The Los Angeles Lakers have watched what was expected to be a season in which they were major contenders for the title turn into one of struggles. Despite putting a star-studded roster together during the season, they are currently fighting just to make the playoffs.
The team’s controlling owner Jeanie Buss recently revealed having consulted Lakers legend Magic Johnson earlier in the campaign. Johnson, who won five titles with the team and was the face of its Showtime era, was appointed president of basketball operations in 2017 but stepped down from the position in 2019 under less-than-friendly circumstances.
He remains very much a part of the organization, though not in an official capacity.
“To me, he’s still working with us,” Buss told The Athletic. “In terms of an official capacity, in the NBA, you have to be very clear as to who can negotiate on your behalf and who can’t. So he doesn’t have that official designation. But in terms of his support, his wisdom, his insight, I freely call on him as needed.
“I just sat down with him and I said, ‘Should I be concerned? What are you seeing?’ And he just talked about, you know, the injuries and that the team hadn’t had a chance to be together. … So, you know, he’s very calm and insightful. And it, you know, I appreciate his seeing the big picture instead of reacting to every game.”
The Lakers occupy the ninth spot in the Western Conference with a 26-31 record. Johnson has been quite critical of the team on social media but claims he isn’t taking shots at anyone and simply wants to see 100 percent effort from all of the players.
“I’m a Laker,” he said. “I love the Lakers. I want to be just around here helping. I sent that tweet out for a reason. It’s a different standard when you put on the purple and gold, and so those guys have to understand that, you know, not taking a shot at anybody. But that’s unacceptable as a Laker, to not give maximum effort.”
