The Los Angeles Lakers and general manager Rob Pelinka have received near unanimous praise for the moves made this offseason. The front office kept the core pieces that thrived around LeBron James and Anthony Davis last season while also adding some new pieces that fit exactly what the team needs and one legend who is extremely excited about the upcoming season is Magic Johnson.
The Lakers legend has been in the public eye recently as the debate over the greatest point guard ever between himself and Stephen Curry has caught some steam. But now Magic is focused on the current Lakers and the expectations surrounding them as the season nears.
Johnson recently spoke with Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times and said Pelinka deserves a ton of credit for making these Lakers into a championship contender, adding that the team shouldn’t run from those expectations either:
“From that trade deadline to this offseason, we should all give him a standing ovation, because these Lakers are dangerous,” Johnson said Thursday during a phone interview. “This is a championship team and they shouldn’t run away from that. They should embrace that and then go for it. I think LeBron sees it too. One thing I’m really happy about is that he can see that he has a championship team. And when him and Anthony Davis feel like, ‘Oh, man. OK, we can win it all,’ watch out for them.”
The team will obviously go as far as LeBron and Davis take them as they remain the leaders of the Lakers. But as Magic said, the two superstars almost definitely see the roster around them and know they have a real chance, which will only make them work harder.
The additions of Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood and Taurean Prince among others, not to mention the development of Max Christie along with those returning key role players gives the Lakers an extremely deep and complete team and Johnson could barely contain his excitement:
“This is going to be one of the most exciting seasons, because this is an exciting team,” Johnson said. “See, everybody we got can run. They can jump. This is going to be crazy. People are going to be really excited to watch this team play. I’m just giddy. I can’t wait. So, Rob, thank you, thank you, and he deserves to be executive of the year. They overlooked him all those years, but they can’t overlook him with this one. He is clearly the executive of the year.”
The pieces are certainly in place and now it will be up to the coaches and players to make it all come together. If they can do that, the Lakers will live up to these high expectations and hopefully, raise another championship banner.
Lakers’ Magic Johnson shuts down GOAT point guard debate vs. Stephen Curry
Curry has cemented himself as one of the greatest basketball players of all-time leading many to wonder if he has caught up to Johnson as the best point guard ever. Curry believes he has, but Magic recently put a stop to that argument with nothing but facts.
Magic listed off a number of his accomplishments such as his five NBA championships, three regular season MVPs and three NBA Finals MVPs and says that if Curry can surpass those, as well as his number of other statistical numbers, then he will have that top spot, but until then, Johnson remains the standard.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
