During most NBA seasons, Magic Johnson is one of the Lakers' biggest supporters. As a former Lakers player and owner, he takes a lot of pride in the success of both the team and the franchise as a whole. But this year, Magic is openly rooting for the Lakers to lose. In fact, during a promotional event in New York City last night, he admitted that he wants the Lakers to lose as many games as possible during the 2014-15 NBA season.
"I hope the Lakers lose every game," he said. "Because if you're going to lose, lose. And I'm serious…If you're going to lose, you have to lose because you can't be in the middle of the pack. You either have to be great or you have to be bad to get a good pick."
Kobe Bryant obviously didn't agree with Magic's assessment of the Lakers last night after helping Los Angeles to a 98-85 victory over the Kings. He said he understands where Magic is coming from, but he also said that he doesn't think losing is what the Lakers should be trying to do right now.
"He's used to being an owner," Kobe said. "He's an owner of the Dodgers. He was an owner of the Lakers. That's speaking from an owner's perspective. I think the fans—or hopefully some of them—are probably smart enough to understand his perspective as an owner. I certainly am."
However, Magic sure didn't sound like an owner last night when he took to Twitter to reiterate his original statements. He explained his line of thinking and basically said that, as a Lakers fan, he doesn't want them to end up being a team that's good enough to stay out of last place this season but not good enough to actually compete for a playoff spot. In Magic's eyes, all that will do is decrease the Lakers' chances of landing a superstar in the draft next season.
And Magic also finished his brief Twitter rant off by saying that he doesn't like seeing teams like the Lakers, Knicks, and Celtics struggling at the same time:
So what should the Lakers do? Win? Lose? Tell Magic Johnson to GTF-, er, stay far, far away from their team? We don't expect them to take Magic's advice and tank anytime soon. At least, not as long as Kobe is still on the team.
[via ESPN Los Angeles]
