Earlier today it was announced that Magic Johnson would be returning to the Los Angeles Lakers organization in an advisor role to President Jeanie Buss. His exact role and what he will be doing is undefined, but the Lakers said that he will be looking at all things from both the basketball and business side of things.
Johnson, of course, is arguably the greatest Laker of all-time and most consider him the greatest point guard ever. The current crop of Lakers has their own young point guard in D’Angelo Russell who has a ton of talent, but is a long ways away from realizing his potential.
Magic recently spoke about hoping Russell would step into a leadership role, and in a sitdown interview with Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum SportsNet, Johnson noted that he would like to mentor Russell:
Magic said he’d even help out in Laker practice if Luke Walton wanted it, mentioning D’Angelo Russell as a player he'd like to mentor.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) February 3, 2017
Russell having the opportunity to learn from the greatest to ever do it would be a huge help for him. His maturity level and leadership has been questioned, but having Magic around could be just what Russell needs to begin growing up and taking over this Laker team.
On the court, Russell has certainly shown some progression since returning from a knee injury. In the Lakers last two games Russell has notched his first two career double-doubles featuring assists, following a 22 points, 10 assist performance against Denver with a 17 points, 11 assist showing against the Wizards.
Now that he has returned to the franchise, Magic is looking to make an impact and is already planning a meeting with General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Hopefully he will be able to turn things around at every level.
