Lakers executive Jim Buss recently fired back at Magic Johnson’s criticism.
Photo by Steve McCrank/Daily Breeze
Beyond his infectious smile and bringing back reminders of the Lakers’ glorious past, Magic Johnson has also developed a reputation for something else.
Criticizing Jim Buss.
Over the airwaves, on television and in person, Johnson has often questioned the Lakers’ vice president of player personnel. Johnson has criticized Buss for playing a role in hiring former coaches Mike Brown and Mike D’antoni, both of whom became largely unpopular with the Lakers’ fanbase and lasted no more than two seasons. Johnson has criticized how Buss has assembled the team’s talent amid two consecutive missed playoff appearances. Johnson has argued Buss does not defer enough to the Lakers; basketball operations as did his father, the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
In a wide-ranging interview with USA Today, Jim Buss fired back.
“Magic Johnson going nuts on me?” Buss said in the article. “It’s like, ‘Really, dude? My dad made you a billionaire almost. Really? Where are you coming from?'”
Johnson responded in a statement to USA Today by simply saying, “It’s all about winning, Jim.”
Lakers president Jeanie Buss, who is Jim’s sister, has often confirmed she will hold Jim accountable to his self-imposed three-year timeline that he will step down if the Lakers do not become a Western Conference contender within three years (the USA Today article highlighted the disagreement between Jeanie and Jim Buss on when the three-year timeline begins and ends). But Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has defended Jim Buss publicly over the years.
“If he felt that way and I agreed, we would’ve traded our picks for veteran players,” Kupchak said before the Lakers began training camp in late September. “But we didn’t.”
Kupchak also has dismissed Johnson’s argument that Jim Buss has not given him enough authority since his father’s passing in Feb. 2013.
“Any decision that has or has not happened in the last two or three years that people have a problem with, I was involved or leading the way,” Kupchak said. “If there’s criticism, then it should be directed at me as well. [Jim Buss] is not making decisions in a vacuum.”
Yet, unlike Jim Buss’ recent comments, Kupchak has refused to direct any criticism back at Johnson for his commentary on the Lakers.
“I don’t want to direct it at Earvin,” Kupchak said on Feb 20. 2015. “We have a really good relationship. Earvin wants nothing, although he’s a baseball fan and works for the Dodgers, he wants nothing more than this franchise to be on top.”
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com