Pat Riley has a long history with the Los Angeles Lakers that includes leading the franchise to five championships as a head coach, and there were rumblings that owner Jeanie Buss might try to get him to return to the team after Magic Johnson unexpectedly stepped down. If that is something Buss considered, she apparently kept it to herself.
In an interview with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan on Monday, Riley admitted that the thought of returning to the Lakers has crossed his mind “from a sentimental standpoint,” but he said they never reached out to him after Magic resigned.
“Nobody officially contacted me,” Riley said. “I have about 20 friends wishing I would come back, but nobody asked.”
Johnson, of course, accused Lakers GM Rob Pelinka this week of stabbing him in the back. Riley said he has never had any issues while dealing with Pelinka, but he commended Johnson for speaking his mind and said those types of issues happen with every team in the NBA.
“But this kind of s— goes on in organizations every day,” Riley said. “The organization gets too big, there are too many people who have been around a long time, and they start voicing their opinion about things, and that’s when the culture starts to crack.
“Maybe Earvin’s honesty will do something to get [the Lakers] thinking.”
Buss was apparently blindsided by Johnson’s explosive interview, though she must have known about the issues between him and Pelinka. In any event, it seems like there is a serious power struggle going on with the Lakers’ management group, and bringing in another franchise legend like Riley would probably only make things worse.
