I'm still not comfortable jumping on the tanking bandwagon. I hear what magic is trying to get at but I can't root for losses. I think the top 5 pick will be ours though because we're a bad team, we lack talent, the coaching may be suspect, and we have a lush on the team. With that combo we will be plenty bad enough to keep that pick. I don't like the message Magic's statement sends though.
When the Lakers are losing Magic should shut up. He either sounds disingenuous or like he is trying to invest in the Lakers for cheap (or is bitter he didn't get a chance to). I know this isn't rational but I love Magic the player, respect him as a business person but pretty much despise him as the smug harbinger of snide Laker comments.
All I can say is Magic can't have it both ways. Last season can't be a horrible disgrace in his opinion, and this season be good tanking.
Out of all the things Magic has said I think this is one of the worst. Yes, if you can't contend for the Championship then the next best thing is the best possible draft choice. That is what is best on paper. I can give that to the talking heads. HOWEVER, the idea of tanking will never sit well with me. A don't want a single soul on my team that doesn't go into every game giving it their all. Magic was a competitor so it is hypocritical of him to now say the Lakers should tank know Kobe is on the team. Sadly, it makes me wonder if he is only saying that because it will tarnish Kobe's legacy having played on so many horrible Lakers teams. In the end I think Magic should stop talking about the Lakers.
I'll never root for the Lakers to lose because my rooting won't make a difference one way or the other and it makes me feel good for my team to win. I'll never understand the tank crowd.
Would Magic have had that attitude as a player? Doubt it. He should worry about his Dodgers and leave the Lakers alone.
Waffle much Magic? Could you imagine him saying that last year when he wanted to send in the lynch mob for D'Antoni? And like most have said it's bad Karma. Look what's happened to the first top 7 pick we've had in decades. Done for the year on day 1.
This is just sad. I agree with most of you who already posted in this thread. Of all people Magic has the nuts to say something like that? The only rational explanation I can imagine would be him backing up his buddy Scott. No way Johnson would accept tanking when he was a player, why should Kobe or the remaining guys on the roster? Do we want our players (and we have some young and promising guys on the team) to get used to losing and be actually happy about it? BTW - I love Sacre's comments
Magic should stop talking about Lakers 5-6 years ago. It might be smart to tank (when your team actually SUCK like we do) but you don't say that out loud.
in fairness, the lakers did NOT properly tank for that pick. if it's Karma you fear, then I guess philly's in HUGE trouble. i actually think Sacre's joke might be more troubling than Magic's comment. Magic's right, but he's also a fan. Sacre's on the team and basically admitted that they know they're not making the playoffs. knowing that, how motivated could one possibly be to win basketball games? when most of your guys are on one-year deals, it's hard to be invested in their mentality going forward. this is another reason i'm not crazy about the cap space hoarding plan. i'd be concerned about ed davis becoming a loser, but ed davis will probably be playing for someone else next year.
SiriusXM NBA Radio @SiriusXMNBA "I find it troubling that one of the all time great winners says that losing is the best option" Jeff Van Gundy on Magic Johnson
Flame me if you want, but I'm not really getting the outrage over this considering that it seems like 3/4 or so of the posters here have basically come out in favor of tanking this season in order to keep the top 5 pick. On top of that the FO clearly seems to be in tank mode.
I kind of agree with you. Most of us understand that we should lose games, even if we don't want to or enjoy watching it. It is what it is. I DO think that Magic has a propensity to speak without thinking first. He's too honest. He answers questions before thinking about what it means. Now he's got the whole Laker Nation buzzing and I'm sure it will affect his relationship with this team. Even Nick Young recently said Magic should stay away from the locker room. That's not a good look for one of the greatest Lakers of all time. And towards the point of tanking: he knows the Lakers CAN'T publicly tank. Why say anything at all about it? All it does is put Byron in an awkward position. I've given up on Magic using discretion when speaking to the media, but this is his good friend. He needs to be more conscientious.
I do expect some of those guys to come back. Ed Davis may stick around. Randle (even if he's not playing), should also be taught that this organization is always about winning. How about Clarkson and Ryan Kelly? I also really believe that tanking is not the way to attract free agents, or at least the ones we should pursue/with the right mindset. There are other ways to rebuild than by tanking and acquiring talent in the draft. I believe the Lakers history and organization should help us land some good players in the next couple of off-seasons, but only if the FO doesn't mess it up by things like obvious tanking. Even if this doesn't work very fast, I prefer the longer, but "right" way to the top. To this day I know only one example of an organization that tanked and got great results in return - the one that started this horrible tradition - the Spurs.
'The Lakers are doing what they did last year. Last year they were dealing with Dwight leaving and no pick or cap space, but they competed until after Kobe went down and the playoffs were out of the question, and they dumped Blake because he was the driving engine of the team (not good enough to win, but good enough tonwin too much for a good lick), and shut Pau down so he wouldn't make a contract kick. This year they were bound by keeping money available going forward, so they built a roster that might compete if everything went their way. And not if anything substantive didn't. And like last year, at some point when the math hits a degree of certainty, they will likely look to move pieces for future assets and frankly, pile up losses. LA doesn't tank before the season. Honor, tradition, call it what you will. But once it hits a certain point, they acquiesce to realities.' Somebody posted this on another forum, and this is the most logical explanation I've heard so far...we built a passable roster that had expectations of falling within the middle of the pack but it just didn't happen. So, now I"ll concede we're headed in a certain direction (the lottery) and it's time to pile up the losses and obtain assets.
