Magic Johnson revealed that his resolution to step down because the Los Angeles Lakers’ president of basketball operations in 2019 was influenced by a disagreement over head coach Luke Walton’s future.
Johnson stated he wished to fireside Walton as a result of he believed the coach was not the precise match for the Lakers, however the group most popular to maintain him. Moderately than stay able the place he felt unable to make key choices, Johnson selected to go away.
“I assumed I had the facility to do what I wished to do,” Johnson stated on Membership Shay Shay. “I wished to fireside Luke Walton, I knew he wasn’t the precise man. They wished to maintain him and I didn’t wish to fracture the good relationship I had with Jeanie Buss. As a substitute of sitting there and never saying what’s on my thoughts, I stated let me simply exit.”
Johnson stepped down because the Lakers’ president of basketball operations on April 9, 2019, after roughly two years within the function. His departure got here shortly after the Lakers completed the 2018-19 season with a 37-45 file and missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
Throughout Johnson’s tenure, Walton remained the Lakers’ head coach after being employed earlier than the 2016-17 season. Below Walton, Los Angeles went 115-175 over three seasons, together with a 35-47 file in 2017-18 and a 37-45 mark in 2018-19.
The Lakers fired Walton a number of days after Johnson’s resignation, ending a three-year tenure that started throughout the workforce’s rebuilding interval. The group then employed Frank Vogel forward of the 2019-20 season, when the Lakers received the NBA championship behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Johnson’s front-office tenure included a number of main strikes, together with deciding on Lonzo Ball with the No. 2 choose within the 2017 NBA Draft and serving to create the cap area that finally allowed the Lakers to signal James in free company in 2018. Nonetheless, the workforce struggled throughout the 2018-19 season after accidents restricted James to 55 video games and the Lakers didn’t make the postseason.
The Corridor of Fame level guard stated his resolution to go away was additionally about preserving his relationship with Lakers governor Jeanie Buss. Johnson had maintained a detailed reference to the Buss household for many years and didn’t need a disagreement over personnel choices to break that relationship.
