Magic Johnson sends a strong message after LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers' season comes to an end after a heartbreaking Game 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets, 113-111.

The Purple and Gold were led by LeBron James, who put up a tremendous fight, scoring 40 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and contributing nine assists, while resting for only four seconds this game. Unfortunately, it simply proved to be not enough to match Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the rest of the Nuggets.

Outside of LeBron's performance, Anthony Davis had 21 points and 14 rebounds, but he shot an inefficient 6-15 from the field and was unable to contain the Nuggets offense. D'Angelo Russell, who was benched before the game, only had four points in 15 minutes. The lone bright spots came from sophomore Austin Reaves, who scored 17 points from the field and Rui Hachimura, who provided excellent defense despite only having 10 points.

The loss immediately drew a lot of reaction from fans, experts, and legends alike, including Magic Johnson, who tweeted out the following:

Lakers' wild 2022-23 season

The 2022-2023 Lakers season proved to be a wild one, to say the least. They began the season with a 2-10 record, battling injuries and apparent chemistry issues. The season reached numerous highs and lows, from LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list, to them trading Russell Westbrook for Jarred Vanderbilt, D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley a week later. This was a week before they also traded Kendrick Nunn for Rui Hachimura.

Such trades proved to be effective, as the Lakers rallied to 43-39 record, and beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Play-in Tournament to secure the 7th seed. In the playoffs, they upset the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six games, eliminated the defending champs Golden State Warriors, before finally bowing down to the Nuggets in a clean sweep.

This series in particular showed that their late-team adjustments were not enough to reach title contention. Rob Pelinka and the rest of the Lakers front office are set to have yet another busy offseason in the hopes of rebuilding this roster towards competing for a championship.

The blueprint is set with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, now being supported by promising young talents in Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. The two proved to be outstanding fits to the dynamic duo, with Reaves being in the rise of becoming the next Laker great for years to come.