Magic Johnson’s second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t as pleasant as he would have liked. The team he joined at the end of the 70s wasn’t around, and even though he reached the NBA Finals at the beginning of the 90s, the Lakers weren’t considered a big threat to the top squads in the Western Conference.
Still, Magic was trying to do something decent with that team, even though it all ended with a first-round elimination at the hands of the defending champions Houston Rockets. During that time, Johnson was trying to guide his teammates, even if that meant he needed to call them out in front of the press.
We already know this wasn’t strange for Magic, who once threatened to leave the Lakers if they didn’t fire Paul Westhead. Well, while talking to reporters, he called out Nick Van Exel after the latter shoved a referee. What Magic didn’t know was that life would come at him really fast.
Magic Johnson Didn’t Like Nick Van Exel Shoving A Referee Before He Did The Same To Scott Foster
Even though he told Van Exel and reporters that ‘you just don’t do it’, Magic found out that things can change really fast five days later. This time, he was the one running into a referee, getting a technical foul from controversial referee Scott Foster.
After that season, Magic retired from the NBA. He would return to the court after buying a Swedish team, but that experience didn’t last long. He was a couple of months away from joining forces with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who would take the team to the top of the world a couple of seasons later.
His second coming wasn’t as successful as his first stint with the Lakers, but Magic made sure to make some noise, even if that meant calling out his teammates.
