Magic Johnson on First Take

[trojanfan12]

I had no real opinion of Pelinka when he was hired. And maybe he was being hamstrung by Magic for the past few years. Seems unlikely but maybe.

But it seems to me that Pelinka doesn't really know how to build a basketball team. He knows the salary cap to some degree but I see little evidence that he knows how to build a team.

Perhaps he will defer to Lebron on this but that seems dubious to me as well. First off that seems worse than the moral hazard of having your coach be your GM and I really don't believe that Lebron has any real talent for building a team. He knows the players he likes and wants to play with but that doesn't mean they make sense salary cap wise.

But I guess we will see in the next year. IMO, if the Lakers don't turn it around next season, Pelinka is toast.

Agree. We're about to find out if Pelinka can do the job. The one thing that I will give him a pass on though is if he isn't able to land a top FA. If the rumors that the Lakers aren't at the top of any FA's list are true, there may not be anything he or anyone else can do about it right now.

I'm not sure if I really buy the "no one will talk to him" rumors either. As we saw with Gayle Benson's alleged "over my dead body" statement, there isn't always the truth in those that some folks want there to be.

It may be a little more difficult for him to deal with some teams than others, but end of the day, teams will do what's best for themselves and if that means dealing with Pelinka, they will.

Bottom line, if the Lakers make the playoffs and especially if they advance past the first round, a lot of this noise will quiet down.

Of course, on the flip side, if they start struggling real bad or don't make the playoffs, what will happen then will make right now look like the good ol' days. lol

 

[trojanfan12]

Great point.

IMO Magic tarnished his fantastic legacy with that interview. True or not, he came across as petty. He didn’t need to do that. It was an obvious attempt by him to manipulate the public perception of what transpired.

Agree. I wouldn't even mind if he made those same comments later on (preferably after FA) or had made them earlier. But to make them on the day they are announcing their new coach was just petty and selfish.

 

[flyerhawk]

Agree. We're about to find out if Pelinka can do the job. The one thing that I will give him a pass on though is if he isn't able to land a top FA. If the rumors that the Lakers aren't at the top of any FA's list are true, there may not be anything he or anyone else can do about it right now.

I'm not sure if I really buy the "no one will talk to him" rumors either. As we saw with Gayle Benson's alleged "over my dead body" statement, there isn't always the truth in those that some folks want there to be.

It may be a little more difficult for him to deal with some teams than others, but end of the day, teams will do what's best for themselves and if that means dealing with Pelinka, they will.

Bottom line, if the Lakers make the playoffs and especially if they advance past the first round, a lot of this noise will quiet down.

Of course, on the flip side, if they start struggling real bad or don't make the playoffs, what will happen then will make right now look like the good ol' days. lol

We won't know the truth about the rumors about Pelinka for a long time, if ever. But it's not like it is just one rumor.

Bringing in top tier free agents is really hard so you can't just blame Pelinka if they don't. But if his strategy depends on doing that, then that may be the problem.

 

[trojanfan12]

We won't know the truth about the rumors about Pelinka for a long time, if ever. But it's not like it is just one rumor.

Bringing in top tier free agents is really hard so you can't just blame Pelinka if they don't. But if his strategy depends on doing that, then that may be the problem.

Yep. He needs to have a few different plans rather than just bank on FA's.

From what Kobe says about him, he's the type to leave no stone unturned and will put in the work.

We'll see. I'm sure he will speak to FA's, explore trades, etc.

But if his whole plan is just to land a top FA, that's not good. Even if it works.

 

[flyerhawk]

Yep. He needs to have a few different plans rather than just bank on FA's.

From what Kobe says about him, he's the type to leave no stone unturned and will put in the work.

We'll see. I'm sure he will speak to FA's, explore trades, etc.

But if his whole plan is just to land a top FA, that's not good. Even if it works.

Yeah. IMO, the Lakers were left completely flat footed when George resigned with the Thunder. It seemed like they had no plan other than "Get George, figure out the rest later".

No matter what a player says while they are still under contract, you never know what they will actually do when FA hits. Right now there 5-7 big name FAs. Some of them seem very unlikely to leave(Klay) and some of them seem to be unlikely to go to the Lakers(Kawhi, KD) Of course that may all be untrue.

But if we consider the big name FAs to be KD, Kawhi, Klay, Kyrie, Butler, and Kemba then you have a pretty small field of players. And there are a LOT of teams with cap space to sign those guys if they leave their teams in the first place.

I would not be surprised to see that most of them have signed by July 2nd because they knew where they were going before it even started.

 

[CaptainStubing]

is any of what he said actually anything we didn't already know? the lakers organization is a trainwreck and Pelinka has always been a d-bag

 

[PEOPLESCHICKEN]

Magic is not gay - He contracted the aids virus due to multiple sex partners without using protection. The AIDS virus can be sexually transmitted through straight or gay people and is not owned by the gay community and it has absolutely nothing to do with the reasons he left the Lakers.

Can you support this theory of yours?

 

[R.J. MacReady]

listen i hate queen lebron as much as the next guy but they were the 4th seed when he got injured....

He played in at least 50 games and it got them 2 more wins.

If he is not accountable for any of it, .....than Lebron can do that job from home.

.

 

[PEOPLESCHICKEN]

Don't see the surprise here? He retired/un-retired what? Twice? Quit as a coach. Great players typically do not make good execs

 

[PEOPLESCHICKEN]

i would love to see lebron do another "decision" tv show when his contract expires on and jumo to the clippers.....

He will go back to the Heat. Because Wade won't stay retired and they will want to re-unite that pheg super friends thing

 

[Pattersonca65]

He sounded ridiculous IMO.

First, why air the dirty laundry in public like that. He sounded like a baby who wanted to be sure everyone still “liked him”. Second, he shot himself in the foot. He ADMITTED that he wasn’t in the office enough!! Then he complained that people called him out on it!! News flash... you’re the BOSS!! You’re supposed to be there!! Third, he defended the egotistical way he resigned by blindsiding everyone!! If anyone did any backstabbing it was Magic.

He claimed he discussed this in advance with Jeanie Buss and that it was understood he would not be working there full time

 

[dbldwn711]

Agree. I wouldn't even mind if he made those same comments later on (preferably after FA) or had made them earlier. But to make them on the day they are announcing their new coach was just petty and selfish.

BINGO!!

Also, gonna be harder to attract someone to play with Lebron. Everyone will say “how can I play for the lakers when Magic says the GM is a liar.”

Very very selfish!!

 

[dbldwn711]

He claimed he discussed this in advance with Jeanie Buss and that it was understood he would not be working there full time

So he claims.

 

[Mecca]

listen i hate queen lebron as much as the next guy but they were the 4th seed when he got injured....

.....and the Clippers were in 3rd place.

Means jackshit in the big scheme of things.

Is it possible/likely they would have made the playoffs?

Yeah.

But, it would not have been a sure thing.

Houston would have still gotten better as the season went on.

Ditto for the Jazz, Blazers, Thunder.

Who were they gonna bump?

Clippers, who again had a better record THEN and finished 8th, Thunder or Spurs?

Spurs were a 1/2 game back with a healthy Lebron, and both of their point guards injured.

Can we say the Spurs would have finished higher if Murray and White were healthy?



Maybe.

 

[Pattersonca65]

So he claims.

LOL, yes. I didn't say it was true but that is what he claims anyway. I don't think airing dirty laundry in public accomplishes anything

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Some good news for the Lakers is that Kawhi Leonard has indicated that he still wants to be a Laker. If that is true, then the Lakers can find and trade for someone like Irving and the Lakers will be making a lot of people eat some crow

 

[eaglesnut]

Gotta admit as a young kid growing up in America in the 1980's that it was some weird shit to see Magic and Isiah kissing each other. Homophobia was much more accepted then, even here in the Bay Area. Looking back, it's not a big deal, and as I grew up, I learned that it's actually a very common thing in other parts of the world. Maybe Magic and Isiah were trying to make us more cosmopolitan. LOL.

They were trying to make you more gay.
It worked.

 

[eaglesnut]

Magic is not gay - He contracted the aids virus due to multiple sex partners without using protection. The AIDS virus can be sexually transmitted through straight or gay people and is not owned by the gay community and it has absolutely nothing to do with the reasons he left the Lakers.

It's passed anally. That skin rips easier. (You seem like you would know that). That's why aids followed gays and heroin addicts around the globe. That's why they have the biggest problems with it.

 

[flyerhawk]

Some good news for the Lakers is that Kawhi Leonard has indicated that he still wants to be a Laker. If that is true, then the Lakers can find and trade for someone like Irving and the Lakers will be making a lot of people eat some crow

When did he do that?

 

[True Lakers Fan]

When did he do that?

Today according to Lakers nation, I take it with a grain of salt though