When the Los Angeles Lakers named Magic Johnson their President of Basketball Operations, it was easy to figure that big changes were coming in the City of Angels. With Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak now out of the Lakers front office, the franchise could finally progress in their rebuild and work towards relevancy.
There’s no doubt Johnson has the prowess to turn the Lakers into playoff contenders sooner rather than later, but there is one more Laker legend that’s looking to play his part behind the scenes, Kobe Bryant. Johnson recently said in an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio that Kobe is looking to help him rebuild the Lakers, as transcribed by Kyle Boone of CBS Sports:
“Kobe wants to be a part of it,” said Johnson, who is the Lakers’ president. “He wants to be involved, and I told him any kind of way he wants to be involved. We don’t want him to come into work every day, no. We just want his expertise and pick his brain and also, show me or tell me what’s missing. So then I can say, ‘OK, hey, maybe I missed that. I’m going to jump on that.’ He got great ideas, so we going to implement a plan where we can have him involved.”
Both Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant are two of the more successful Lakers players of all time, winning multiple rings en route to being remembered as some of the greatest to ever do it. Johnson said before he even took over his front office role that Kobe would be the first person he contacted, and the hiring of Bryant’s ex-agent Rob Pelinka as the GM made his involvement almost inevitable.
Bryant has already been rumored to be in contact with 19-year-old wing Brandon Ingram in regards to what it takes to be successful mentally, something Kobe mastered. After the Lakers were awarded the second overall pick as a result of the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery, it now seems Bryant’s fingerprints could be all over the decision of who to take from that spot. Hopefully, for the Lakers and their fans, Bryant and Johnson are able to carry over their on-court success to the front office.
