Magic Johnson has a lot to say about the status of his former team, and most of it isn’t good.
The five-time NBA champion has a couple ideas about how the Los Angeles Lakers can get back on track, and one of them is for Kobe Bryant to retire if the team fails to sign a high profile free agent this summer.
“And I really believe this: (Kobe) should … say to (co-owner) Jim (Buss) and them, ‘Look, if you don’t sign one of these free agents (this offseason), man, I’m just not going to play next year,'” Johnson said on SiriusXM on Tuesday, per ESPN Los Angeles’ Baxter Holmes.
Plenty of top-level free agents should be available this summer, including LaMarcus Aldridge, Goran Dragic, Marc Gasol, DeAndre Jordan and Rajon Rondo. If Bryant does plan to retire when his contract runs out after the 2015-16 season, Johnson thinks a big name is the only thing that will make Bryant’s final season worthwhile.
“You almost gotta say that because if you come back with the same level of talent, you’re just going to have the same results,” Johnson said. “You know, so, look, Kobe, put pressure on Jim to say, ‘Look, man, you’ve got to bring me some talent, some help, so that this can be a great season for the Lakers and a great season for me, being my last season, and then I can retire.'”
Johnson said Buss should hand over more control to general manager Mitch Kupchak heading into the offseason. He said if the Lakers can’t snatch up a big name free agent in addition to a talented rookie in the draft, “it’s over for us.”
Thumbnail Photo via Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports
