Magic Johnson shocked the NBA world on Tuesday night in the middle of the penultimate night of the league's regular season by stepping down as the president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers. The move came via an impromptu press conference before Tuesday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers -- the Lakers' final game of the season -- leading to an unprecedented vacuum for the franchise heading into their last game.
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Johnson has had his ups and downs with the Lakers this year, but he clarified that he's making this move because he feels the team is moving in the proper direction. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but the abrupt resignation is honestly the perfect exclamation point to what's been a wild ride for the Lakers this year.
Johnson's full interview is one for the ages:
Magic Johnson shocks - well, everyone - and announces he’s stepping down as president of the Lakers. Says he’s not yet spoken to Jeanie Buss to tell her. Says he’s sick of tampering rules, he’s tired of the “backstabbing” & says he didn’t want to disappoint Jeanie by firing Luke. pic.twitter.com/m50VKQmmDR
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 10, 2019
It goes without saying that there's a lot to parse through here, especially as the future of this particular Lakers team is completely up in the air now. Here are some of the key takeaways from Magic Johnson's unexpected resignation as Lakers president:
Magic made announcement without telling Jeanie Buss
Johnson added a middleman (NBA media) to his resignation, by ultimately holding a press conference before the Lakers game without informing Lakers owner Jeanie Buss first. "Her and I have such an amazing relationship, and she gave me full power to do what I wanted to do," Johnson said. When he was asked if he'd told Buss, he responded by saying "No, I haven't. I couldn't. I could not stand to tell her. But the one thing she had in me was somebody she could trust and [was] loyal to her. And I will be that as well ... We've been talking about next year and I've been sitting there saying 'I'm not gonna be here.'"
Buss, to her credit, took the resignation in stride, tweeting that she "loved working side by side" with Johnson.
Earvin, I loved working side by side with you. You’ve brought us a long way. We will continue the journey. We love you
