Getty Los Angeles Lakers former president Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson sent a cryptic tweet after resigning from the Los Angeles Lakers following the 2018-19 NBA season. The team’s former president of basketball operations said that “the truth will always come to light,” but as we found out on Monday, he apparently meant that he’d bring it to light himself.
Johnson joined Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim on ESPN’s First Take to discuss the Lakers and his resignation from the team. There were a number of red-hot takes, including comments about his relationship with Rob Pelinka and a magnitude of other issues. Specifically, Johnson cited backstabbing by Pelinka as a key factor, courtesy of First Take.
“People around the Laker office were telling me Rob was saying things, and I didn’t like those things being said – that I wasn’t in the office enough, and so on. So I started getting calls from my friends outside of basketball, saying those things now were said to them outside of basketball. Not just in the Laker office anymore, now it’s in the media and so on.” Magic stated.
This was just the starting point, as Johnson proceeded to call out a number of other situations and cited various areas of dysfunction in the front office. When the interview had wrapped up, though, it left a sour taste in the mouths of many Lakers fans.
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Magic Johnson Interview Called ‘Selfish’
While a number of analysts and reporters sounded off on the interview, one comment stood out a bit. Andy and Brian Kamenetzky of ESPNLA 710 pointed to Magic’s previous comments of not being a person “who holds grudges,” and how that’s tough to believe after this. Especially when considering that he opted to hold this interview the same day that the Lakers are set to announce Frank Vogel as the new head coach.
Perhaps I’m a cynic, but when Magic says “I’m not a guy who holds grudges” as he sits on ‘First Take’ airing the Lakers’ dirty laundry on the same day they’re about to introduce the coach he didn’t hire… I don’t think I believe him. AK
Beyond that, many fans were livid over Johnson’s decision to go this route and call the Lakers organization out publicly. One Twitter user called him “incredibly selfish, disingenuous and entitled,” while another echoed that sentiment by referring to Magic as “extremely selfish.”
Finally, one Lakers fan even ripped into the former player/president’s decision and said he “just ruined our summer after promising he would do anything to help the Lakers get back to glory.”
Overall, it appears the Lakers fanbase isn’t thrilled with how this played out, and it’s easy to see why.
Magic Johnson Resigns, Cites Luke Walton Firing As Breaking Point
During the same interview on First Take, Magic addressed what was essentially the breaking point of his tenure in the Lakers front office. He revealed that he wanted to part ways with former head coach Luke Walton, but the team went back-and-forth on the decision.
“I wanted to fire Luke Walton, and we had three meetings. I showed her the things he did well and the things he didn’t do well. And I said listen, we have to get a better coach, I like him, he’s great, former Laker, the whole thing. So the first day, ‘well, let’s think about it,’ the second day ‘ok, you can fire him,’ then the next day ‘no, we should try to work it out.'” Johnson said.
From there, Johnson explained that Tim Harris (Senior VP of Business Operations) was brought into the mix, which led to a strange situation.
“So when we went back-and-forth like that and then she brought Tim Harris into the meeting. And Tim wanted to keep him because he was friends with Luke. Luke’s a great guy, and so when I looked up and said, I really only listen to Jeanie Buss, now I’ve got Tim involved, it’s time for me to go.” he concluded.
Regardless of how you look at it, Johnson’s public comments on the Lakers were largely negative. He did state that he believes LeBron James will win a championship in Los Angeles, but aside from that, there’s not much that was said which would help the team land high-profile free agents.
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