He left the Lakers in tears in the last game of the 2018/19 regular season. Magic Johnson had explained that he was not happy in his role as president of the Los Angeles franchise, before talking about “stabs in the back” citing criticism from GM Rob Pelinka.
His departure had caused a lot of noise and taken everyone by surprise. Since that day in April 2019, Magic Johnson had resumed his favorite role: delivering agreed and glowing comments on Twitter to every NBA news, or murderous criticism of the Lakers’ game.
Except that the Lakers legend is never far from the offices of the Crypto.com Arena. The proof with the latest statements from Jeanie Buss, the owner of the franchise.
“For me, he still works with us”she clearly assures in a portrait devoted to Magic Johnson in The Athletic. “In the league, you have to be very clear about who can negotiate on your behalf and who can’t. He doesn’t have an official title, but when it comes to support, advice, vision, I can freely call him if I need. “
Magic Johnson is therefore a luxury consultant for the Lakers. And just this season, in December, Jeanie Buss didn’t hesitate to tell him about the team’s struggles.
“I talked to him”confirms the owner. “To ask him if I should be worried or not, and what he saw in this situation. He spoke of injuries, as the team hadn’t really had a chance yet. He is insightful. I appreciate the fact that he has an overview rather than reacting after each game. “
But sometimes, Magic Johnson cracks, like after the setback against the Blazers…
After the @Lakers loss to Portland tonight, I’m speechless. No words can describe how I’m feeling.
—Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 10, 2022
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| lebron james | 40 | 36.7 | 52.0 | 35.2 | 74.6 | 1.1 | 6.8 | 7.9 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 29.0 |
| Anthony Davis | 36 | 35.6 | 53.4 | 16.9 | 70.7 | 2.9 | 7.1 | 9.9 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 23.3 |
| Russell Westbrook | 56 | 34.6 | 43.6 | 30.1 | 67.0 | 1.4 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 18.3 |
| carmelo anthony | 50 | 26.5 | 43.7 | 39.2 | 82.4 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 13.4 |
| Malik Monk | 51 | 27.0 | 47.2 | 40.1 | 77.9 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 13.0 |
| Talen Horton-tucker | 41 | 25.8 | 41.4 | 28.2 | 80.8 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 9.7 |
| isaiah thomas | 4 | 25.2 | 30.8 | 22.7 | 72.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 9.2 |
| Sekou Doumbouya | 2 | 8.2 | 62.5 | 50.0 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
| Avery Bradley | 49 | 23.8 | 41.1 | 38.1 | 85.7 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 6.6 |
| Stanley Johnson | 23 | 22.1 | 48.7 | 32.0 | 67.7 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 6.6 |
| Wayne Ellington | 34 | 19.3 | 39.9 | 39.2 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Austin Reaves | 38 | 21.1 | 48.8 | 33.0 | 83.0 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 6.1 |
| Dwight Howard | 41 | 14.5 | 62.1 | 66.7 | 61.2 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 5.2 |
| Deandre Jordan | 31 | 12.9 | 67.0 | 0.0 | 48.0 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| Trevor Ariza | 19 | 19.3 | 35.2 | 32.8 | 58.3 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 4.0 |
| Kent Bazemore | 31 | 14.7 | 32.8 | 35.4 | 76.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 3.7 |
| Rajon Rondo | 18 | 16.1 | 32.4 | 26.7 | 50.0 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 3.1 |
| mason jones | 2 | 4.4 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| jemerrio jones | 2 | 7.4 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Darren Collison | 3 | 12.4 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Chaundee Brown | 2 | 10.3 | 14.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Jay Huff | 4 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
