Los Angeles Lakers legend and current ESPN analyst Magic Johnson does not see his former team winning the NBA championship this season. In a recent ESPN segment, Johnson said that he does think the Lakers are the best in the west, instead he has the Mavericks at number one and the Thunder at number two.
“The Lakers are not the best team in the west,” said Magic.
Before Lakers fans start criticizing Johnson for not supporting the franchise, take a look at the team’s roster and personnel. The team is clearly not capable of beating the young and energetic teams in the NBA. They got demolished by the Mavericks in four games and their defense was horrendous. On top of that, the team struggled from the three-point arc and the bench was essentially non-existent.
As for the Thunder, the Lakers first played them when the team was still trying to find its identity. Now, Kevin Durant has developed into an MVP-candidate and the team reached the Western Conference Finals in 2011 despite being one of the youngest team in the NBA.
There is no way the Lakers can reach basketball immortality with this lineup, change is needed.
“No, he [Kobe Bryant] can get more rings,” Johnson said. “But I don’t think he’s going to get more rings with this current roster.”
Magic Johnson may not have faith in his former team, but if there is a sharp basketball mind, it’s in his head. Johnson understands the game and sees when things aren’t working out. Better yet, Magic would like to see whether or not the team makes any moves and how the relationship between Kobe and Mike Brown works out.
Kobe and Phil Jackson won five titles together, and all of them were guided by the triangle offense. It will be interesting to see how Brown uses Bryant in the offense and how Kobe goes about the new changes.
