“Winning Time” hit a home run in casting Rob Morgan to play the role of Magic Johnson’s father, Earvin Johnson Sr., right before Morgan hit the big-time with his role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in the Oscar-nominated “Don’t Look Up” in 2021.
In one particularly poignant scene from Jeff Pearlman’s book, Earvin Johnson Sr., who worked in a factory for almost his entire adult life, admonishes his son for asking former Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke for $600,000 per year before the 1979 NBA draft.
Magic made $500,000 for his first two seasons in the NBA. After the 1981 season, he signed a 25-year, $25 million contract, which was the richest in sports history at the time.
