Getty Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Rob Pelinka discuss the upcoming Los Angeles Lakers' season.
Lost in the shuffle of a wild 30-minute press conference following Magic Johnson’s tell-all interview on ESPN’s First Take was Rob Pelinka throwing some quick shade towards his former boss. While Pelinka kept things as cordial and professional as possible throughout, at one point Pelinka couldn’t help himself and cracked a smile when talking about Johnson’s former role with the team.
WATCH: Lakers Rob Pelinka Laughs At Magic Johnson’s Former Role
(Video courtesy of Los Angeles Lakers on Facebook)
Prior to cracking up while discussing Magic’s former role, Pelinka initially talked about how he was blindsided by his former boss’ comments. Pelinka said that he and Magic had talked just two days prior and the conversation was lighthearted as they talked the NBA Draft Combine and the Lakers improbable jump up to the fourth pick in the upcoming draft.
“The two years of getting to work side-by-side with Earvin are some of the best memories I have in sports and work. … It’s saddening and disheartening to think he believes things are a misperception.”
–Rob Pelinka responding to Magic Johnson’s comments on @FirstTake
Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson Lakers Beef
In what might be the friendliest heated rivalry of all time, both Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are (at least publicly) two of the least confrontational people going. As a result, hearing the two go at it in the media is a bit awkward, especially considering Pelinka’s general unwillingness to directly engage and instead throw ricochet shots (like laughing when describing his former role).
Magic aired out quite a bit on ESPN’s First Take this morning. Arguably his most serious accusation was the fact that Johnson blamed Pelinka for starting the rumors that he wasn’t in the office very often and didn’t possess a solid work ethic in the Lakers front office.
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 would also go on to talk about how the straw that broke the camel’s back was the Lakers’ indecisiveness on parting ways with Luke Walton. While Magic wanted to from the jump, he simply gave up after the Lakers went back and forth too many times with their decision.