Los Angeles Lakers: ESPN story shines light on Magic Johnson, team dysfunction
By Ronald Agers
Reportedly it seems there were two bosses employees had to deal with!
No, we are not talking about the pairing of Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson. We are talking about Earvin Johnson and Magic Johnson.
According to the ESPN article, Johnson made it clear that mistakes would not be tolerated.
"In his remarks, Johnson expressed excitement about the task ahead, but he also made clear he didn’t accept excuses or mistakes, and that those who weren’t on board with the new management and their mission should leave, according to six staffers who were present. Pointing upstairs, toward his office, Johnson drove home his point. He had a large stack of resumes sitting on his desk — “a thousand” of them, multiple staffers recall him saying — and he could replace any of them at any time."
According to the employees that were interviewed for the story, it set the tone for an environment that has the words “bully” and “intimidation” floating around it.
"The message would set the tone for what many staffers describe as Johnson’s confrontational demeanor over the next two years. “If you questioned him on anything, his response was always a threatening tone,” said a Lakers front office staffer who interacted with Johnson directly. “He used intimidation and bullying as a way of showing authority.”"
This is not a good look for Magic Johnson, who was widely criticized for not being around for the day-to-day grind that his job as President required. Even worse, Magic Johnson named Rob Pelinka “specifically” as the guy doing the backstabbing.
According to this ESPN article, Magic Johnson really underestimated his relationship with his employees. The tenure of Magic Johnson led to a higher than normal turnover rate. The ESPN article stated 37 percent. That really is a staggering number.
One of the most shocking parts of the article detailed a couple of employees taking medication for anxiety attacks.
Two things that have to be noted here. First, no manager, whether it be the Los Angeles Lakers down to the smallest business in the world will get respect from its employees being absent for extended periods of time and coming in chastising after the work is done. It just can’t happen.
If the reports are true, Magic Johnson is dead wrong. Employees that walk away after decades of loyal service provides a HUGE red flag that things are wrong with the chain of command.
Number two, it is very sad that this situation caused physical and/or mental harm to said employees in the article. Employment is stressful enough without someone adding unnecessary and unfair treatment on the job. People make mistakes no matter what. Nobody is perfect.
Magic Johnson was quoted as not making mistakes. Umm, do we really need to go into the roster?