Hollywood Cheers Magic Johnson's Purchase of the Dodgers

2:22 PM PDT 3/29/2012 by Andy Lewis

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Larry King, Josh Duhamel, Kobe Bryant and others in Hollywood salute Magic's team on their acquisition of the legendary baseball franchise.

Wednesday's announcement that a consortium that includes Magic Johnson, Peter Guber and Chicago investment fund Guggenheim Partners had purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion from embattled owner Frank McCourt brought an outpouring of cheers from Hollywood and from Los Angeles-area sports figures. (Guggenheim Partners is an owner of New York-based Prometheus Global Media, parent company of The Hollywood Reporter.)

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The $2 billion price was the highest price ever paid for a U.S. professional sports team. The deal still must be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware; a hearing is scheduled for April 13, though approval is expected to be a formality. McCourt threw the team into Chapter 11 bankruptcy last June in the midst of a contentious divorce from his then-wife Jamie McCourt.

Magic Johnson himself sounded as excited as any fan about the purchase. He tweeted about meeting with Dodger broadcasting legend Vin Scully about the sale, confessing he "acted like an excited little kid speaking to the LA icon.”

Those in Hollywood who took to twitter to celebrate the sale include former CNN host Larry King who acknowledged both Guber and Johnson. “"I'm so happy for my friends @MagicJohnson, Peter Guber, Stan Kasten and the rest of the group who are the new owners of the Dodgers. Great!"

Actor Josh Duhamel tweeted, “Magic Johnson's group took control of the @Dodgers. Nice work @MagicJohnson. Bring em back!”

Avengers star Clark Gregg, who plays Shield Agent Phil Coulson, joked on twitter that, "I hear Magic made a tough choice- btwn buying Dodgers or a Coulson minimate."

Holly Robinson Peete offered congratulations via twitter as well, while retweeting the story of the sale.

NBC political reporter Chuck Todd marveled at the price in his tweet. “Love that Magic-Kasten now run the Dodgers but am stunned at $2B price tag. Wonder how real that number is, i.e. in "today's dollars"?"

Bones star David Boreanaz also wondered about he cost, expressing concern over that the deal did not include the surrounding parking lots. "Magic buys the Dodgers for 2 Billion and they don't throw in the parking lots? That's like a new car without floor mats or cup holders.

On The Tonight Show a few days before the announcement pal Arsenio Hall, responding to a question about Johnson’s bid joked, “Its hard to hang with him because when you hang with someone like that what do you talk about? He'll say, "I just bought a lot of TV stations." I'm like, "I'm in to Black Dynamite cartoons.""

When the deal was announced Hall followed up the joke with this tweet: “Yo @MagicJohnson ... I bought a little league team in Simi Valley today. I will be on @ktla tomorrow morning to announce it.”

Los Angeles-area sports stars also reacted positively to the sale.

Current Lakers star Kobe Bryant expressed mock indignation at not being asked to join Magic's bid. "I'm upset he didn't cut me in. I'm going to have to talk to him about that.” On a more serious note he added, "Magic's got his hands everywhere, man. But I'm happy for him. Obviously, everybody knows how well-loved he is in Los Angeles and he's starting another chapter in his life and another chapter in his post-NBA career of rebuilding the Dodgers' franchise."

Legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda tweeted, “Welcome Stan Kasten @magicjohnson & partners to the Dodger family. I hope it won't be long before a WorldSeries flag flies at Dodger Stadium.” Current Dodger manager Don Mattingly also approved of the new owners, "What could be better? Magic, Stan Kasten? If we add Bird, now we'd be talking."