Magic Johnson has had an eventful tenure as president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. He took over for Jim Buss in February of 2017, and after just two months on the job, he went on Jimmy Kimmel Live and essentially confirmed his interest in signing Paul George when he becomes a free agent next summer.
On one hand, this was an instance of Magic being Magic on a show where he was booked to entertain. On the other hand, the NBA is notoriously strict about executives directly addressing players on other teams.
Regardless of how it looked on TV, Magic’s public display of love for George was one of the reasons the NBA felt the need to investigate the Lakers for tampering with Paul George while he was a member of the Pacers. As it turns out, the NBA did determine that the Lakers made ‘illegal’ contact with George, but it was the fault of general manager Rob Pelinka, not Magic Johnson.
Regardless of who deserves how much blame for tampering with George, Magic was incredibly apologetic and took responsibility for the NBA’s punishment.
Transcript via The Los Angeles Times:
“It’s under my watch. I apologize to Jeanie, and that was the main thing. I told her she could take it out of my salary because I don’t want the Lakers to be paying that fine. I don’t want her spending $500,000, because she didn’t do anything. That’s on me”
Fast-forward to Game 2 of the 2017 World Series: Magic was put in another situation where he narrowly avoided a second tampering charge, courtesy of David Ortiz. Ortiz couldn’t help himself, asking Magic if the Lakers are going to sign LeBron James next summer. In typical Ortiz fashion, he even told Magic he’d pay the fine.
"What's it gonna take to bring Lebron to the Lakers?"- @davidortiz to @MagicJohnson 😂😂😂 https://t.co/EuBcsytScc
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 25, 2017
Through all the laughter, it sounds like Magic actually learned his lesson. “We’re trying to build a championship team with the Lakers, ” Magic said, “and hopefully next summer we’ll be in line to sign free agents. No more fines, baby!”
Of course, Magic Johnson is totally going to do everything in his power to sign LeBron James next summer, but until then, we can all share a laugh with Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, and pray we can experience anything as enjoyable as those guys poking fun at Magic’s inexperience as an NBA executive.
