For the second time in two months, Magic Johnson has left Jeanie Buss blindsided.
The first time came at the end of the Los Angeles Lakers’ season when Magic abruptly resigned from his job as team president and did so without giving Buss prior warning. The second time came Monday when Johnson went on ESPN program “First Take” and shared public criticism of the franchise that he declined to tell Buss first.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne published a column hours after Johnson’s interview in which the Lakers legend accused the team’s GM of backstabbing him.
According to Shelburne, Johnson aired grievances about the Lakers that he did not tell Buss first despite them talking multiple times since his resignation and even meeting for dinner. Buss, the Lakers’ majority owner, wanted to know from Johnson why he resigned and if he had issues with anyone within the organization. He declined to say and instead reiterated he resigned because he wanted to get his freedom back and be himself again.
Johnson said the complete opposite in his interview with “First Take.” He said he was upset with Pelinka talking negatively about him behind his back. He also said he didn’t like that Lakers business operations president Tim Harris interfered with his desire to fire Luke Walton.
If Johnson had all these issues, why didn’t he tell his boss rather than just walk out and ditch the franchise? His interview comments continue to paint the organization in a negative light, which is something he’s been doing for years.
Magic repeatedly would criticize Jim Buss when the Lakers were not doing well. Then Johnson got the team president job and was tasked with turning them around. The team continued to be bad and he stepped down once he started getting negative publicity. Now that he’s not involved anymore, he’s continuing to criticize from afar. It’s a bad look for him and the franchise.
