On February 21st, the Los Angeles Lakers changed the whole dynamic of their team for the future, by naming Magic Johnson President of Basketball Operations and removing both Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss from their roles. The move took many by surprise, because of the longevity of Kupchak and Buss’ tenure for the Lakers.
More often than not, front office shakeups are kept under the wraps until the news break, leaving most people in the organization by surprise. In this case, Lakers head coach Luke Walton is no exception to this and was one of the many people who found out just like the rest of us.
Following from Sam Amick of USA Today Sports.
“I was driving to breakfast (when he heard that they had been fired),” Walton said. “And yeah, I was surprised. We had a meeting scheduled with all four of us (Walton, Jim, Kupchak and Johnson), and I was going to breakfast before the morning and then my phone started blowing up, so I came in.
However, Walton knows this is a business and had some positive words regarding the Johnson hiring and Lakers future moving forward.
“I’ve got to spend my nights breaking down film, so I’ve got to prioritize who I’m spending my time with,” Walton said. “For me, that’s coaching my guys and trusting that Magic and the Busses are going to get the other stuff done and worked out. And I do, I believe that they’ll make the right calls and we’ll be back at some point.”
As for the Lakers, this will be a wait and see type scenario as Johnson tries to right the ship in Los Angeles and bring them back to their prolific winning tradition.
