They did Their rivalry was amazing to watch at the time The key battles and every game was played to the max by all players
I fully understand your feeling on this though mine is Kobe was the greatest Laker ever and would NEVER have done what Magic did to the organization with his blindsiding of them quitting in the tunnel while season had yet to finish and then a media roadshow dumping on the Lakers during their most important off season ever since Shaq and Kobe were acquired …. because he was butt hurt over something said about how it was to work with him and Jeanie had other people’s opinions she valued too, including her own own, about personnel moves such as firing Luke mid season.
It will be highly improbable for anyone to eclipse Kobe for me. I watched his entire career and got to watch him grow up from the teenage Afrolicious Sprite spokesman with springs for legs to the retiring and revered Wiley Black Mamba making short films on the side. Never be another like him. Bron has done an admirable job as a Laker, and even if he doesn’t win another championship as a Laker, they may retire his number. Luka has a chance to put his name in the Laker record books if he plays long enough, and we as fans are beyond blessed and spoiled to have a list of names like this who have played for our franchise.
We are truly blessed with all the greats that have played for the Lakers On the other hand, it's a privilege for them to play for a storied franchise like the Lakers It goes both ways
Johnson also resurrected Abdul-Jabbar's interest in the game. Thank goodness Dr. Buss vetoed West pick of Moncrief over him.
I think it understated how important the Boston/LAL rivalry was and that it was Magic that turned the tide from being C Bags dominated to setup the Lakers to eclipse them. Magic is so unique no player has been like him or since IMO. Luka has the passing but man Magic was so big and fast in turning offense to defense - some weird amalgam of Luka and Lebron. The glitz, the glamor, what made Hollywood and the Lakers Hollywoods team in showtime was special
Anytime Magic gets on camera its such a great watch. Man was made for entertainment, Great watch. Especially for a laker fan that never got to watch showtime live due to age. But like most of us here we're historians of our franchise that love to soak in stories before our time. Almost feels like laker myth/folklore. Byron's podcast is lightyears better than his coaching. Its basically the only true laker podcast out there.
As a player hell yeah!!! As an executive for the Lakers he could go on to Pages 3, 4 and 5 for all I care. This below is a thread starter on LG by lakersboy and is all I have read. So far. And it's still my opinion that Rob finally was grousing about the "Boss", Magic not being available to him as rapidly needed to get answers and approvals to get s*** done, with all his other business interests. Not that so early on Pelinka was knifing him in the back trying to get his job. But to each their own on their opinions of what actually was triggering Rob to say whatever it was to whomever he said it. Ivica Zubac, apparently during a podcast interview in Croatia in February, from one of the early replies. SI link below it though plus one Other, also picking it up, that the OP then found. Traveling in Spain this week, I came across the following article that doesn't seem to have a link, but makes reference to AI. I don't know how much truth it has because I haven't seen anyone else refer to it, so take it with a grain of salt. Maybe someone can verify it? Ivica Zubac revealed Magic Johnson was unreasonably harsh and hypocritical during his Lakers tenure In a February 2026 interview on the X&O's CHAT podcast, Ivica Zubac described his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers under Magic Johnson as a "nightmare" characterized by inconsistent leadership and harsh personal interactions. Zubac's primary revelations regarding Johnson's conduct include: Blocked Mentorship: Zubac claimed that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar actively wanted a role with the Lakers to mentor him and other big men, but Johnson reportedly blocked the hiring after a meeting. Harsh Evaluations: According to Zubac, Johnson told him he "didn't improve all summer" and wouldn't play, even before training camp had begun, despite Zubac spending the entire off-season training in Los Angeles. Hypocritical Trade Handling: Zubac described the 2019 trade to the Clippers as hypocritical, noting that the front office praised him for helping the team win games during the same call in which they informed him he was being traded for Mike Muscala. Communication Issues: Zubac noted that Johnson never used his own phone number for official business, always calling from a "hidden number" that no one else in the organization seemed to have. Zubac's performance has since significantly improved; as of early 2026, he was a focal point for the Clippers before being traded to the Indiana Pacers in a blockbuster move. https://www.si.com/nba/lakers/onsi/...d-kareem-abdul-jabbar-mentorship-01khcjb6qk7n https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nb...rvertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1 ^^^ from 2nd link: Ivica Zubac does not sound bitter when he talks about the Lakers. He sounds stunned. Speaking on the X&O’s CHAT podcast, the now Pacers center pulled back the curtain on what he described as a chaotic, inconsistent, and at times hypocritical tenure in Los Angeles under Magic Johnson. “Before Summer League, they told me I had to be Summer League MVP. If not, they’d be disappointed. Well, I wasn’t MVP. We won the Summer League. I played well, but not an MVP. That team was loaded. The best team in Summer League history.” “Me, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Kuzma, Caruso. Thomas Bryant was coming off the bench. Seven or eight legit NBA guys. Thomas Bryant, who doesn’t even go into the paint. A legend. How can you be MVP on that team? Sometimes you can’t even get the ball.” “We won it all. Summer League ends. The season starts soon. Two weeks before the season, they signed Bogut. Magic calls me in. Says I didn’t improve all summer. “You didn’t improve. You won’t play.'” “Camp hadn’t even started, and he’s telling me I won’t play. I’m thinking, I stayed all summer, didn’t play for the national team. All summer in LA with my trainers. Strength coach, skill coach, did everything they wanted. What else could I do? If I didn’t improve, that’s on you.” WHOA!! and this by wongst288
^In Riley's "Showtime" book, he recalls that in 1982, Abdul-Jabbar was out with badly sprained ankle. Lakers won like a slew of games during his absence with their running game. One such "unnamed" player talked about how they did not need him and they can "kick out the jams" from there. Riley was angry, confronted said "unnamed" player, quashed the thought and that was that. Wonder who that could be...?
yeah, for all the "we don't know who to blame" for some of our worst moves, magic just came right out and took credit for some of them.
Magic’s High school teacher called him a dumb big kid and there was a big hullabaloo about it… I never believed until he traded Zu for absolutely nothing
