Ever since 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson stepped down as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson has been extremely vocal about his former team and moves they’ve made.
Recently, Johnson said that he believes Lakers VP Jim Buss has a done a good job thus far upgrading the roster with the addition of Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison. Even though Johnson believes Buss has done a good job, the five-time NBA champion said he hasn’t done a great job unless he’s able to bring in Dwight Howard via trade.
It seems as though the only way the Hall of Famer will be satisfied is if Howard is wearing purple and gold next season. Until that time, Johnson is skeptical about the Lakers’ chances of winning a title in the upcoming season.
Along with Johnson’s opinions on the Lakers’ off-season moves, the new part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers has also chimed in about Lakers Coach Mike Brown via T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times:
“I’m really not tough on Mike Brown,” Magic said. “I just want Mike to do a better job.”
Heading into the shortened NBA season last year, Coach Brown had arguably the toughest task of any head coach in the league. As if filling the shoes of one of the greatest NBA head coaches of all-time wasn’t a daunting task, Brown had to win over Kobe Bryant and bring a team together under a new system without a training camp or many practices throughout the regular season.
Despite the odds not being in his favor, Brown did better than expected filling in for the Zen Master. The Lakers finished the season as the third seed in the Western Conference behind the San Antonio Spurs (50-16) and Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19) with an impressive 41-25 record.
In an interesting turn of events, Brown will have another set of challenges ahead of him heading into the 2012-13 NBA season with the addition of Nash, Jamison and the Princeton offense. With these additions and possibly acquisition of Howard, Brown’s job will be easier next season, but the pressure will be on with even higher expectations.
Regardless of the challenges ahead, Brown is in a great position to become a success in Los Angeles over the next two years with Kobe still in the mix, Nash running the point and an extremely talented team at his disposal.
