Magic Johnson says he wants to 'call the shots' with Lakers

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/02/10/magic-johnson-shot-caller-los-angeles-lakers/97732992/



Magic Johnson says he wants to 'call the shots' with Lakers



Josh Peter , USA TODAY Sports


Published 1:13 a.m. ET Feb. 10, 2017 | Updated 3 hours ago




The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that Magic Johnson has rejoined the organization to assist team executive Jeanie Buss.





LOS ANGELES — Magic Johnson said he wants to “call the shots’’ for the Los Angeles Lakers, a week after it was announced he has rejoined the team as an adviser to owner Jeanie Buss.

“Working to call the shots, because it only works that way,’’ Johnson told USA TODAY Sports when asked what he hopes his role with the franchise will be. “Right now I’m advising. I get that. But at the end of the day, then we all got to come together and somebody’s got to say, ‘I’m making the final call,’ all right? And who’s that going to be?

“So, we’ll see what happens.’’

Johnson, the former Lakers great, said the decision about his role rests with Jeanie Buss, whose brother Jim has been in charge of the franchise since their father, Jerry, died in 2013. During the 2013-14 season, Jim Buss said he would step down after three to four years if the franchise was not yet competing for NBA titles again.

The Lakers, winners of 16 NBA championships, are 18-37 this season and a combined 65-181 during the three previous seasons.

“Look, Jim knows where we are, Jeanie knows where we are, as a franchise, and so some decisions have to be made,’’ Johnson said, adding that he thinks his role will be determined by the end of the season. “I may only be in this role for a short term, I may be here for a long time. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I can’t tell you that right now.’’

Johnson, who spoke while at Pauley Pavilion for the UCLA-Oregon men's basketball game, said it will take two to three years to rebuild the Lakers into one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

“It’s going to take time and we know that,’’ said Johnson, the Hall-of-Famer who played for the Lakers from 1979-91 and played 32 games during the 1995-96 season. “I’m not going to fool nobody and I don’t want the fan base to think, ‘Oh, I’m back, so it’s going to turn around tomorrow.’ It doesn’t work like that.

“You have to make some good decisions, you have to make sure we use the money wisely when we have it for free agents and then we’re going to draft well.’’

During his first week in his new role, Johnson said, he has focused his time learning about the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, the salary cap and other business-related items.

“I’m going to school, for sure,’’ he said. “Because I know talent. This part (evaluating players) comes easy, watching people play and seeing how they play, whose game hopefully can translate to the next level, those type of things. You’ll find out more as you get to interview them later on, the draft and workouts we have pre-draft. Then you’ll find out a lot more.



bob
MY NOTE:  Jim Buss said he was "surprised" with Magic's tone when Buss called him right after the announcement.  Buss said he was surprised because Magic has said some very unflattering things about him in the past.  Turns out Magic wasn't smiling because he was happy, he was hungry.  

Showdown at the Staples Corral!


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No one should be surprised the Magic Johnson wants to 'call the shots' now that he has re-joined the Lakers.

Did anyone think that he came back to grab a mop and pick up dirty socks in the locker room?

If Johnson returning to want to run the show surprises anyone currently with the Lakers it may really show how dumb they are and why their team has fallen so far off the cliff in the last bunch of seasons.