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The Los Angeles Lakers clearly looked like a much different team after LeBron James suffered a groin injury, but words like “detached” and “uncaring” did not pop up for this team until the Anthony Davis saga came to a halt after the trade deadline had passed. Lakers president Magic Johnson had dangled everyone but James in an effort to make the trade happen, and even after he made the effort to fly out to Philadelphia to ameliorate that anger, those role players did nothing but roll their eyes at their inexperienced front-office man.
Per Bill Oram of The Athletic:
Once the trade deadline was over and Davis remained in New Orleans, the trust issues that sprung up as a result of the very public talks remained. Johnson joined the team two days after the Feb. 7 deadline in Philadelphia, but his message, delivered 30 minutes before tipoff, seemed to be poorly received. Sources described players rolling their eyes at Johnson. They had gone days without hearing from the front office and the message from management now was, essentially, that they needed to toughen up. The Lakers lost in Philly that night, and again in Atlanta against the lowly Hawks.
Johnson has maintained this very position openly to the media, saying players should be professional and glad they remain with the Lakers, in what could have been a house-cleaning effort to pair Davis with James.
Young players and veterans alike did not react well to Johnson's lackadaisical message, as it lacked clarity and, most importantly, credibility, after multiple reports cited the Lakers putting everyone up for trade in return for Davis.
