The Official Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[Angel Oracle]

It's turning out to be a joke franchise now.   I will be surprised if they finish over .500 next season in a brutal conference.

[AngelsLakersFan]

Probably for the best that Magic is gone... The franchise really took a huge downswing since the decision to sign LeBron James. Im guessing Walton will be gone tomorrow. He's an obvious fall guy but it's hard to blame him fully for what was an obvious mess of a roster.

[Lou]

when will people stop thinking Magic is some sort of genius? 

[m0nkey]

3 minutes ago, Lou said:

when will people stop thinking Magic is some sort of genius? 

Racist

[Lou]

19 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Racist

nope

i'm an illusionist 

[Stradling]

3 hours ago, Lou said:

when will people stop thinking Magic is some sort of genius? 

Probably right after they stop thinking signing Lebron was a bad thing.

[Tank]

so why did magic quit? what's the story there?

[Jeremiah]

11 hours ago, Tank said:

so why did magic quit? what's the story there?

Looking through the press conference quotes, it seems like he missed just being Magic Johnson, retired legend and NBA ambassador. He didn’t like being accused of tampering if he mentioned the name of another player (he specifically mentioned possible mentoring of Ben Simmons and feeling unable to publicly congratulate Russ Westbrook). There was some implication that he was not on the same page as Walton and Jeannie Buss (It was reported that Walton begged the team to keep Lopez and Randle, while Magic didn’t want to do that). He wants to fire Walton but feels Jeannie isn’t inclined to do so.

I have loved the Lakers all my life, but I’m not disappointed that Magic isn’t running them anymore. His stewardship was a disaster.

[Lou]

10 minutes ago, Jeremiah said:

He wants to fire Walton but feels Jeannie isn’t inclined to do so.

incorrect.

"Magic Johnson stunned the NBA world on Tuesday when he announced his resignation as president of the Los Angeles Lakers. The choice will reverberate throughout the organization in ways that we can't even predict, but one immediate concern is the future of Head Coach Luke Walton. It had been widely reported that Johnson planned to fire Walton, and early Wednesday Morning, Chris Haynes of Yahoo reported that Johnson had received permission to do so from Jeanie Buss. This essentially amounts to confirmation that, at least as of Tuesday, the Lakers planned to fire Walton when the season ended. After all, Johnson wouldn't have gotten permission if he hadn't asked for it."

[Jeremiah]

24 minutes ago, Lou said:

incorrect.

"Magic Johnson stunned the NBA world on Tuesday when he announced his resignation as president of the Los Angeles Lakers. The choice will reverberate throughout the organization in ways that we can't even predict, but one immediate concern is the future of Head Coach Luke Walton. It had been widely reported that Johnson planned to fire Walton, and early Wednesday Morning, Chris Haynes of Yahoo reported that Johnson had received permission to do so from Jeanie Buss. This essentially amounts to confirmation that, at least as of Tuesday, the Lakers planned to fire Walton when the season ended. After all, Johnson wouldn't have gotten permission if he hadn't asked for it."

I’ve read that. Maybe that’s all correct. I’ve also read the reports that he didn’t want to fire someone whom Jeannie regarded as a son. She had given him the power to fire anyone, but felt firing Walton would hurt her feelings too much. From USAToday:

https://lebronwire.usatoday.com/2019/04/09/magic-says-potential-luke-walton-firing-played-a-part-in-stepping-down/

He apparently also wanted to fire Pelinka, which became another sticking point. There was a lot going on behind the scenes. Seems none of it was good.

[m0nkey]

Walton and the Lakers decide to part ways "mutually"

[Jeremiah]

54 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Walton and the Lakers decide to part ways "mutually"

Yeah, this is becoming such a dumpster fire. I don’t like the names being floated as replacements so far. I’d like to see them get a competent team president before making the coaching hire.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26507762/lakers-announce-walton-3-seasons

[AngelsLakersFan]

Apparently ruining Luke Walton's life was mutually agreed upon by both parties.

[Lou]

1 hour ago, m0nkey said:

Walton and the Lakers decide to part ways "mutually"

yep, mutual.

Team: "we don't want you here anymore"

Luke: "ok, I'll get my stuff out of here" 

[Angel Oracle]

Jeanie seems to be more like Jimmy Bob every year, clueless about how to run a basketball franchise.

Time for the Buss family to get out of basketball!!!!    And say thank you posthumously to Jerry Buss for the great times from 1979-2010 (10 NBA titles). 

[Lou]

On April 10, 2019 at 1:47 PM, Lou said:

nope

i'm an illusionist 

nothing? 

you guys suck 

[Stradling]

Ruined his life?  For fucks sake, he wasn’t that good and he got a chance of a lifetime.  (Link?) (I didn’t say that)

[m0nkey]

would love to see this

[Lou]

4 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

would love to see this

he's a lock 

[Troll Daddy]

Somebody is happy Walton is gone 

 

[Jeremiah]

That didn’t take long.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26515435/sources-walton-reaches-deal-coach-kings

[AngelsLakersFan]

On 4/12/2019 at 5:53 PM, Stradling said:

Ruined his life?  For fucks sake, he wasn’t that good and he got a chance of a lifetime.  (Link?) (I didn’t say that)

I was riffing on Magic’s quote that he quit in part so that he didn’t have to ‘ruin’ someone’s life that day... obviously he was referring to Walton.

[Stradling]

17 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I was riffing on Magic’s quote that he quit in part so that he didn’t have to ‘ruin’ someone’s life that day... obviously he was referring to Walton.

My bad, I lost the context. 

[Jeremiah]

The new Kings coach is having some very troubling legal issues now. GSW and LAL claim to have known nothing of this, but maybe there was more to his firing.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26582994/kings-walton-accused-lawsuit-sexual-assault

[AngelsLakersFan]

Damn, now Walton is really gona know what it's like to have his life ruined.