All It Took Was a Little Magic for Lakers to Become a Hot Ticket

The Lakers might not have hired Magic Johnson as coach with the intention of boosting ticket sales but, with his first practice still a day away, that has been the immediate impact.

Team officials said Thursday that about 2,800 tickets were sold in the last two days for Johnson’s coaching debut Sunday against Milwaukee at the Forum. About 2,200 were sold Wednesday, the day the introductory news conference was televised live across the country.

The Lakers are 24th in the league in average attendance--ahead of only Dallas, Philadelphia and the Clippers--at 12,815 a game. The nine Sunday home games so far have drawn an average of 12,705.

Now, however, only about 700 tickets remain for the Bucks, who would normally be a poor draw. Also, TNT has added the game to its national schedule. Within the last two days, the Lakers have also sold 1,800 seats for the eight home games after Sunday.

“Everyone wants to see Earvin in his first game, but what happens after that is predicated on how the team plays,” said Bob Steiner, spokesman for owner Jerry Buss. “We like to see this kind of rush on tickets, but reiterate, that is not why we hired Earvin.”

But. . . .

“If it becomes a byproduct,” Steiner said, “so much the better.”