L.A. basketball royal Earvin “Magic” Johnson has been in the news lately for his decisive in-the-paint financial moves, including dropping his Starbucks franchises and selling his slice of the Lakers.

Johnson is even said to be eying an NFL team.

But in Connecticut there's some unease about the former player's role in helping the state lose $15 million in pension cash sunk into in Johnson's real estate investment funds. The losses come as the Hartford YMCA will honor the Laker great this weekend for “his commitment to investments in urban and low-income neighborhoods,” according to watchdog.org.

In fact, according to watchdog, Connecticut state Treasurer Denise Nappier put about $45.6 million in pension cash with Johnson's real estate ventures.

Blaming the tall guy for the losses, however, might be a bit, er, short-sighted. You see, the whole planet has experienced real-estate losses in the last three years. It's part of what caused the post-recession malaise we're seeing today.

Connecticut's own real-estate investment problems go much deeper than a $15 mil loss.

Watchdog says the state's property investments have returned a negative .81 percent annually.

That's worse than the Clippers' road-win record.

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