Magic Johnson is one of the legends of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the focal point of the Showtime Lakers and helped the Purple and Gold win five NBA Championships during his stint with the organization. Considering he was a legend of the franchise, Johnson stayed connected with the team even after retiring from the NBA.
For a brief time, Magic Johnson also served as the general manager for the Lakers. Although his time as an executive was short and full of chaos, the biggest thing Magic did as the GM for the Lakers was signing LeBron James. After LeBron’s second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the entire world was keeping an eye on where will the King go. He ended up joining the Lakers, and Magic certainly played a crucial role in that.
How Did Magic Johnson Convince LeBron James To Join The Los Angeles Lakers?
Magic Johnson recently joined the ‘All The Smoke’ podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. During the podcast, Magic revealed how he was close to pairing up Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James in 2019.
But before that, Magic also shed some light on what he did to convince LeBron to sign with the Lakers in the first place.
Magic wanted to pair LeBron and Kawhi in LA 🤯
Full episode drops 1/12. 💨 pic.twitter.com/wzAiYkIVI1
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) January 5, 2023
I knew what he (LeBron James) wanted, I knew he wanted to win, no. 1 but no. 2, I knew Los Angeles he could live, and live free and drive around and live a life he wanted to live that he couldn’t live in Cleveland or Miami because everyone’s on top of him. And I think because we have so many celebrities here, he could fit right on in. So, I told him I’m going to build a team that’s gonna win a championship, no question about it. But also that he’s going to build a billion-dollar business here off the court because we love our celebrities out here and he bought into it.
I said, “These are the moves I’m going to make after I sign you.” At that time I thought it was going to be Kawhi, cause he was the next free agent the next year. Nobody knew Anthony Davis was going to be available next year.
Magic certainly did his best to convince LeBron to join the Lakers, and it worked as well. Unfortunately, Johnson abruptly stepped down from his position and couldn’t help further build the legacy of LeBron James as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
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