Magic Johnson has been vocal about his displeasure with the Lakers over the past week, and now he’s taking aim at the team’s leadership.
Magic ripped Mike Brown in an interview with USA Today on Sunday, saying the coach deserved to be fired by the Lakers. He then announced on Wednesday that he had been silent on Twitter the previous few days because he was so upset that the team decided to hire Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson.
The reason I haven’t tweeted in 2 days is because I’ve been mourning Phil Jackson not being hired as the Lakers head coach.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 14, 2012
My mother always taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 14, 2012
Magic’s expressions of anger didn’t end there. Later on Wednesday, Johnson turned up the heat on Jim Buss. The Hall of Famer straight up said he doesn’t believe in Buss, who is the current executive vice president of the Lakers.
“I love Dr. (Jerry) Buss. I don’t believe in Jim Buss,” Johnson said on ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” on Wednesday night. “He’s made two critical mistakes already. To me, they made two critical mistakes.
“First, hiring Mike Brown — he wasn’t the right coach. He’s a great coach but not the right coach for the Lakers. And I don’t feel Mike D’Antoni is the right coach for the Lakers. Especially when you have Phil Jackson sitting out there, who wanted to be the Laker coach. Jim Buss decided he didn’t want Phil Jackson, he wanted Mike D’Antoni. And that’s OK, but why didn’t you just say that? But the fans were cheering for Phil Jackson two nights in a row.”
Johnson says he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the team, and that he hasn’t talked with team owner Dr. Jerry Buss in three months.
Though Magic says he loves Dr. Buss, you have to wonder to what extent the feeling would be shared now that Magic has criticized the owner’s son. You may recall that Magic also publicly called out Jim Buss in February. It’s quite obvious he really has a strong disdain for Jim, and it makes you wonder if it’s for something other than basketball decisions.
