LeBron James reportedly stunned by Magic Johnson’s departure from the Lakers
Magic Johnson's abrupt resignation from the LA Lakers was a surprise to everyone including Lebron James.
Magic Johnson’s surprise resignation as the President of the Los Angeles Lakers was a surprise to Lebron James.
Like everyone else, LeBron James was also left in the dark about Magic Johnson’s surprising decision to step down from his post as the President of the Los Angeles Lakers.
James, who many thought might have been privy to a heads up, especially since Johnson personally recruited him to the team with a four-year, $153.3 million deal, had no idea of Johnson’s intentions to exit the franchise.
No one did.
Johnson admitted that he called a press conference and didn’t tell the Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss his plans to quit because he didn’t want her to talk him out of making the move, USA Today reports.
—‘I want to go back to having fun’: Magic Johnson quits job as Lakers President—
Basically, Johnson admitted that he’s unhappy on the boss side of basketball and said “I want to go back to having fun.”
“It’s a difficult decision. I cried before I came here,” the NBA Hall of Famer said as he fought back tears. “I am about to cry now. It’s hard when you love an organization the way I love this organization. It’s hard when you love a person like I love Jeanie [Buss]. I don’t want to disappoint her,” he said during his surprise announcement.
And Johnson didn’t like the politics of it all as President of Basketball Operations with the Los Angeles Lakers and didn’t want to make the difficult decision to fire Lakers coach Luke Walton and get in the middle of a mess knowing that the decision would hurt Buss.
Johnson’s all heart.
—Los Angeles Urban League honors Byron Allen at gala celebrating Black economic empowerment—
“My concern was really my relationship with my sister, and that’s Jeanie Buss,” Johnson told reporters. “That’s all I care about. All the rest of the stuff doesn’t really matter.”
“What I didn’t like was the backstabbing and the whispering. I don’t like that,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “I don’t like a lot of things that went on that didn’t have to go on. And so I hope that after tomorrow the Lakers can head in the right direction, which we are. Injuries really hurt us. But I enjoyed working with Jeanie side-by-side.
“I enjoyed working with Linda (Rambis). Tim [Harris] and I had some good times. The brothers were outstanding as well, working with Jesse and Joey (Buss).”
