Back in 2018, LeBron James shocked the basketball world by moving from Cleveland to Los Angeles. As the most prestigious organization in basketball, the Lakers were happy to welcome King James, and it seemed like a match made in heaven at first.
While the years since have been full of ups and downs, the LeBron signing that summer is the point that everything can be traced back to for L.A. So what was it about the Lakers (who are struggling at the time) that appealed to James so much back then? No doubt, the natural charisma of Magic Johnson may have had something to do with it.
Magic Johnson’s Pitch To LeBron James In 2018 Secured The Big Signing For The Lakers
In a recent appearance on Club Shay Shay, Magic Johnson (who served as Lakers President from 2017-2019) revealed the expert pitch he made LeBron all those years ago.
“I pitched him this way: You can be responsible for the greatest franchise in the world, turning it around and leading us back to a championship. And they’re going to say you did that,” Johnson said. “And I said, ‘Give me two years.’ I said, ‘We gon’ win the championship that third year.’ And everything I told him happened.”
As a player, Magic is widely regarded as one of the best Lakers in franchise history. As an executive, Johnson isn’t nearly as successful, but you have to give him credit for securing one of the biggest free agents of All-Time in LeBron James.
Unfortunately, Magic would never see things through as President. Before he got to see his team win the title, he announced his resignation in a shocking press conference. Looking back, Johnson says not calling LeBron that day is one of his biggest regrets.
“I regret not calling LeBron and telling him that I was stepping down. I owed him that,” Johnson said. “I wanted to fire Luke Walton… I said, ‘Hey, we gotta let him go. He is not the right guy.’… and they wanted to keep him and I said okay. I didn’t want to fracture the great relationship I had with Jeanie Buss… So instead of me just sitting there, I said let me just exit, it’s gonna be best for everybody and I felt some dude wanted to be in the seat that I had.”
That whole situation was a complete mess for the Lakers and a small stain on Magic’s otherwise spotless resume. But even after his messy exit, we can acknowledge that he did some good while in charge.
In fact, the one player he is most to blame for signing (LeBron James) is the only reliable contributor on the roster right now.
