The Los Angeles Lakers entered the postseason with expectations of defending their championship, but due to a spate of injuries to high-profile players, a tough matchup in the 2-7 series with the Phoenix Suns, and a handful of other factors, the team was sent home at the conclusion of the first round.
Figuring out where the team goes from here is the No. 1 job of every single decision-maker in the front office. There could, theoretically, be a path forward that just involves getting healthy and having the kind of offseason they did not get last year. Or, there is a path forward that involves hitting the reset button, which seems to be the preferred path forward for one Lakers legend/ex-executive.
Magic Johnson, in one of his delightful Twitter posts, made clear that he believed general manager Rob Pelinka has a whole heck of a lot of work to do over the coming months.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka has a lot of work to do this summer because a lot of Lakers did not perform well during the series against the Phoenix Suns.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) June 4, 2021
Now, Johnson isn’t necessarily wrong, but considering that he was, quite literally, hired alongside Pelinka to return the Lakers to glory, but abruptly resigned during a game in 2019. It got to the point that Johnson straight up accused Pelinka of spreading rumors about him, which was a thing he cited for his resignation (Pelinka has denied this).
