It seems like Magic Johnson has made a complete u-turn with regard to his opinion on Los Angeles Lakers All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. After practically lambasting him on live TVjust a few days ago, Johnson is now rallying the troops to get behind both Westbrook and the Lakers.

On Tuesday, Magic sent out a tweet offering his full support for the former MVP while also encouraging Lakers supporters to do the same:

“Russell plays an important role on the Lakers team and will be a key component to the success of the rest of the season and the NBA Playoffs. Let's do better, rally around the Westbrook family, and support them,” read Johnson's tweet.

That's quite the turnaround from Magic who even went as far as saying that Russ' move last summer could very well go down in history as the worst trade in Lakers franchise history. In the same passionate rant right before the Lakers took down the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, 124-116, Johnson also called out Westbrook for making too many excuses:

“Quit battling the press,” Magic said. “Take ownership and accountability and say, ‘Hey, I haven’t played well but I got a chance to turn it around.’ So I’m tired of excuses, it’s time to take ownership and say, ‘I’ve just been playing poorly but hopefully I can turn it around.’

“Young man, you gotta know there was expectations when you call LeBron and Anthony Davis and said you wanted to be a Laker. You saw Kobe Bryant play and win all those championships. And Kobe said you were the guy. So you know you had to come here knowing that it’s about championships when you put the purple and gold on.”

For what it's worth, Johnson immediately changed his tone after the Lakers pulled off a victory over Stephen Curry and Co. behind LeBron James' epic 56-point performance. Right after the win, Magic decided to heap praise on Russ via Twitter:

“I am so proud of Russell Westbrook! He was a big reason why the Lakers beat the Warriors, scoring 20 points tonight. That’s how the Lakers need him to play night in and night out! He played hard, was aggressive, and made good decisions on the court,” he said.

Magic has now followed that statement up with this most recent message saying how he fully supports Westbrook. The fact that Johnson threw Russ' family in his tweet likely has a lot to do with Westbrook recently expressing how all the criticism has taken its toll on his own family. It's not just him who's involved here, but now, even his wife and the rest of his family are feeling the burden of all this.

His wife, Nina, recently revealed that they've been receiving death threats:

“When I’m being harassed on a daily basis over basketball games, and I’m having obscenity’s and death wishes for me and my family sent my way because you’re expressing your ‘truth', it’s hard for me to get on board with that,” Nina Westbrook wrote on Twitter.

Russ doubled down on his wife's revelation as he shared how difficult this has all been for not only himself, but for them as well:

“I 100% stand behind my wife and how she’s feeling because — it’s not just about this year — right now, she’s reached a point, and my family has reached a point, to where it’s really weighing on them…

“It’s very unfortunate. It’s been like this for my entire career. I’ve been blessed, man, and super thankful for the ones around me and the ones that support me. But, it’s really the shaming of my name, the shaming of my character, the shaming of who I am as a person, to me, is not warranted. I haven’t done anything to anybody. I haven’t hurt anyone. I haven’t done anything but play basketball a way that people may not like. This is just a game…

“It affects them even going to games. I don’t even want to bring my kids to the game because I don’t want them to hear people calling their dad nicknames for no reason because he’s playing the game he loves. It’s gotten so bad where my family don’t even want to go to home games, to any game, because of — not just the media across the globe use their platforms to constantly shame, shame, shame me. It’s just super unfortunate, and it’s super upsetting to me. I’m at a point to where I’m going to continue to address it. It’s just unfortunate.”

That's tough. It's nearly impossible not to feel for Westbrook and his family after his statement here. Russ is one of the biggest competitors you'll ever see out there and he plays with a certain level of passion that is at times, misinterpreted particularly by opposing fans. He's taken on a “love him or hate him” type of image and more often than not, supporters of opposing teams just don't like Westbrook. They have been very vocal about it too.

It's a much different case in Hollywood, though. This time around, it's his own fans that have turned on him. It's Laker nation that has been chastizing Westbrook for pretty much the entire season, using him as the scapegoat for this team's poor play. It has come to a point where fans are now threatening his life and that of his family.

That's just too much. You have to draw a line somewhere.

It looks like Magic Johnson is feeling the same way right now. He has been one of Westbrook's staunchest critics and he probably realized just how much he's been fueling the hate as an icon of the franchise.