Magic Johnson Felt Backstabbed, Secret Emails Made Him Leave Lakers, Bucher Says

Magic Johnson shocked the basketball world and the Los Angeles Lakers when he stepped down from his position as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations earlier this month after just two years at the helm. The NBA Hall of Famer explained that the lack of freedom to communicate with other basketball players without being accused of tampering was one of the main reasons for his decision to walk away.

The Lakers legend also indicated during his press conference that he did not inform owner Jeanie Buss of his decision as he could not face her to convey the news. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher has now provided an alternate reason for his exit and his possible reluctance in going to the management first.

Bucher revealed that Johnson, who was instrumental in bringing LeBron James to Los Angeles, became privy to private emails between Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka that were critical of the president of basketball operations. They were supposedly questioning the actions of Johnson during his tenure with the Lakers.

“My understanding is that there were some emails that were exchanged between Rob and Jeanie…about Magic and about what Magic was and wasn’t doing. They were critical emails. And somehow, someway, Jeanie, from what I understand, was CC’ing or blind CC’ing Magic on everything. That was sort of protocol. Standard issue,” Bucher said during his appearance on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd, as transcribed by LonzoWire, USA Today.

“Somehow, the exchange between Rob and Jeanie ended up on that string of the blind CC’s that were going to Magic. So, Magic now is seeing emails from Rob to Jeanie that were critical of what he was doing and maybe most important in all this is that there was no indication that Jeanie was backing Rob up in terms of either going to Magic and letting him know this was going on or going back at Rob and defending Magic,” he added.

“That was not happening and so when he talked about the backstabbing, to me, my understanding that’s what started it. The fact that Jeanie waved goodbye and said ‘Thank you for all that you did’ was that she didn’t necessarily disagree with what Rob was saying,” he said.

The Lakers missed out of the playoffs for a franchise-record sixth consecutive season despite the addition of James. And after a disappointing campaign, they also decided to part ways with head coach Luke Walton – a decision Johnson was part of.

Buss and Pelinka now face a summer of major rebuild in the front office and the playing squad. They have been interviewing candidates for the head coaching job, and are hoping that they can attract a top free agent, namely Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard in the summer.