Named by Ebony magazine as one of America's most influential black businessmen in 2009, Johnson has numerous business interests, and was a part-owner of the Lakers for several years, as well as being the team's president of basketball operations from 2017 to 2019. He is also part of a group of investors that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014, and was part of the ownership group that established Los Angeles F.C. (LAFC) of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2017. During Johnson's ownership of these teams, the Sparks won the 2016 WNBA championship, the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, and LAFC won the 2022 MLS Cup. Combining his playing career and sports ownership career, Johnson has 10 NBA championships, five each as a player and later as a minority owner of the Lakers. Early life Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan, to General Motors assembly worker Earvin Sr. and school janitor Christine. Johnson, who had six siblings and three half-siblings by his father's previous marriage, was influenced by his parents' strong work ethic. His mother spent many hours after work each night cleaning their home and preparing the next day's meals, while his father did janitorial work at a used car lot and collected garbage, all while never missing a day at General Motors. Johnson would often help his father on the garbage route, and he was teased by neighborhood children who called him "Garbage Man". Johnson came to love basketball as a young man. His favorite basketball player was Bill Russell, whom he admired more for his many championships than his athletic ability. He also idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes, and practiced "all day". Johnson came from an athletic family. His father played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi,and Johnson learned the finer points about the game from him. Johnson's mother, originally from North Carolina, had also played basketball as a child, and she grew up watching her brothers play the game. By the time he had reached the eighth grade, Johnson had begun to think about a future in basketball. He had become a dominant junior high player, once scoring 48 points in a game. Johnson looked forward to playing at Sexton High School, a school with a very successful basketball team and history that also happened to be only five