The smiling, happy-go-lucky Magic Johnson, who simply seemed out of his element running a basketball team, was a malicious cutthroat behind closed doors.
According to a lengthy report from ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, Johnson was the driving force behind a Lakers culture that bred dysfunction, alienated longtime staffers and caused multiple people to be prescribed anti-anxiety medicine.
Johnson, who abruptly left the Lakers at the end of the season before torching GM Rob Pelinka on ESPN’s “First Take” last week, started off his tenure in an address to the basketball operations staff by pointing to a stack of résumés and saying he could replace any staffer at any time, the report says.
And it gets worse.
Johnson, along with Pelinka, is alleged to have constructed the Lakers’ roster last summer with little to no help from his staff.
“We all had the same reaction that the basketball world did, like what the f–k are we doing,” one source told ESPN of the series of bizarre signings the team made last summer — Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley. “Not only are we not getting shooting, but we’re also getting every basket case left on the market.”
The culture also undercut Lakers coach Luke Walton, particularly as LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, curried influence within the organization. Paul reportedly was given access to the team charter, even as a perception existed among the coaching staff that Paul wanted Walton gone and players believed he wanted to trade them for superstars to complement James.
Johnson was an absentee boss, according to the report, but when he was around, he instilled fear. After one longtime staffer made an error arranging a car service for a draft prospect, Johnson berated her and made clear she would be fired with another error. She later quit and was prescribed anti-anxiety medication.
Pelinka isn’t spared from the report, either. The GM is portrayed as disingenuous and annoying, with members of the organization viewing his quoting of scripture and off-the-wall comparisons as over the top.
Pelinka, according to ESPN, once told a story about setting up Kobe Bryant — whom he represented as an agent before becoming GM — for dinner with Heath Ledger, because Bryant saw “The Dark Knight” and wanted to know how Ledger “locked into” the role of the Joker. Ledger famously died six months before the movie was released.
He also went over the head of the basketball operations department with the Lakers’ first-round pick, per the report. Omari Spellman was the top player left on the team’s board, but Pelinka, without informing his staff, picked Moritz Wagner instead, because of a conversation with Spellman’s college teammate, Josh Hart.
With Johnson out of the picture, Pelinka will be running the show himself. It’s hard to have much faith in him.
