I hope the Lakers lose every game. (Magic Johnson)
At an event in New York City, Magic Johnson admitted he was openly rooting for the Lakers to lose. Yes, one of the greatest winners in the history of sports was advocating for and supportive of failure. Naturally, his comments created a firestorm on both sides of the aisle, those in favor of tanking and those who think tanking is reckless.
Oct 28, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers former player Magic Johnson in attendance during the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
As far as Magic’s reasoning goes, it is pretty straight forward. To get better in the NBA you need talent that comes via the draft, preferably the top pick.
The evidence is overwhelming that drafting talent works. Consider the Golden State Warriors. They have the best record in the NBA. Five years ago they won 29 games. They drafted Steph Curry with the seventh pick in 2009. Two years later, they drafted Klay Thompson with the eleventh pick. Together, Curry and Thompson have guided the Warriors to the top of the NBA with their brilliant shooting. This is how rebuilding is done in the NBA. Anything else drowns you in mediocrity. Not good enough to win a title but not bad enough to be in the NBA Draft Lottery.
So, even as it pains him, Magic wants the Lakers to lose. And to lose. And to lose. He’s dreaming of that #1 pick.
The Lakers didn’t cooperate on Tuesday night against the Kings. Sacramento was missing DeMarcus Cousins who has been ill for a week with viral meningitis. The Lakers trailed for most of the game but were scrappy and played hard and kept pushing. In the last few possessions, Kobe Bryant dunked the ball, made a brilliant pass, hit a three point shot, trapped Rudy Gay for a turnover and made free throws. The Lakers defied Magic Johnson and won their sixth game of the season, their second win in the tough Western Conference.
Afterwards, Magic clarified his statements via his Twitter account: Today in NY I said I hope the Lakers don’t win too many games because I want them to have the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft. Last year’s draft there were no superstars. This year there are about 3-4 superstars in college basketball and we need one of them! I don’t want the team to finish in the middle of the pack and get a 10th-14th pick because that won’t do us any good.
For the record, there have been some good mid-level picks who have become All-Stars. Paul George was drafted 10th. Kawhi Leonard was drafted 15th. Eric Bledsoe was drafted 18th.
But this sort of speculation is all a moot point because if the Lakers finish outside the top 5, their late lottery pick goes to Phoenix. (However, the Lakers do have the Houston Rockets first round pick which is likely to be in the 22-26 range.)
After beating Sacramento, the Lakers commented on Magic’s theory of everything.
Kobe Bryant: I don’t see teams tanking, it doesn’t happen. Players play and try to win every single game. That’s what we do.
Nick Young: I’m going to have to tell Magic Johnson to stay at Dodgers Stadium for a while. Tell him to chill out for a minute before I have to knock him out.
Byron Scott: You go out here and try to win as much as you can to try to create that culture of winning again instead of having that loser’s mentality.