Jalen Rose talks mentorship with ‘idol’ Magic Johnson

I finally landed my childhood hero and idol as a guest on this week’s “Renaissance Man.” He changed the NBA with his dazzling “showtime” play, his megawatt smile and his business chops. And like me, he’s a Michigan guy. So when Earvin “Magic” Johnson was younger, who did he look to as his ideal in basketball, business and life?

“I looked at guys like Dr. J. I wanted to be like him,” he told me. “And so when I saw him flying through the air and then when I saw the Iceman poster and him sitting on two blocks of ice in the gray sweatsuit, I said, ‘Oh, man, I want that.'” He got that: the championships, the MVP awards and the endorsements. He was a pitchman for Spalding, Pepsi and Converse. If he didn’t have a toothpaste ad, he should have. As an American-born black athlete, he helped corporate America see us as viable endorsers and partners. Sure, there were others before him, but he was everywhere with his infectious personality.