Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics takes a shot against LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers at TD Garden on February 07, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Magic Johnson abruptly stepped down as the Los Angeles Lakers’ President of Basketball Operations in April.
Johnson made the announcement immediately after former Lakers head coach Luke Walton’s pregame comments.
Johnson hadn’t even told Lakers co-owner and CEO, Jeanie Buss yet.
“I like to be free,” said Johnson in his more than 40-minute impromptu press conference announcement.
“I’ve got a great life… what am I doing? I’ve got a beautiful life. I’m gonna go back to that beautiful life. I’m looking forward to it. Somebody is going to have to tell my boss, because I know she’s going to be sick. But I knew I couldn’t face her face-to-face and tell her.”
I would have to affect somebody’s livelihood and their life,” Johnson said. “And I thought about it and I said, ‘That’s not fun for me. That’s not who I am.’ And then I don’t want to put her in the middle of us, even though she said, ‘Hey, you can do what you want to do.’ I know she has great love for him and great love for me.”
On his latest episode of his HBO Special, “The Shop,” LeBron James discussed his displeasure with Magic Johnson stepping down from his post as President of Basketball Operations of the Los Angeles Lakers.
So this is how @KingJames & @ZO2_ found out about Magic stepping down 😲 #TheShopHBO 💈
“I found out from Randy [Mims],” said James.
“During my stretching session, my right hand [man] says to me: ‘Magic just stepped down.’ And I’m like: Man get the f*** out my face you’re bulls****ing. I go and check my phone, I look at it, the shit happened.”Personally for me, I came here to be apart of the Lakers organization, having a conversation with Magic. So it was just weird for him to just be like: ‘I’m outta here,’ and not even have no like: ‘Hey ‘Bron, kiss my ass, I’m gone.’ It wasn’t even that.”
Who will be the next team President?
Omari White, a staff writer at One37, a growing entertainment website suggests the Lakers hire Jimmy Iovine.
If you’re tardy to the party: Iovine is a record producer best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records.
In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces audio products and operated a now-defunct music streaming service. The company was purchased by Apple Inc. for $3 billion in May 2014.
His love for the game lived on as he slowly became a regular at Lakers home games. Seen sitting and conversing with many of pop culture’s favorite figures, such as Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, Iovine became one of the more famous fans in the NBA.
His game-changing collaboration with iconic hip-hop producer Dr. Dre to create Beats by Dre has become a cultural phenomenon. Iovine introduced the ultimate listening device, and the noise-blocking headphones have become one of the most prominent accessories in sports, with athletes in every sport wearing them in pre-game warmups. Ever since the headphones took the world by storm (and caused a significant marketing controversy at the 2012 London Olympics), it’s become apparent that Iovine’s genius marketing ideas would be perfect for helping to bring the Lakers back to their winning ways. Iovine could potentially attract championship-caliber stars to block out the noise that’s stopping them from getting to the top.
The formula would be easy for him.
First, lose Wish as a uniform sponsor and replace their patch with the famous red Beats logo. Second, share inspirational stories about his journey to becoming a sound engineering mastermind to woo potential free agent superstars. And to complete the recruiting trifecta, the main thing that would help Iovine stand out among other potential franchise presidents is his ability to connect hoops with hip-hop.
The adage still applies: Every rapper wants to be a ballplayer, and every ballplayer wants to be a rapper. With Iovine’s access to a slew of superstars and legendary emcees, the Lakers can steal a page out of the Knicks’ offseason playbook by letting rappers who are fans of the team recruit superstars to come to their organization. Bronx rapper Fat Joe did it when he recruited Amar’e Stoudemire to join his beloved New York Knicks. Iovine has the power to use the likes of Kendrick Lamar or YG to do the same for their hometown team. With the franchise’s already rich history of bringing in championships and molding legends, having some die-hard fans (who just so happen to be superstar rappers) show free agents the real meaning of “California Love” would be the icing on the cake in showing them L.A.is the place to be.
As Jeanie Buss prepares to conduct interviews with various basketball masterminds to fill the position, there should be some serious consideration to looking outside of basketball when trying to reel in the right person to get the job done. Granted, great hoops geniuses such as Mark Jackson, Hubie Brown or Chauncey Billups could potentially do a great job, but what L.A. needs is someone who can give the people what they want: A lively hoops atmosphere, an even more star-studded fan base, and music experience could be the perfect ingredients for an entertaining, championship-winning franchise. That’s why Jimmy Iovine is the man for the job.
As for the current state of the Los Angeles Lakers: this season was not their friend.
LeBron James’ groin injury was a huge hurdle.
Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James injury is more complex than what has been initially reported, I’m told.
Per Lakers source: “LeBron could ‘rush back’ and return at the end of January. But he could very well be out until the end of February, or even longer.”
“It was the most serious injury of LeBron’s career,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“So that’s the start there, and for him not to be on the court, he’s not able to influence anything.”
The Lakers currently lack a head coach. Names like Jason Kidd and Juwan Howard are currently on LA’s list.
LA will enter this summer looking to make a splash in NBA Free Agency.
The team purposely filled their roster with one-year contracts to maintain their salary cap flexibility for the summer of 2019 where several NBA superstars like Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, DeMarcus Cousins, and DeAndre Jordan are expected to become unrestricted free agents.