It’s showtime!
NBA and Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson was named the grand marshal of the 2026 Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old three-time NBA MVP, generally regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, will take on the honor. It’s the perfect fit, seeing as the parade’s 2026 theme is “The Magic in Team Work.”
“I’m still in disbelief, because as a kid growing up in Lansing, Michigan, on New Year’s Day, this was a thrill of a lifetime, just to wake up to see who was the grand marshal and watch the parade, and I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would one day become the grand marshal,” Johnson told the crowd. “I’m just blessed. I know what it means. I know that you had many great choices of other people. So I don’t take this lightly. I love this city, and this is just another thing that the city has given back to me.”
Born Earvin Johnson, he earned the nickname “Magic” during his high school basketball career. After being drafted by the Lakers in 1979, he went on to cement his name in Los Angeles and sports history, for being a part of the team’s legendary “Showtime” era. He helped the team earn five NBA championships while he earned the NBA Finals MVP three times.
When it comes to the parade day, he promised to be “waving like crazy.”
“I can now tell my kids and my grandkids that their father and grandfather is the grand marshal of the Rose Parade, so I think I’ll be kind of cool in their eyes. You know, they didn’t watch me play basketball, but they’ll be able to see me in that car,” he gushed. “So again, many, many, thank yous to everybody who decided that I was worthy of this honor.”
Johnson, who is also a partial owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, noted that the honor fell on a very important day for the baseball team.
“So if I could just get a win tonight with my Dodgers. Oh, man, this will be the most awesome day that I could ever think of.”
The Dodgers host the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night for Game 3 of the NLDS.
Before closing out his speech, he had a major admission to make: “I’m just lost for words and normally, Magic is not lost for words, but I am lost for words.”
The grand marshal comes days after the 2026 Rose Court was named.
Last year, tennis legend Billie Jean King served the iconic role. Past grand marshals include the late Jane Goodall, Vin Scully, Gary Sinise, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra.
The 137th Rose Parade takes place on New Year’s Day in Pasadena at 8 a.m. PST. You can catch all the action on Jan. 1 on KTLA and KTLA.com.
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