The Los Angeles Lakers had another awful day Tuesday as a report by ESPN’s Baxter Holmes exposed many details from inside the organization that showed just how much of a mess this storied franchise has become.
The report detailed how Magic Johnson allegedly rode employees pretty hard and his actions even led some employees to suffer from panic attacks:
These sources, who feared reprisal and weren’t authorized to speak publicly, describe Pelinka and Johnson as managers who made unilateral free-agent acquisitions; triggered a spate of tampering investigations and fines; berated staffers, including Walton; and created an in-house culture that many current and former longtime staffers said marginalized their colleagues, inspired fear and led to feelings of anxiety severe enough that at least two staffers suffered panic attacks.
It also had an amazing story about Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, Kobe Bryant, and Heath Ledger.
Well, Magic went live on SportsCenter on Tuesday night to talk about it with Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon.
Here’s a brief snippet:
And here’s his longer, rambling reaction:
And here’s the text of the response:
So yeah, not a banner day for the Lakers.
