To get where we’re going, we have to understand where we’ve been. That’s the spirit that brought California lawmakers to the LA84 Foundation offices today. 

As officials planned for the LA28 games, they took in the lessons from 1984, and NBA Champ Derek Fisher was there to help make the case.

In a town of guest lists, rope lines, and elite memberships, Los Angeles is about to join another exclusive club. 

LA  will become just the third city to host the Olympics three times: 1932, 1984 and 2028.

But to be fair, competition to win the 1984 games wasn’t exactly stiff.

“After the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and officials at the 1972 Munich Games and the $1 billion Canadian construction deficit at the 1976 Montreal Games, there was one bid for the 1984 Olympic Games,” Rich Perelman with the LA84 Press Operations said, setting a 50 year old scene for The California Assembly’s Select Committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

The games made history as the first to turn a profit and did so without taxpayer money. But that’s not their most impactful legacy.

“How they’ve impacted LA for the last 40 years is not in the moments we see on TV,” said Derek Fisher, a five-time NBA Champion with the LA 84 Play Equity Fund.

Fischer is on the Board of the Play Equity Fund, established by the LA84 foundation whose mission is to increase access to sports across communities

“So it’s not just about trying to create more Olympic athletes or professional athletes. It’s really about inspiring young people to just follow their dreams. So when they watch the games and they see people doing things that they want to try to be, we want to do the best we can to make sure they have access to those resources,” Fisher said. 

Lemuel Rivera spoke in front of the committee about how his after-school sports program, through funding from the LA 84 foundation, helped him find inspiration and purpose and not just as a player

“So they allowed me to help people who don’t have the same benefits. So they allowed me to help them, taught me a lot when it comes to kinesiology and also coaching,” Rivera said. 

Rivera, who’s from Pico Union, says he is looking forward to 2028 and wants to see more people in underserved communities engage with the Olympics.

“You know, watching in person, watching it on TV is very different. For me, my biggest dream is to go to the Olympics in person,” Rivera said. 

Fisher wants to see the 28 games also aspire to a legacy of uplifting the community

“After the games are over, then what? How are the small businesses that are owned by a mom and dad or a grandma and grandpa, how are they positively impacted by these world-class events that are coming through our city and through our communities? And that’s what the committee’s really focused on,” Fisher said. 

The next hearing for this committee will be April 6 in Sacramento. The topic will be an overview of LA 2028.