Former Lakers great Magic Johnson appeared on ESPN's "First Take" and said General Manager Rob Pelinka was largely responsible for his resignation as president of basketball operations and that Pelinka was talking behind his back, putting the GM in the position of using coach Frank Vogel's introductory news conference to respond.
Pelinka said he has talked to Johnson several times since his resignation April 9 and the comments surprised him. Pelinka said the last time the two had talked was over the weekend.
"It's saddening and disheartening to think he believes things are a misperception," Pelinka said. "I think all of us in life probably have been through things where maybe there's third party whispers or 'he said, she said' things that aren't true."
When negotiating his job requirements with team controlling owner Jeannie Buss, Johnson said he made it clear to her that he still needed to deal with his other business interests.
"I told her: 'Listen, I can't give up all my businesses. I make more money doing that than becoming president of the Lakers, so you know that I'm going to be in and out. Is that OK with you?' '' Johnson told ESPN's Stephen Smith on "First Take." "She said yes. I said, 'Do I have the power to make decisions?' because that was important for me to take the job, as well. She said, 'You have the power to make the decisions.' "
His first year at the helm was "tremendous," Johnson said, as the team rearranged its roster to get under the salary cap and acquired draft picks, eventually landing LeBron James in free agency. But then the whispering started.
"And then I start hearing: 'Magic, you're not working hard enough. Magic's not in the office.' So people around the Laker office were telling me Rob was saying things."
The second and ultimately final source of Johnson's discontent was the team's indecision over whether to fire then-coach Luke Walton.
