It has only been a few weeks since the Los Angeles Lakers hired franchise legend Magic Johnson to be the basketball and business adviser to owner Jeanie Buss, and already he has aspirations for a larger role.
Sticking to his desire to “call the shots” on the Lakers, Johnson appeared on ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday and upped the ante even further. When asked if he wants more control on the Lakers, Johnson agreed and essentially said he wants the job of Jim Buss, the current executive vice president for the Lakers.
From Johnson’s appearance on First Take (transcribed by Lakers beat writer Tania Ganguli on Twitter):
Max Kellerman: “Would you pull a Phil Jackson? Would you pull a Phil or would you have the time do it right?”
Magic Johnson: “If I took on the role, and yes I do want to do it. If I took it on, I would definitely give 150% because I have other people to run my businesses. We’re at a place now where I don’t have to be there. But I would have to be with the Lakers every single day. We’ve gotta come up with a strategy that will help us get back in the next three to five years.”
Johnson has been critical of Buss in the past, but when he was hired in this advisory role, the Lakers legend flipped the script and was actually complimentary. But those compliments now seem to be quite fake and disingenuous.
In 2014, Buss boldly said that he would resign from his post if the Lakers aren’t competitive in three to four years. And while Buss may still have some wiggle room there since he said four years, it looks like Johnson may be leaning toward more the three years part of his statement. This isn’t a good sign for Buss as it seems Johnson is coming for his job.
