Getty Magic Johnson reacts after being introduced at halftime during the NBA All-Star game.
Making a guest appearance on a special edition of ESPN’s Sportscenter, former Los Angeles Lakers basketball president Magic Johnson strongly denied almost every allegation thrown his way in Baxter Holmes’ scathing report.
Among the allegations, Johnson was painted as a boss who would harass employees and the centerpiece of the Lakers ongoing drama. Johnson was even reported to have driven two employees to the point of having regular panic attacks due to the abusive work environment.
Magic Johnson Strongly Denies Allegations of Drama in Lakers Report
Magic Johnson’s response to the reports that came out this morning:
Magic went through just about every one of Holmes’ allegations and denied any wrongdoing in the matter. While he did admit to allowing LeBron James‘ agent, Rich Paul, to fly on the team charter plane, he said that was a one-time occurrence and not as weird as it was made out to be.
Magic repeatedly would state that he didn’t abuse any employees, even going as far to say he was never called into an HR meeting for any wrongful behavior in the workplace. Magic held his employees accountable and to a high standard but was far from an abusive boss.
“It’s okay if you wanna try and lie on Magic, go ahead.” Johnson would say, “But I know the truth and Jeanie knows the truth.”
Magic Johnson’s Sportscenter Appearance Ends Wild Day for Los Angeles Lakers
Magic’s Sportscenter appearance was the cherry on top of a ridiculous day for the Lakers that saw them get dragged through the mud repeatedly. After Holmes’ report detailing an organization-wide level of incompetence unheard of in professional sports, most analysts spent the day criticizing the Lakers slew of public mistakes and picking the report apart.
However, slowly things have started to unravel as first, Josh Hart came out and denied his involvement with the Lakers taking Moritz Wagner over his former teammate Omari Spellman in the 2018 NBA Draft. While Magic’s response was to be expected, that now makes the second person to come out publicly and discredit the report.
While this doesn’t mean that the entire report is inaccurate, it brings into question just exactly what parts of it might be the actual truth. While the report came out trying to answer most of the Lakers’ questions, it ended up creating quite a few more.