Magic Johnson abruptly left his position with the Los Angeles Lakers amid front office dysfunction and blunders that the franchise has not seen before. He seemingly abandoned the franchise at a time where the Lakers are approaching their most important offseason in recent memory. Johnson has been quiet, mostly, on why he left. That was, until today.
In an interview on ESPN’s “First Take”, Johnson broke the silence and shed some light on why he left the Lakers – partly due to General Manager Rob Pelinka
"If you're going to talk betrayal, it's only with Rob [Pelinka]."
—@magicjohnson on the Lakers pic.twitter.com/K0sSLK2rhB
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 20, 2019
.@magicjohnson explains in full the reason why he stepped down as the Lakers president. pic.twitter.com/oats954tDP
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 20, 2019
The indecision, which Johnson highlighted in the clip above, has been well-documented in the recent months. The Lakers failed to replace Johnson, and will reportedly not fill that role at all according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
The Lakers have decided they will not hire a President of Basketball Operations to replace Magic Johnson, a team source told ESPN.
General manager Rob Pelinka will continue in his role, reporting directly to ownership. Pelinka had previously reported to Johnson
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 17, 2019
Despite deciding not to hire a President, the Lakers did at least explore some candidates to some degree. Pat Riley declined it before maybe even being asked, and Bob Myers actually laughed off the thought of leaving Golden State for the Lakers position. Instead, Kurt Rambis is essentially filling the power void.
Lakers advisor Kurt Rambis is playing a major role in the franchise's coaching search, league sources tell ESPN. He's emerging as a powerful voice in basketball operations.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 8, 2019
Indecision sprouted again when the head coach position, which I guess is fairly critical in the NBA, was botched not once by twice. Monty Williams appeared to be the Lakers’ top choice, but he signed with the Phoenix Suns first. Then came Tyronn Lue, who seemed like the ideal fit next to LeBron James. However, the Lakers low-balled Lue and tried to force Jason Kidd on him as an assistant. Lue left the table without a contract. Instead, the team decided to hire Frank Vogel – and still managed to get Jason Kidd on his staff.
Magic Johnson did a tremendous amount of damage to the Lakers when he decided to announce his resignation and not even tell team owner Jeanie Buss. LeBron James was caught off-guard too. But the interview with “First Take” may have done the most damage, as it became a full indictment of the Lakers organization as a whole. From backstabbing, mistrust, indecision from the people up top, and misguided ownership, everything was laid out in front of television audience. As that aforementioned important offseason gets closer and closer, the Lakers have now been placed in one even more precarious position.
