The Los Angeles Lakers recently made a seemingly major move to bring back a former face of the franchise in Magic Johnson. The five-time NBA champion was brought in by team president Jeanie Buss in an advisory role, but Johnson may have his sights set on a much bigger position.
According to Josh Peter of USA Today, Magic wants to be the one calling the shots for the Lakers organization:
“Working to call the shots, because it only works that way,’’ Johnson told USA TODAY Sports when asked what he hopes his role with the franchise will be. “Right now I’m advising. I get that. But at the end of the day, then we all got to come together and somebody’s got to say, ‘I’m making the final call,’ all right? And who’s that going to be?
“So, we’ll see what happens.’’
Johnson’s current role with the team is to help Jeanie evaluate basketball operations and advise on whether any moves need to be made to get the team back to its winning ways of old.
With Johnson now in the fold, the fate of Vice President of Basketball Operations, Jim Buss, and General Manager, Mitch Kupchak, hang in the balance with a little more than two months left in the 2016-17 NBA season. Buss’ self-imposed deadline to resign expires at season’s end.
Many have speculated that Johnson being brought in to be an advisor indicates the beginning of the end of the Jim and Mitch duo in the team’s front office. The Buss family may be preparing for drastic changing with Magic playing a major part in the transition.
As a result of Johnson saying he wants to “call the shots” for the Lakers, things will get interesting when the season comes to a close in April if the team fails to miss the playoffs as projected.
