Magic Johnson is no longer a part owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's still an influential figure in LA and the NBA community in general. When Mike Brown was fired, Johnson went on the most public of public crusades to get Phil Jackson hired. When that didn't work out, Johnson took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction in Jackson not getting hired (H/T to Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk).
The reason I haven't tweeted in 2 days is because I've been mourning Phil Jackson not being hired as the Lakers head coach.
Pretty dramtic there, Magic. Afterall, it's just a game and considering Jackson is still dating Jeanie Buss, owner Jerry Buss' daughter, so I'm pretty sure Johnson and Jackson can see each other whenever they want. Johnson didn't stop there in disagreeing with the D'Antoni hire. This time, the Laker legend went on ESPN during NBA Countdown and targeted Jim Buss, saying the owner's son has made two mistakes in the last year (H/T Ramona Shelburne of ESPN LA).
"First, hiring Mike Brown — he wasn't the right coach. He's a great coach but not the right coach for the Lakers. And I don't feel Mike D'Antoni is the right coach for the Lakers. Especially when you have Phil Jackson sitting out there, who wanted to be the Laker coach. Jim Buss decided he didn't want Phil Jackson, he wanted Mike D'Antoni. And that's OK, but why didn't you just say that? But the fans were cheering for Phil Jackson two nights in a row."
So there's that. Magic Johnson, along with David Robinson, were the two players that got me hooked on basketball when I was young. Having said that, this is awfully poor form on Magic's part. It's also going to be a little awkward the next time he sees D'Antoni. At the same time, it also shows that Jim Buss is doing a really good job of burning bridges with Laker legends, whether they're former coaches or players.
Photo: Black Sports Online
