Los Angeles Lakers: Magic Johnson takes full responsibility, will pay fine
Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations, Magic Johnson, is taking full responsibility for the tampering charge fine and wants it to be taken out of his salary.
At the end of August, the Los Angeles Lakers were handed their punishment by the NBA for the tampering charges brought against them by the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers believed the Lakers made impermissible contact with Paul George, and the Lakers were found slightly guilty.
After the investigation ended, the Lakers ended up being fined $500,000 by the NBA. The investigation did not reveal an agreement or understanding that George would eventually land with the Lakers. Instead, what they did find out involved Lakers General Manager, Rob Pelinka.
What the Lakers were fined for a conversation that Pelinka had with George’s agent. It was found that Pelinka exhibited prohibited interest in George while he was still under contract. That is where the fine is stemming from, as the NBA released a statement on the fine.
"The conduct at issue involved communications by Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka with the agent representing Paul George that constituted a prohibited expression of interest in the player while he was under contract. The penalty reflected a previous warning issued by the NBA to the Lakers regarding tampering, following comments made by Lakers President of Basketball Operations Earvin Johnson about Paul George during an April 20 national television appearance.The investigation did not reveal evidence of an agreement or understanding that the Lakers would sign or acquire Mr. George."
Many people were under the impression that the Lakers were under investigation because of Magic Johnson‘s appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Johnson jokingly discussed how he would converse with George should the two hypothetically run into each other on vacation.
"“This is just on a late-night show being funny,” Johnson said Monday. “But now I know I can’t do that. We’re OK. I haven’t thought twice about it. We made a mistake. … It’s under my watch. I’m gonna make sure it doesn’t happen anymore.”"
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It was something that drew the ire of the NBA and is the warning that was mentioned in the statement the league released. While the Lakers or Johnson weren’t punished for that incident, Johnson is taking full responsibility for the fine.
Johnson does not only take responsibility for the fine but also told Jeanie Buss to take the fine out of his paycheck.
"“It’s under my watch,” Johnson told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “I apologize to Jeanie, and that was the main thing. I told her she could take it out of my salary because I don’t want the Lakers to be paying that fine. … I don’t want her spending $500,000, because she didn’t do anything. That’s on me.”"
This is a nice gesture from Johnson. While Pelinka was singled out by the NBA for doing wrong, Johnson is taking responsibility as the President of Basketball Operations. It shows how cohesive a unit the front office is and that they are all in this together.
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The Lakers can now put this behind them and focus on training camp, which starts in a few weeks. The regular season is right around the corner and the Lakers will have plenty of eyes on them with a revamped roster and plenty of young talent led by Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram.