the gold medal and defeated its opponents by an average of 44 points en route to that title, including a 32-point win in the gold medal match over Croatia.
As a professional, he was a 5-time NBA Champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, a 12-time All-Star, and a 3-time league Most Valuable Player. In 2007, ESPN named his as the greatest point guard of all time.
Besides his success as an athlete, Johnson also has a wealth of experience in sports management. He is a part owner in both the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.
While baseball is not one of the Olympic sports for the 2016 games next year in Rio, it is being considered for a return to the lineup in 2020.
Durazo will join the group as the only non-Olympian among the trio, though her background is among a field that’s equally as important to a modern Olympiad as sports are: labor unions. She is currently the Vice President for IMmigration, Civil Rights, and Diversity for UNITE-HERE – a labor union with 265,000 members in the U.S. and Canada representing workers in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries.
She also previously led the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor from 2006-2014: the second-largest central labor body in the United States.
Given the amount of labor needed to construct, maintain, and serve the facilities that support the Olympic Games, Durazo’s experience with labor unions could be a valuable tool in an efficient preparation and execution of the Olympic Games.
“María Elena Durazo and Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson define what it means to be leaders,” said Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti. “With their expertise in labor, business and sport, they bring a level of professionalism and diversity that is uniquely suited to help us bring the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles. We’re thrilled to have these great Angelenos on our team as we advance our city’s bid and move to strengthen the Olympic Movement both at home and around the world.”
Los Angeles was named as the official bid by the United States Olympic Committee after a bid from Boston, the original selection, collapsed.
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My favorite player ever.
At the end of the famous basketball Olympic Final won by the dream team back in 92 – when each player was personally applauded by the public , i remember well Magic had the biggest one possible . One of my 2 favorite players ever with MJ .