The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of the worst stretch in franchise history. 2019 will mark the sixth consecutive year that the purple and gold miss the playoffs.
The Lakers have been a franchise for 71 years, making 60 playoff appearances. Prior to this stretch, the longest drought in franchise history without a playoff appearance was two seasons. In 65 seasons, the Lakers missed the postseason five times. That means more than half of their postseason misses have come during this streak.
There is a multitude of reasons that this drought has occurred. The end of the Kobe Bryant era was not an easy one, as Bryant’s exorbitant contract and a decline in performance on the court handcuffed the team.
Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss tried to do a quick fix, but that just dug a deeper hole. Jeanie Buss then decided to overhaul the front office, bringing in Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations and later on adding Rob Pelinka has the general manager.
Johnson is beloved in Los Angeles and sold fans on the hopes of landing two max contract players. He is halfway there, as he landed LeBron James during free agency in 2018. However, the process to get there, and some moves following that signing, have been questionable, at best.
With April now here, April Fools’ Day is as well. Some of the moves that Johnson and Pelinka have executed have been downright comical, and not in a good way. These are five moves in recent years that the duo of Maginka have done that we wish were April Fools’ jokes.