Magic joining Lakers not good for Jim Buss
So Magic Johnson is an official member of the Los Angeles Lakers organization again, a revelation announced by the team on Thursday when he was deemed an advisor to ownership on all matters of business and basketball.
It’s that last part that surely has part owner/executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss grinding his teeth at the moment, as Johnson is – to put it mildly – no friend of the man who, alongside longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak, has run the Lakers' basketball outfit for so many years. A quick history lesson, intended to help make sense of this not-so-stunning development in Lakers Land …
• April, 2014: Jim Buss, in an interview with the LA Times, reveals that he has promised to step aside by the summer of 2017 if the team wasn’t contending for titles again by then.
• Oct. 2015: After years of public ribbings from Johnson – from tweets about the decision to hire Mike D’Antoni as coach instead of Phil Jackson to general commentary on his ability to do the job – Jim finally fires back at the Lakers legend who, by the way, has been very close friends with Jeanie for nearly four decades now.
“Magic Johnson going nuts on me?” he tells USA TODAY Sports in an expansive profile on his position. “It’s like, ‘Really, dude? My Dad made you a billionaire almost. Really? Where are you coming from?”
Magic’s response?
“It’s all about winning, Jim,” Johnson said when asked about Jim’s stance.
• Feb. 22, 2016: with the Lakers nearing the end of what would become a 17-win season, and with the unprecedented pain of those two seasons that came before (27 and 21 wins, respectively), owner/governor/final decision maker Jeanie Buss tells USA TODAY Sports that the she fully expects her brother, Jim, to follow through on his promise – one way or another.
“I think that he was very sure of himself when he promised that timeline, and I think that he has everything he needs to fulfill that promise of getting the team back competitive,” Jeanie says. “And when I say competitive, it’s competing for the Western Conference Finals, which would mean at least second round (of the playoffs) – if not more … They have earned the right to take the time that they’ve needed to put together what they want to have out on the court, and if they can’t do that then we have to reexamine how things are going.”
And here we are, with the Lakers (17-34) having lost 20 of their past 27 games amid yet another disastrous campaign and the Lakers futures of Jim Buss and Kupchak clearly in peril.
Anyone who had been keeping an eye on the Staples Center could see some version of this coming, as Jeanie and Magic were recently spotted sitting courtside together in the Lakers’ arena and even had a meeting. And while there's no definitive word on what it all means just yet, the timeline that took us to this point is not hard to interpret.
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Jeanie Buss unplugged: Lakers, Kobe, Phil and Byron
What’s more, the good cheer that came with hiring former Laker Luke Walton as head coach and starting the season 10-10 is long gone now. The once-proud Lakers, with Jeanie determined to continue the incredibly legacy that the late Dr. Jerry Buss left, are still lost.
Magic, in one form or another, may be the only way out.