MAGIC RETIRES AGAIN : Some Ticket Brokers Stub Financial Toes : Sales: Many bought heavily in anticipation of a Laker-Clipper opener featuring Magic.

To those ticket brokers who bought hundreds of tickets for Magic Johnson’s regular-season return Friday night against the Clippers comes this message from one broker who didn’t: He hopes you sold them before Johnson announced his re-retirement Monday morning.

“I didn’t get caught up in the hype of Magic coming back, so I didn’t overbuy, and the tickets I have left should sell fine,” said Ken Solky, general manager of Murray’s Tickets in Los Angeles.

“But I talked with another ticket broker today who has 120 tickets left for that game. He could have sold them for anywhere from $30 to $55 each, but now he will be happy to get half that. And he is not alone.”

Conversely, Johnson’s announcement had no effect on the sale of Yolando Groode’s Lakers’ season tickets--prime senate seats she and her husband have owned since the Forum opened. They had a handshake deal with a buyer who brought them the money Monday after hearing the news.

“I’ve had a lot of calls today about the seats,” said Groode, who had bought a classified ad. “But Magic was going to retire some day. The Lakers have to learn how to get along without him.”

The news appeared to stun and sadden most fans, but a few recovered quickly enough to call the Laker ticket office and ask for refunds, to no avail.

“We will not refund tickets and that is our standard policy,” said Bob Steiner, the Forum’s director of public relations. “We don’t refund tickets because if we did, then we would be guaranteeing a player’s appearance, not just for our team, but for the other teams.”

Johnson announced on Sept. 29 that he would return to the Lakers, and the next day the team reported individual ticket sales 30 times higher than normal. They said season-ticket packages sold that day at a rate of one every half hour, instead of the usual one per day.

Johnson’s return also increased ticket sales for other teams in the league, but none benefited as much as the Clippers. When they put their tickets on sale Oct. 3 for their home opener against the Lakers, they sold several thousand tickets within two hours.

“It is a game that would sell out anyway, but we would have to admit that a large part of that is attributable to Magic,” said Mike Williams, the Clippers’ vice president of public relations.

But even with Johnson’s retirement, Barry’s Tickets in Los Angeles reported that tickets for Friday night’s game at the Sports Arena were still selling at the regular price, from $35 to $200.

“It will probably change as soon as people get home (Monday night) and hear the news,” said a ticket representative who asked not to be identified. “But a lady just bought two tickets to the Lakers-Clippers game for $125 each.”

Did he tell her Johnson had retired?

“Yes, I did, and she said it didn’t matter,” he said.

The NBA league office leaves refund policy up to the individual teams, but it is doubtful that any team will refund tickets because a player doesn’t play.

“We can never guarantee someone is going to play,” said Brian McIntyre, vice president of public relations for the NBA. “What if they break an ankle or something?

“When you go to a Broadway play and an actor is out, you don’t get a refund. They just say that so-and-so is not playing and will be replaced by somebody else.”

Solky of Murray’s Tickets said that in Los Angeles, it really doesn’t matter who plays, as long as the Lakers win.

“Los Angeles supports a winner,” he said. “You field a winner and it doesn’t matter who is playing, the tickets will be in demand. But with no Magic and no Laker victories, there will be no money for ticket brokers and that affects everybody down the line.”