Four years ago, Magic Johnson went on national TV and called Rob Pelinka a backstabber. Now, he's publicly heaping praise on the Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager for constructing an undeniable contender around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published on Friday, the Hall of Fame point guard expressed profound enthusiasm for Pelinka's performance over the past seven months.

“From that trade deadline to this offseason, we should all give him a standing ovation, because these Lakers are dangerous. This is a championship team and they shouldn’t run away from that. They should embrace that and then go for it. I think LeBron sees it too. One thing I’m really happy about is that he can see that he has a championship team. And when him and Anthony Davis feel like, ‘Oh, man. OK, we can win it all,’ watch out for them.”

At his preseason press conference on Thursday — alongside Darvin Ham — Pelinka touted the Lakers' “pre-agency” approach to the 2023 deadline, which imported D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachimura and thrust Austin Reaves into a larger play-making role. The Lakers extended (Vando) or re-signed all four players as they prioritized continuity and youth for the first time in years while improving their depth and versatility “around the edges.”

“We didn’t let anybody get away,” said Magic. “I thought he set the tone by re-signing them first and then making all the incredible acquisitions. So, I’m so proud of Rob.”

With training camp a few days out, the Lakers have the fifth-lowest odds (+1200) of winning the 2024 NBA championship, per FanDuel.

“This is going to be one of the most exciting seasons, because this is an exciting team,” added Magic. “See, everybody we got can run. They can jump. This is going to be crazy. People are going to be really excited to watch this team play. I’m just giddy. I can’t wait. So, Rob, thank you, thank you, and he deserves to be executive of the year. They overlooked him all those years, but they can’t overlook him with this one.”

“I feel we are the best team … the deepest team in the West and that makes us, to me, the best team in the West.”

Even if the Lakers live up to Magic's hype, Pelinka might need a miracle to win executive of the year. I assume he'd be just fine with a ring.