Magic Johnson’s tenure as President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers has come to a close.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reports Johnson has stepped down from his position with his former team. Johnson announced his decision during an impromptu press conference on Tuesday evening. He also said that he hadn’t informed team president Jeanie Buss of his decision prior to his announcement.
Johnson helped bring LeBron James to Los Angeles, but was also part of the effort that failed to put a cohesive team around him, and resulted in LA missing the playoffs in his first season out West. Rob Pelinka, the Lakers GM, is still with the organization at this time, and will be at the head of the Lakers’ effort to make the playoffs next season with (hopefully) a fully healthy squad.
This could also have an impact on Luke Walton’s status as head coach; it was considered likely that Walton would be fired sooner rather than later, but with Johnson out of the picture, that may no longer be the case.
