In the moments before Lakers executives Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka strolled to the podium at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo for a news conference, John Coltrane and Frank Sinatra songs played over the speakers.
Earlier in the day, something with a little more edge played over the sound system. Music thumped while LeBron James led a team against Rajon Rondo’s squad in a pickup game, complete with shoving and trash talking.
Those games late this summer — the ones witnessed by Johnson, the president of basketball operations, and Pelinka, the general manager — have left the Lakers’ top basketball decision-makers gushing about what they’ve seen.