Landsberger wrote:dockingsched wrote:madmaxmedia wrote:
Civilized pretty much ended with Jim and Johnny tried to kick Jeannie of the board of directors. That being said, I don't think there necessarily has to be a 'bad guy', it seems more like a coming together of multiple bad factors.
Magic comes off as bad guy to me, though I realize that'll be an incredibly unpopular opinion.
I've said a few times that Magic is a whole other bag of issues for this team. He wasn't a positive force in any way when he was around the teams in the mid 90's. There is a reason he's been on the outside for a long time.
That said, he's a Laker legend for what he did on the court so in this dire time in Laker history he's viewed as the savior presently it seems. Time will tell.
Those are all excellent points/considerations.
I only hope he has the self-awareness to know what he doesn't know about basketball, and seek whatever counsel is necessary to guide the Lakers going forward. He specifically mentions this in the Ramona article, so we'll see. Outside of his personal character, I've never been particularly blown away by his basketball analysis on TV. A lot of this is actually riding on Rob Pelinka as GM...
I think it's possible that Jeannie misguidedly thought she really could bring Magic in as just an 'advisor' to keep her in the loop on basketball matters, and gain some sense of control or influence over what was going on on the other side. If that's true, then she woefully underestimated how such a move would be perceived not only by Jim and Mitch, but by just about everyone. Magic could have been first to suggest the idea of coming in and 'advising' Jeannie, and at the very least foreseeing the possibility of becoming much more after not long. Whether you grade Magic's character a 1 or a 10, as someone close to Jeannie he has incredible influence on her in the middle of a very challenging time.
Jennifer Lawrence is doing a movie about the rise and fall of Theranos, I'm sure she can play Jeannie and they can do one about the Lakers in 20 years...