Magic Johnson: Lakers’ last season worst in team history
NBA legend Magic Johnson says the LA Lakers’ showing this past year has been disappointing, and that it could go down as the worst in the team’s history.
NBA legend Magic Johnson has expressed his disappointment at the performance of the Los Angeles Lakers the past season.
Johnson: Lakers should’ve made playoffs with their talent
In an interview with BBC Sport, the three-time MVP said that with all the talent the team has, his former squad should not have delivered so dismally in the regular season.
“This is the worst season we probably ever had in Laker history,” he told BBC.
“When you have four Hall of Famers- Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, [there] is no way you should miss the play-offs. So it’s a disappointing season.”
Johnson blames James for Lakers’ fate
Johnson had earlier blamed James for the team not signing DeMar DeRozan, who ended up with the Chicago Bulls.
In an interview with ESPN’s Get Up, the former Lakers president of basketball operations said the deal with DeRozan would have resulted in Los Angeles retaining crucial defensive players such as Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
“If you sign DeRozan, you only trade Kuzma for Buddy Field, we would be playing in the Western Conference championship this year with those two guys.”
The Lakers instead decided to obtain Russell Westbrook, who became the Laker instead of DeRozan.
DeRozan then proceeded to shine with Bulls, delivering impressive numbers, whereas Westbrook had one of the worst years in his career with the league. All these developments appear to have contributed to the downfall of Los Angeles.
The Lakers have the biggest number of NBA championships to their name, tied with the Boston Celtics at 17. Johnson was with the team for five of those trophies.