As the president of basketball operations, former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson helped recruit LeBron James to the team in 2018. Things have changed a lot since then.
Near the end of James’ first year with the team, Johnson unexpectedly stepped down during a year where the team missed out on the postseason with a 37-45 record. James was able to navigate the team during the Orlando bubble to win it all, but this current season is feeling worst than his first one.
On a recent episode of his podcast (h/t Brad Sullivan of Lakers Daily), ESPN Insider Brian Windhorst said the relationship between LeBron and magic Johnson is not string at all.
“I also think it’s interesting to point out that I’m not so sure that LeBron and Magic are on the greatest of terms right now,” Windhorst said. “LeBron was very upset that Magic pulled the ripcord after the first year and didn’t even tell him, just did it.
“There’s scar tissue there, and earlier this year, when Magic criticized the Lakers, and rightly so — it wasn’t hard to criticize the Lakers — and LeBron was asked about it, LeBron declined to talk about it.”
The 27-33 Lakers have dropped to ninth in the Western Conference standings are in danger of not making the postseason.
Last week, Johnson posted a picture of him and James speaking with each other during the NBA All-Star break.
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“It can’t be anything but sweet when two @Lakers get together and talk hoops, business, and how to improve our community,” Johnson wrote.
Winning can cure anything, but the Lakers are finding that hard to do.
