Magic Johnson’s abrupt departure from his role as Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations shocked the NBA world on Tuesday night. A day thought to be reserved for Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki’s final home games was tipped on its head when Johnson held an impromptu press conference at Staples Center and talked to the media for nearly an hour. One of the most shocking pieces of information to come out of those interviews is that Lakers owner Jeanie Buss did not know Johnson was going to resign on Tuesday. As it turns out, LeBron James wasn’t told, either. This despite Johnson meeting with the two parties in separate meetings as recently as the weekend. The news left a lot of things to talk about. How would LeBron and the Lakers react to the news their president is leaving his post? The team quickly released a statement on Tuesday night during LA’s last home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, and shortly after that Buss sent out a tweet, quoting the press release and offering her own statement of support for Johnson and his work with the team. Earvin, I loved working side by side with you. You’ve brought us a long way. We will continue the journey. We love you ?? https://t.co/ofmQl6BtBz — Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) April 10, 2019 The tweet has to be a relief to Johnson, who is essentially leaving the Lakers so he can have more freedom to send out tweets of his own. But beyond that, he openly stressed about how Buss and the Lakers would react to his news. The stated reason Buss didn’t know Johnson was quitting was that it would be too hard to face someone he has a strong relationship with and deliver that news himself. It seems that, despite the unorthodox way he stepped away from his role, both the Lakers organization and its owner still appreciate Johnson and don’t have any hard feelings about the abrupt breakup.<doc-sep>Jerry Buss was a gambler, a poker player. The legendary Laker owner — under whom the franchise won 10 NBA titles and became the biggest brand in the sport — understood risks but also when to take them. He had an almost intuitive grasp of when it was time to be bold. Now it is time for Jeanie Buss to show what she learned from her father. Magic Johnson’s surprise resignation Tuesday night as the head of basketball operations completely caught the Lakers’ off guard — Jeanie Buss didn’t know it was coming, coach Luke Walton (who expected to be fired within the next 24 hours) didn’t know it was coming, and LeBron James and his team had no warning of this. Magic’s decision can be a very good thing for the Lakers — he was not good at this job. Magic was able to seal the deal with LeBron and bring him to the Lakers (how much work that really took is up for debate), but beyond that he fell short. Magic was a part-time executive who, sources told NBC Sports last summer, “parachutes in” a few days a month, makes a lot of pronouncements, then disappears again. Head of basketball operations is a full-time, hands-on job if done right. It’s not glamorous. Combine that with Magic’s confused ideas about team building — saying they had shooting but what they really needed was more playmaking around LeBron, something he saw watching the playoffs last season — which proved to be wrong, and the roster became a mess. Then there was his poor handling of the Anthony Davis trade situation midseason, which destroyed the already crumbling chemistry of the Lakers. There are also rumors of a major harassment story about Magic with the Lakers coming soon, something serious enough for Magic to tell the L.A. Times the story was not true. Under Magic, the Lakers never built a cultural identity under Magic. For years now the Lakers have acted like the Lakers’ brand — doing things “the Lakers way” — is an organizational culture. It’s not. They need to build one. Story continues That starts with Jeanie Buss, the most capable of Jerry’s children to run the Lakers’ franchise. Jerry Buss understood the power of hiring good people (Jerry West as head of basketball ops, for example) and empowering them. Jeanie Buss seems willing to do that, she let Magic have the power he needed (she reportedly gave him the green light to fire Walton), he was just not up to the task. Now it falls to Jeanie Buss to be bold, to reach outside her comfort zone and bring in the person who can give the Lakers direction again. Do not think “Laker way” or someone with ties to the organization. Be bold and get the best person, give them power and get out of the way. Pick up the phone and call the best team presidents out there. The Lakers may not be able to pry Sam Presti out of Oklahoma City, but call. Bob Myers may be impossible to get out of Golden State, but pick up the phone and try. There are others to try. This is where the Laker brand still has real currency — this is a coveted job. The Lakers should be able to hire an elite person for it. Maybe that’s David Griffin, the former Cavaliers and Suns GM who built a title team around LeBron in Cleveland (then was let go because… go ask Dan Gilbert, nobody else can figure it out). He is the best “free agent” out there, a guy with a proven track record who understands culture building and team management. And LeBron. Look at what he told NBC Sports about the Lakers’ handling of their young players during the Anthony Davis trade situation. “Again, if you don’t get in front of it from a leadership standpoint, if you let it just happen, the proliferation of sports media and social media, it just creates so much around your players that, to some degree, if you’re not telling them how to decipher it, they can’t help but to take it poorly. You need to do a really deft job as a leader of getting people to ignore those things. I think Kevin Durant called it a ‘toxic’ environment around a LeBron James team. I don’t think he meant that relative to LeBron and his actions. I think he meant it just relative to the sheer volume of noise around a team. That takes getting used to.” Griffin also said this about his next job. “As I look at it now, the thing that would attract me to an opportunity is just the opportunity to be in lockstep with ownership. To have ownership, the coach, and the front office all on the same page moving forward and sharing a vision… You have to raise a family, and if you’re not going to come at it with that approach it’s probably not a situation that would speak to me.” Are the Lakers a family still? Jeanie Buss needs to make sure it is still one, but that will require bold steps and strokes. It’s on her now to lead. She’s seen first hand how to do it.<doc-sep>LOS ANGELES — Magic Johnson tweeted thank-you’s on Wednesday to Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, Lakers general manger Rob Pelinka and Lakers coach Luke Walton, as if he might tweet his way out of his botched exit from the team. But it’s too late for that, or any other sort of abracadabra, during the most regrettable Magic act. If anything, in announcing Tuesday he was quitting as the team’s president of basketball operations, Magic confirmed he’s not fit for the job. His explanation for the abrupt resignation was ridiculous for the following reasons: — Magic said he no longer was having fun. Seriously? Being the point person in attempting to turn around a once-storied franchise was predicated on having fun? If so, Magic’s expectations were as off-kilter as expectations he could pull it off just because he was a great player. From the outset, the job promised to be nothing short of demanding and daunting. — Magic made the announcement without first informing boss Jeanie Buss, while claiming he was stepping down in part to preserve his “amazing’’ ‘relationship with her. Nonsense. His abrupt announcement put Buss in a terrible position, leaving her no time to plan. That hardly sounds like a way to preserve the “amazing’’ relationship. — Magic suggested he had decided to fire Walton but didn’t have the heart to do it. But he did have the heart to publicly announce he had decided Walton was not the right coach for the Lakers. The move, if not classless, was thoughtless. Magic got most of the credit for signing LeBron James. Truth is, Buss and Pelinka probably could have lured LeBron on their own. MORE NBA: It’s clear LeBron wanted to be in Los Angeles as he grows his show business empire and prepares for life after basketball and that the climate and lifestyle better suited his family than life in Cleveland, Philadelphia or any other NBA city. Sure, Magic is charismatic and maybe the greatest Laker in franchise history. But he had no real track record as an NBA executive. His exit after the past two seasons, during which the team went 72-92 and failed to make the playoffs, helped cement his legacy as the Lakers president. Magic was a flop. Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Josh Peter on Twitter @joshlpeter11<doc-sep>
Magic Johnson shocked the NBA world on Tuesday night, when the former Los Angeles Lakers star abruptly resigned from his position with the iconic franchise. The former Lakers point guard had been serving as Los Angeles’ president of basketball operations, but he had enough. “It’s a difficult decision. I cried before I came here,” Johnson said. “I am about to cry now. It’s hard when you love an organization the way I love this organization. It’s hard when you love a person like I love Jeanie [Buss]. I don’t want to disappoint her.” Johnson said that he made his announcement before telling Jeanie Buss, the owner of the Lakers. He said he was afraid she would talk him out of it. “I’m going to be around whenever she needs me,” Johnson said. “Trust me. … It’s going to be hard for her to come and hear this right now. I get it. Because it was hard for me to go do that, to make this decision and come to this conclusion. But she’s going to be fine, and I’m going to be fine.” Buss took to Twitter late on Tuesday night to issue Magic a message. “Earvin, I loved working side by side with you. You’ve brought us a long way. We will continue the journey. We love you,” she wrote. Earvin, I loved working side by side with you. You’ve brought us a long way. We will continue the journey. We love you 💜💛 https://t.co/ofmQl6BtBz — Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) April 10, 2019 The Lakers released the following statement regarding Magic’s decision: There is no greater Los Angeles Laker than Earvin Johnson. We are deeply grateful to Magic for all that he has done for our franchise – as a player, an ambassador and an executive. We thank him for his work these past two years as our President of Basketball Operations and wish him, Cookie, Andre, EJ and Elisa all the best with their next steps. He will always be not only a Lakers icon, but our family. As we begin the process of moving forward, we will work in a measured and methodical fashion to make the right moves for the future of our organization. The Lakers’ season, meanwhile, ended on Tuesday night, as Los Angeles fell to Portland on a buzzer-beater.