Magic Johnson has developed a curious habit of ripping the Los Angeles Lakers over the past year, but he says all that is over.
The Lakers franchise legend tweeted on Thursday night to announce his change of plans, which began with some praise of coach Mike D’Antoni:
Laker Nation: I want to give Coach D'Antoni credit because offensively he's put the Lakers' players in positions to be successful!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 31, 2014
Laker Nation: I'm going to stop complaining. I'm going to support and encourage Jim Buss and Coach D'Antoni because I love the Lakers!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 31, 2014
Laker Nation: It doesn't do the Lakers players, coaches or ownership any good for me to complain.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 31, 2014
Magic has made headlines twice in the past few weeks for his critical comments about the Lakers. He criticized executive Jim Buss in comments to the LA Times a few weeks ago, and this week he ripped D’Antoni and the team during an interview with Jay Leno.
Magic is generally viewed as a friendly, likable guy. Maybe some marketing folks told him it’s bad for his image to keep criticizing the team. Or maybe he just decided that it wasn’t helpful to continue voicing negative opinions.
This is somewhat unfortunate, because we agree with Magic that Jim Buss has not run the team well. What’s wrong with expressing that publicly?
