New Lakers Advisor Magic Johnson continued his media tour yesterday, directly lobbying on ESPN to be the "face of the team's front office and to be in charge of basketball operations," according to Tania Ganguli of the L.A. TIMES. Asked if he wants to be Lakers President of Basketball Operations, and if he would then have the proper time to dedicate to that job, Johnson said, "Yes, I do want it. If I took it on, I would definitely give 150%. Because I have other people to run my businesses.” Ganguli notes Johnson has done "more than one interview nationally in which he said he wants the final say on the Lakers’ basketball decisions." He has also said that he "wants to work alongside" Lakers Exec VP/Basketball Operations Jim Buss. Nevertheless, the Lakers "maintain that Johnson’s role was clearly defined in their initial press release -- he is an advisor" to Lakers President Jeanie Buss and "any other department that seeks his consultation." The Lakers do "not have a president of basketball operations." As leader of the club as a whole, President Jeanie Buss has the power to remove her brother from his current role and has "said in the past she will uphold her brother’s timeline" for the team to be competing for championships by the start of next season. Earlier this season, she "declined to reiterate that perspective." Johnson's pitch for being the voice of the Lakers’ front office "included a declaration that his first call would be to Kobe Bryant to get him involved in the organization again." He also said that though the Lakers have "struggled to attract free agents in the past, his presence would change that" (L.A. TIMES, 2/15). FS1's Nick Wright said of free agents signing with the Lakers, "I don't know if there would be a single bigger draw in the league, from an executive standpoint, than Magic Johnson.” Wright: “Who better to learn from than Magic about how to parlay your basketball career into a business empire?” (“Undisputed,” FS1, 2/15).
SISTER ACT: In California, Bill Oram writes Jim Buss "doesn't deserve this." Oram: "Not to watch every day as his fiercest critic openly campaigns for his job. Not while Jeanie Buss endorses Magic Johnson’s every step by remaining silent." This is "death by slow bleed." The sum total is that Jim Buss has "not been good enough." He "deserves to be replaced atop the Lakers at the culmination of a fourth straight losing season." Oram: "But not like this" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/15). ESPN's Marcellus Wiley said it is "going to be ugly," as Johnson is coming in to "do the dirty work, be the grim reaper to actually separate Jeanie and Jim" ("SportsNation," ESPN, 2/14). ESPN's Amin Elhassan said Jim Buss "dug his own grave" when he put a timeline on building the Lakers into NBA contenders ("The Jump," ESPN, 2/14).
MASTER PLAN: ESPN's LZ Granderson said Johnson is "obviously really good at recognizing talent," and because of his business background, he will "actually know the numbers." Granderson: "Far too often what you get is a guy who drops in there who maybe recognizes talent ... but still has little problems with the X's and O's when it comes to the dollars.” ESPN's Wiley said of Johnson's comment yesterday that it would take 3-5 years to rebuild the team, "We just heard of a three-year plan by Jim Buss and now we're on another three to five plan?" Wiley: "I respect Magic Johnson and what he can potentially do, but don't look at this organization like it's the same as before because we're on another plan" ("SportsNation," ESPN, 2/14). The N.Y. Daily News' Frank Isola said, "You want to have this celebrity hire? That’s great but Magic is involved in a million different things.” He said of hiring Bryant, "It's not about hiring big, famous people. You need to hire quality people that can do the work” (“PTI,” ESPN, 2/14).
