Earlier this year, Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was named the new president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.
During a recent appearance on ESPN's First Take, Johnson revealed that he had offers to join the front office for a few other teams in the league notably the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks.
Magic says he turned down jobs with the Dubs, Pistons and Knicks before taking the Lakers job. Said Knicks' President Steve Mills called. pic.twitter.com/oEloHJldWF
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) September 12, 2017
Each of these teams would have been an interesting landing spot for Johnson for several different reasons. There is an obvious connection to the Pistons having grown up in Michigan and would have been a homecoming for him. As for the Warriors' job, it would have likely been to take up a spot similar to what Jerry West held with the team as a special consultant.
Meanwhile, he could have taken the same president of basketball operations prior to the position being offered to Phil Jackson back in 2014. At that point, Johnson likely wasn't in the realm of considering taking on that role with an NBA team.
That said, the Lakers presented a unique opportunity for Johnson to hold a significant role with his team in helping make the decision-making process. This was something that he couldn't pass up taking up that type of position with the organization he spent his entire NBA career playing with.
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