Shams: Magic Johnson steps down as Lakers President of Basketball Operations

[Effigy]

You guys think Luke stays on as coach? I think he's next out the door.

Lakers need a president first. Let the new guy decide. You definitely don’t want to fire and hire a new coach until the front office is set or you are back in this position,

[dockingsched]

Yep. The pressure to fire Luke, and the behind the scenes tension with Klutch. I think Magic is caught between wanting to please Lebron's people and also Jeannie. Still a weak move to resign at this moment.

It has to be Rob, no one else was or should’ve been in a position to do any “backstabbing”. Klutch is an agency looking out for the best interests of its clients, the Lakers best interests are never their priority. You can’t be backstabbed by an agency when you already know they don’t share your best interests.

The only party in a position to be expected to have the Lakers best interests as their top priority is Rob. There’s a reason he didn’t get mentioned today by Magic.

Klutch is Lebron's camp. We've seen reports all season long about Luke and how they wanted him gone. We all saw AD and Klutch screwed over NO. Reporters have talked about how defensive Rich Paul got when people expected Lebron to come back after 3 weeks, which then became 5 weeks.....I don't know, there seems to be a clear pattern.

Simply put, I don't think Magic resigns if his relationship with Lebron is good. Not after recruiting him just this past offseason and with an open max slot.

Why would any of that be considered backstabbing?

You listed a bunch of incidents where Klutch was making their clients their top priority. Why would anyone expect anything different?

[Swift21]

Just for entertainment I hope Jeanie hires Phil so Lebron can demand a trade.

[Grits n Gravy]

Sorry but this is disgusting to listen to. Especially how chill he is about it.

Read on Twitter

Seriously what the actual f word

[SpreeS]

Magic isnt that dumb. He leaves Lakers before total colapse in FA market. And Lebron as always puts huge pression on FO and CT... this **** not for everyone. Also clever man will not go for job in FO or HC with old Lebron on team.

[jpengland]

He's leaping from the sinking ship.

Had he signed no big name FAs this summer, he was toast anyway and the media would have killed him - this way he gets to dodge some of the blame and sit back and say that he would have brought in Leonard/Butler/KD/Kyrie/Whoever.

The Lakers are hardly an attractive proposition for any prospective GM, an ageing but still demanding LeBron is a huge hinderence to building a team/culture and brings with him an expectation of success which is magnified by the Lakers being the Lakers.

I imagine this will be either an underwhelming, relatively unknown appointment, or it will be somebody looking for one big last pay day.

[Sark]

Didn’t see that coming... Lakers fans get their wish.

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Sounds like he didn't want to be responsible for firing Walton.

[The4thHorseman]

WOOOOOOOOO FINALLY

Edit: Now the next move is find some legit competent people for the FO. Get Pelinka out of there aswell.

Magic is a legend and this without a miracle would have tainted his legacy.

Lets build a real team with culture and teamspirit at front.

If Lebron doesn't want any part of it he is welcome to leave aswell.

Naaaa, his legacy is shot. This makes him look like an even bigger dope than he already is.

[DusterBuster]

Steph Curry sprained his ankle tonight? Just heard that on an ESPN emergency podcast tonight. That news didn't even crack the news cycle

[yanuary]

Worst executive ever.
Finally.
But this smiling moron has already destroyed the future of the Lakers.
F him.

[red_power]

Lebron cured lakers from AIDS.
Finally miracle happened.

Not an acceptable jab. -Dome

[JayMKE]

lol Magic's interview is just goofy, sounds to me like he got tired of the Lebron circus

[sule]

He's leaping from the sinking ship.

Had he signed no big name FAs this summer, he was toast anyway and the media would have killed him - this way he gets to dodge some of the blame and sit back and say that he would have brought in Leonard/Butler/KD/Kyrie/Whoever.

The Lakers are hardly an attractive proposition for any prospective GM, an ageing but still demanding LeBron is a huge hinderence to building a team/culture and brings with him an expectation of success which is magnified by the Lakers being the Lakers.

I imagine this will be either an underwhelming, relatively unknown appointment, or it will be somebody looking for one big last pay day.

His coup was going to be the Davis trade plus another free agent. Klutch and Davis botched that in the most horrendous way possible. And New Orleans called the Lakers' tampering bluff.

He also completely missed on Paul George, after being so confident in getting him last summer as a free agent. And now, if they want Davis, they'll likely have to wait until he hits free agency, at which point, they may not have the cap space, unless they punt an offseason chock full of guys who can push them into title contention.

And even then, Durant and Kyrie are looking squarely at the Knicks, according to reports. Kawhi is looking more and more likely to re-sign with Toronto, and has already ruled out signing with the Lakers. Butler could be retained by Philly. And Klay will re-sign with GSW, unless something goes horribly wrong.

That leaves them with Kemba as their main option.

They've have to essentially give up on next season and run it back with their young players. But LeBron and Klutch already threw them under the bus and has divided the lockerroom. So it's totally possible they have to trade some of those guys in the offseason, in addition to filling out the roster again.

Even LeBron seems disinterested in basketball and is striking out on attracting players to join him in his Hollywood endeavors. And if you can't entice players to build their brand through Hollywood, then what else is left in LA? Beaches and weather? Don't think that's worth being thrown under the bus and being blamed for the Lakers' failings as LeBron's secondary.


And now, with this development of Magic randomly resigning, they're going to have to likely fill 3 major positions (POBO, GM, and Coach) over the next couple months, which could easily take them into July and past the free agency deadlines. And that's in addition to their need to now prepare for a possible top 10 pick in this years draft. Any player who wants to win will be weary to join a team whose direction is unknown.

Throw in, on top of all that, the headcase that is Lavar Ball and the issues surrounding Lonzo & BBB, and a set of young players who may not be as good as initially advertised, and it's going to be a HUGE task to build this team into something resembling a winning product. Especially when you factor in the Lakers organizations' arrogance towards every other team in the league and other teams basically refusing to deal with them b/c of that.

It's a mess in the most fantastical way possible.

[Laker_Kid]

If it aint David Griffin, whom Lebron trusts, and we cant pry Jerry West from the other side, I personally would rather stay within the org and go with the next best option: Ryan West.

[DusterBuster]

If it aint David Griffin, whom Lebron trusts, and we cant pry Jerry West from the other side, I personally would rather stay within the org and go with the next best option: Ryan West.

Windys emerg pod on the Magic situation had a mention by one of the guys saying that Griffin is on his way to New Orleans.

[SFrush]

Sorry but this is disgusting to listen to. Especially how chill he is about it.

Read on Twitter

I know the idiot NBA family isn't going to call him out on this. They are going to say how courageous and brave it is to step down from a position that is too big for you. What a load of crap. Courage would be letting your owner know in private, and not contributing to this media circus.

Agreed.

[One Last Shot]

Isn't one of the main reason LeBron joins Lakers because of Magic? Wow, things get quite ugly that fast. as damage control, maybe they should hire Kobe as POBO/Head Coach for $30M a year. If they did and won a title next year, Kobe should be always step ahead above of LeBron in GOAT Rankings in NBA History.

[WalterBenjamin]

Magic weak.

[Ben Simmons]

Magic was too scared to tell JB but was confident enough to face a barrage of microphones
And he'll still surely end up talking to JB too, unless he's going into witness protection....

[LOUiS-D]

If he'd fallen on his sword properly this wouldn't be nearly as big a circus. All he had to say was that he takes full responsibility for the disappointing season, that Laker nation deserves better and that someone else should be given the opportunity to right the ship.

Instead he talks about wanting to tweet, have fun, not wanting to fire subordinates because it's a bummer, raises questions about Pelinka's character, alludes to backstabbing going on within the organisation and that THIS is his formal resignation because he can't bring himself to do it person. Holy crap! He serves up the juiciest possible story to the media.

Magic needs to hire a PR assistant and have them glued to him at all times.