On January 30, 1996, in his first game since the 1991 NBA Finals, Magic Johnson led the Lakers to a win against the Golden State Warriors, recording 19 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. He would go on to play 32 games that season, starting in nine of them, averaging 14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and…
Category: LOS Podcast
Today in Sports History: January 11
By Jonah Sharf On January 11, 2000, David Robinson was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Robinson is a Hall of Famer, and was selected as one of the 50 best NBA players of all time in 1996, just seven seasons into his career. He helped the Spurs to two championships, was one…
Today in Sports History: December 9
By Jonah Sharf On December 9, 1984, LA Rams legend Eric Dickerson broke OJ Simpson’s single season rushing record of 2,003 yards with a 215-yard performance against the Houston Oilers. Dickerson would finish the season with 2,105 yards, a record that stands to this day. Dickerson was one of the greatest running backs of all…
Today in Sports History: November 7
By Jonah Sharf On November 7, 1991, in a moment that transcended the world of sports, Magic Johnson announced that he was retiring from basketball because he had tested positive for HIV. While initially many had negative reactions to the revelation, after much advocating for awareness of HIV, the NBA community seemed to rally around…
Today in Sports History: October 20
By Jonah Sharf On October 20, 1988, Orel Hershiser pitched a complete game in Game 5 of the World Series, giving up two runs and striking out nine batters and earning the win. In winning the game, the Dodgers won the World Series against the Athletics 4-1, and Hershiser was named World Series MVP. The…
Today in Sports History: October 15
By Jonah Sharf On October 15, 1988, one of the most legendary moments in Los Angeles sports history occurred. In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs in Game 1 of the World Series, an injured Kirk Gibson, who was not expected to play at all during the series, came up to pinch…
Leigh Steinberg: Superstar Agent, Superstar Philanthropist
By Jonah Sharf One of the first big-time sports agents and still perhaps the most famous of all time is Leigh Steinberg—indicated best by the fact that he was the inspiration for Jerry Maguire. His first client was Steve Bartkowski, the first overall pick in the 1975 NFL Draft. Steinberg helped pioneer the sports agent…
A Career in Sports Photography through the lens of John McDonough
By Jonah Sharf John McDonough never wanted to become a sports photographer—he wanted to be a sports writer—until he was handed a camera by a staff photographer during one of his assignments early in his career. Not long after that, McDonough got a job with the LA Times in San Diego after graduating from Arizona State….
Luc Robitaille: Ninth-Round Pick, Hall of Famer, and Kings President
By Jonah Sharf When athletes are drafted lower than they feel they deserve to be drafted, it often comes down to two scenarios: they play with a chip on their shoulder and try to prove to everyone they were wrong, or they become so dejected it affects their play and they never reach their full…
How Jerry Colangelo Converted a Love for Basketball to Success
By Jonah Sharf Jerry Colangelo has taken on numerous roles in ensuring the success of the sports teams he has been involved with. He has been around sports, especially basketball, his entire life, and as much as he has had fun with it, he admits that he owes almost all of his success to basketball….
