Magic Johnson arguably is the greatest player in Los Angeles Lakers history, and as of last Thursday, he’s returned to the organization.
Johnson was hired as an advisor to team co-owner Jeanie Buss, and not even a week after accepting the new gig, it appears the Basketball Hall of Famer has some pretty lofty goals for his new position, as he explained to USA TODAY on Thursday.
“Working to call the shots, because it only works that way,’’ Johnson told USA TODAY Sports. “Right now I’m advising. I get that. But at the end of the day, then we all got to come together and somebody’s got to say, ‘I’m making the final call,’ all right? And who’s that going to be? So, we’ll see what happens.”
While there is no denying Johnson’s knowledge of the game, he admitted he has some work to do when it comes to understanding the managerial aspect of the NBA.
“The main part for me is really learning the other part that I didn’t know,” he said “and that is to understand the CBA, the salary cap, where we are in terms of the salary cap and who’s a free-agent-to-be. You’ve got a lot of young players so you’ve got to learn when are their contracts coming up, if you can give them the max deal, give them an extension, all those types of things you’ve got to learn. It’s a lot of things, but I’m excited. I’ve been working on all of those things, and then meeting with the staff.”
Johnson will have his work cut out for him, but with a talented core of young players, the Lakers’ future is promising.
Thumbnail photo via Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports Images
