Magic Johnson may no longer be with the Los Angeles Lakers organization in an official capacity but there's no denying that he is one of the most respected individuals in the history of this storied franchise. This is exactly why people listen whenever the Hall of Famer speaks, particularly when it comes to his beloved Lakers.
Johnson recently guested on ESPN's Get Up program and the subject that was discussed was the future of the Lakers now that they've virtually fallen out of the race for the final Play-In spot in the Western Conference. While it may not be the most popular opinion, Magic believes that LA should bring back Russell Westbrook next season:
“I think they have to bring it back. That’s number one because you can’t attach a first-round pick to Westbrook, and try to get him out, right?” Magic said. “He actually played a lot better the last three weeks, and so I think AD is right — health did play a part of it. But the other part of it, we played bad basketball and the players didn’t fit, and we didn’t have a winning mindset and attitude. That really bothered me. Mentally and physically, we just didn’t give us 150 percent every single night out on that court.”
Johnson raises an excellent point here. Even if the Lakers wanted to trade Westbrook, it would be highly improbable. Russ is likely going to pick up his Player Option for next season, which will see him earn no less than $47.1 million. It's going to be tough for LA to find an opposing team that would be willing to take on Westbrook's gargantuan deal. That is unless the Lakers attach one of their few remaining assets to a potential deal. In his mind, however, Magic believes that it would not be smart to include a first-round pick in a possible Westbrook trade, especially considering how LA's assets currently come far and few in between.
The Lakers legend then appeared to take a bit of a shot at LeBron James and the rest of the team for the many distractions that may have taken their eyes off the ball:
“And so if they gonna run it back, these guys first gotta be committed,” Johnson continued. “Forget those commercials, and all the things that I think really sidetracked us as well and commit to each other and commit to playing the game the right way.”
Johnson obviously did not single out LeBron in his statement here but it's a well-known fact that James has by far the most off-court, non-basketball extracurricular activities compared to the other players on the roster — maybe even combined.
It did not stop there for Magic Johnson. The five-time NBA champ then called out the Lakers for their disheartening loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night — a defeat that virtually sealed their fate this season:
“The Pelicans game on Friday night, that's the game that showed me this team is not about winning,” Magic said. “We were supposed to win that game at home against the team that we're fighting against, that we may see in the Play-In game, and we came up small. We didn't come up big in the fourth quarter, winning time.”
Clearly, Magic was not holding back with his criticism.
According to Johnson, Westbrook, in particular, has to take on a different mindset next season if he hopes to find success with the purple and gold. Russ has been very defensive when being criticized (to be fair, the criticism has been relentless and to some extent, has gone completely overboard), and Johnson believes that the first step for the former league MVP is to accept his shortcomings:
“So, we gotta bring this team back,” he said. “First of all, it's gotta be about winning. And then, we can't point the finger just all at (Frank) Vogel. Russell, you gotta take responsibility and accountability, and say, ‘Hey, I didn't play great for four, five months.'”
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook. This is the core Magic Johnson envisions for the Lakers next season. He also said that the team should “change the role players” around these guys, which is basically a call to overhaul the entire roster outside of these three stars. It's not going to be an easy task, but the Lakers have no other choice but to make some major changes to their lineup for the 2022-23 season. You have to note, however, that not even that will guarantee success for the campaign ahead.
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