Olympic-Size Auction Bid Takes Magic’s Choice Jersey

“Sold! Sold to the lady in red!”

Magic Johnson did such a hot job of playing auctioneer at Planet Hollywood on Tuesday night that his wife, Cookie, won the chartered flight to Las Vegas for a whopping $6,000.

“Thank God it was only $6,000,” said the Lakers legend, flashing Cookie a smile. “You had me sweating there.”

Before the first Orange County benefit for the Magic Johnson Foundation was over, 400 guests had feasted on a groaning board of comestibles, ogled celebs Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christian Slater and heard Planet Hollywood President Robert Earl announce event proceeds of $110,000. The money will be used for AIDS education and prevention and care for AIDS patients.

The Big Moment came when Schwarzenegger auctioned off Johnson’s Olympic basketball jersey.

“I wanted to do this because I watched you play--kick butt in Barcelona,” said Schwarzenegger, an owner of Planet Hollywood in Santa Ana with Sly Stallone and Bruce Willis.

In seconds, the bidding shot from $3,000 to $10,500, with Ron Futell the winner.

“I wasn’t going to leave without it,” said Futell, a nuts and bolts manufacturer from Diamond Bar. “This is Magic’s last jersey. He is the greatest. It didn’t matter how much the bid was going to be--I was going to go as far as it took.”

Futell has a collection of Johnson jerseys. “I’m going to frame this one and put it in the family room,” he said.

In turn, Johnson auctioned off the boots Schwarzenegger wore in his upcoming flick, “The Last Action Hero.”

Holding up the exotic-looking dust-kickers, Johnson told the crowd: “You know these are for real cause Arnold doesn’t wear anything fake . . .

“They’re snake! He probably caught a snake in a swamp, broke its neck and then had a pair of shoes made out of ‘em.”

Planet Hollywood exec Frank DiBella won the Size 12s with a bid of $11,000.

The boots will be framed and installed on the walls of Planet Hollywood, joining movie memorabilia that includes the hook from “Captain Hook,” the boxing gloves Stallone wore in “Rocky,” and Patrick Swayze’s shoes from “Dirty Dancing.”

Handing over the boots, Schwarzenegger said: “I just want to make sure my wife doesn’t find out about this; she doesn’t want me to sell all of my wardrobe.”

Cookie Johnson, wearing a tomato tuxedo pants suit, toured the restaurant’s “Star Trek”-style eating chamber during the festivities. “This is exciting,” she said, “I’ve never been to a Planet Hollywood before.”

Spotting the pointy ear-tips worn by Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in “Star Trek,” Cookie said: “ Gotta have a pair of those.”

When guests weren’t tossing down cocktails, wine, beer or Stolichnaya Cristal shooters, they were praising Magic, the man they came to honor.

“He is the best player to ever play the game,” said guest Jim Barker. “When he shook my hand tonight he gave me the brother’s handshake--the one, two, three, fist-over-fist. That made me feel real good.”