Magic Johnson shocked the NBA world on Tuesday night when he announced prior to the Lakers’ season finale against the Blazers that he was stepping down as team president. Johnson’s decision came amid widespread criticism of the front office’s many missteps throughout the season, whether it was the Anthony Davis trade debacle, questionable roster decisions, tampering accusations, and more.
According to reports, Johnson was poised to fire head coach Luke Walton, a decision that has since been put on hold while the franchise figures out its next moves. And there are plenty of other personnel decisions that are soon to follow.
On Wednesday, however, they started with the medical staff when they announced that head trainer Marco Nunez had been fired amid a season that has been riddled with injuries to numerous key players including LeBron James, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball.
Via Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register:
With so much of a 37-45 result pinned on medical issues, it seemed only a matter of time before the Lakers would make a change on that side of operations.
So they did on Wednesday morning, firing head trainer Marco Nunez, who had been with the organization for a decade and spent the last three seasons overseeing the training staff. The Lakers missed more than 200 appearances due to injury this season, including 148 from the top eight leaders in minutes.
Many point directly to the two months LeBron sat out after straining his groin on Christmas, the longest period he’s ever missed due to injury, as the nail in the coffin for the Lakers’ postseason aspirations.
It seems somewhat unfair to malign a training staff for things that are mostly out of their control, but with such an overwhelming amount of playing time lost to various injuries, it was also inevitable. And it’s likely on the beginning. You can bet there will be many more changes all across the organization as the team looks to bounce back from a disastrous season.
