Inside O.J.'s entourage

Tag : Sports Clothes
All of which matters little to Johnson, who provided ESPN receiptsand documents detailing how Los Angeles events promoter RodneyGuillory allegedly funneled about $30,000 in cash, clothes andgifts to former USC star O.J. Mayo from BDA Sports agency.

Mayo was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with thethird-overall selection in Thursday's NBA draft, and was later traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in an eight-player deal that also involved Kevin Love.

Speaking publicly for the first time since ESPN aired the expose onMay 11, Johnson explained that he came forward for several reasons,one of which was to draw attention to a flawed system in whichplayers are forced to spend one year in college instead of goingdirectly to the NBA.

Johnson doesn't blame Mayo for taking any extra benefits fromGuillory in spite of NCAA rules because the lure of the NBAlifestyle is hard to pass up, especially for athletes like Mayo whogrew up poor.

"The rules that are in place right now, allow and feed the illegalactivity that goes on in amateur sports," said the 36-year-oldJohnson, who is working on a book. "There are kids that come fromimpoverished backgrounds who don't have any means of doingsomething for their family despite the fact that their talent tellsthem they should do so.

"What was happening in this situation is rampant throughout thesystem. But no one has ever done anything before to actually forcechange. I knew that by coming forward that it would create dialogueand it would cause the NBA, NCAA and amateur basketball to startlooking towards their policy regarding amateurs and the sport."

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey believes Johnson's actions got theattention of college basketball coaches.

Brey, who is a board member of the National Association ofBasketball Coaches, said the story spurred a serious discussionduring a meeting on how can educators and administrators can do abetter job of policing the situation.

"I think it was very powerful hearing," Brey said by phone. "Itdefinitely sent some shockwaves in our profession."

Several on-going investigations preclude Johnson from discussingany specifics of the allegations pertaining to Mayo and Guillory.

Johnson told ESPN that BDA Sports had given Guillory a total ofabout $200,000 with the understanding that the agency wouldrepresent Mayo once he turned pro. Mayo initially hired BDA Sportsvice president Calvin Andrews to be his agent, but the two havesince severed ties since the ESPN story aired.

BDA president Bill Duffy has since denied any wrong doing. Attemptsto reach Duffy and Guillory were not successful.

"I wanted to open up O.J.'s eyes to what was going on around him,"Johnson said. "He couldn't see how he was being used.

"I also wanted to prevent this from happening to anybody else."

Johnson doesn't absolve himself from perpetuating the problem whenhe hooked up with Guillory. By his own admission, poor judgment andmounting financial issues led him to that path. Had Johnson"fulfilled God's will" and stayed a reporter, he says he probablynever would have gotten involved with Guillory and Mayo.

In 1989, Johnson began working for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, Calif., as a clerk and eventually became afull-time writer and columnist. He later worked at the Orange County Register as a copy editor in 2001 and was Fox Sports.com's collegebasketball producer in 2002 before returning to work at the Press-Telegram in 2003.

Veteran Press-Telegram columnist Frank Burlison worked with Johnson since he started atthe newspaper. He declined to speak about what happened betweenJohnson and Mayo, but said, "He was a good guy. He worked very hardand was a good writer."

Johnson resigned from the Press-Telegram in June of 2005 for what he thought was a more lucrativeopportunity as the vice president of a fiber optics company. But itwas a risky venture that ended about five months later when thecompany folded.

About a month later, in December of 2005, Johnson was arrested forselling cocaine. Though Johnson couldn't give any details about thecase, he spent only nine days in jail and received three years ofprobation. Johnson said it was the first time he had been arrested.

He knew he would never be able to get another newspaper job becauseof the arrest and the slumping job market. So he tried differentbusiness ventures that never worked out. By June of 2006, he wasevicted, had his car repossessed and was sleeping on the floor ofhis brother's apartment.

About that time, Johnson reunited with Guillory, a long-timeacquaintance, who formerly promoted and organized basketballtournaments. Johnson went with Guillory to what is now called theReebok Summer Championships tournament in Las Vegas where he wasintroduced to Mayo in July of 2006.

"Me and O.J. hit it off in a major way," Johnson said. "He acceptedme.

"He genuinely cared about me and he knew I genuinely cared abouthim. That feeling was mutual."

Johnson then traveled with Guillory and Mayo to another basketballevent before Mayo returned home to Huntington, W. Va. Afterspending nine days in jail from late October to early November of2006, Johnson reconnected with Mayo during his visit to USC. WhenMayo arrived on campus in the summer of 2007, the trio resumedtheir relationship.

Johnson insisted that he never expected a short-term profit fromhis involvement in the camp because he "never set up anyrelationships with any agents," and he noted that by the time hebecame tight with the group, BDA was in the process of cutting offGuillory financially.

Though Johnson reaped rewards in the form of sneakers, athleticgear and incidentals, he was banking on a much larger payday later.He vehemently dismissed the notion that he went to ESPN with hisstory because he didn't get what he thought he deserved.

"Regardless of what people may think, I didn't get a car, I didn'treally get a lot," Johnson said. "It wasn't like all of a suddennow I'm living this lavish lifestyle because I'm involved withthem.

"If I was pissed about not getting my fair share, I would have madethese allegations a long time ago. That didn't concern me. Myconcern was what was happening in the future."

According to Johnson, Mayo wanted him to write his autobiography,help him create a marketing plan and spearhead several charitableendeavors.

Johnson saw this as an opportunity to rebuild his life by becominga legitimate businessman and resume his writing career whileworking with an athlete he truly respected.

Despite the fact that the two no longer have a relationship,Johnson still speaks with great affection for Mayo. The twodeveloped a very strong bond, Johnson says, because they hadsimilar upbringings and ideals.

"O.J. might be the most genuine athlete that I've ever met in termsof caring for people who don't have anything," Johnson said. "Hegenuinely cares about those who are less fortunate than those wholive in the elite of society because he grew up that way.

"I can understand because I grew up that way. Our circumstances interms of living conditions and how we grew up as kids, I canidentify with him and he could identify with me and we talked aboutthat."

As Johnson's friendship with Mayo grew stronger, however, Johnsonsaid several individuals -- who he declined to name -- begandamaging his relationship with Mayo, and things got progressivelyworse.

Some people close to Mayo gradually made it clear that they nolonger wanted Johnson in the player's inner circle. Johnson tookthe hint and began taking steps to distance himself from thatgroup.

Around the same time, Johnson realized he needed to "gravitate awayfrom the lifestyle that comes with being in an entourage for a highprofile athlete."

By March, Johnson says things escalated to the point where hebelieved his life was in danger, and he completely disassociatedhimself from the group.

"I can't get into the specifics of it, but I had a very good reasonto believe something would happen to me," Johnson said.

Johnson and Mayo haven't spoken since March when Johnson said heasked Mayo for a private meeting so he could explain why theirrelationship had been severely fractured. Johnson said Mayorebuffed numerous attempts to explain the situation. Had the twospoken, Johnson believes that the entire mess might have beenavoided.

But Johnson said his book is not intended to disparage Mayo.

Contrary to popular belief, the book won't be a salacious exposeindicting Mayo or telling a sordid tale about agents and runners.Although there will be some anecdotes about what happened duringhis time with Mayo, the book will focus on Johnson's life andtackle subjects much broader than basketball.

"It is a bit of a misconception that it's going to be some sort ofdirty tell-all about OJ. Mayo," said Michael Psaltis, Johnson'sliterary agent. "Certainly his experience with O.J. that is a partof it, but the story is really Louis Johnson's memoir.

"This is going to show the life of a guy who doesn't think O.J. didanything wrong and why you can't blame the kids; you've got to fixthe system. It's a story about a guy who came from a similarbackground as O.J., got himself out of that situation, became areporter and made some bad choices with his life." Victoria Sun is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.