LeBron James had no idea Magic Johnson was leaving the Lakers.
CLOSE What I'm Hearing: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt explains the variety of reasons that Magic Johnson made his decision to step away from the Lakers. USA TODAY SportsThat's right, the NBA's best player, who Johnson personally courted to move to Los Angeles and sign a four-year, $153.3 million deal to spend arguably the rest of his best years with the franchise, had no clue.
The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the nature of the private meeting.By his account Tuesday, Johnson did not like being president, saying he was not happy in the role. There were reasons for this. Johnson said he didn’t like not being able to talk about players on other teams for fear of violating the NBA’s anti-tampering rules.
"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."Communication issuesIn a recent article in The Athletic, Johnson was described as an “absentee executive.
Also, Buss said on the Sports Business Radio Podcast recently that “there was a story that came out this season – and we’ve had our challenges this season – and it kind of made me doubt for a second some of the people that I was working with.” Johnson did not mention Pelinka in that answer, and when asked if Pelinka is the right person for the job, Johnson said, "That's a decision Jeanie has to make." ESPN reported Tuesday that Pelinka's job is safe.
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