The Los Angeles Lakers clearly had a communication problem when Magic Johnson was still with the team. This was perhaps best emphasized by the fact that Johnson stepped down without telling Jeanie Buss, LeBron James or anyone else beforehand. It has also been evident since, with Johnson complaining on ESPN’s “First Take” of how he felt that Rob Pelinka was talking badly about him behind his back, and that there were too many voices stopping the Lakers from making decisions.
But if you go back further, the signs were always there that the Lakers weren’t exactly communicating with each other well, something that was fully on display in their response extensive reporting about their offers for Anthony Davis at the trade deadline being called “fake news” by Buss, who complimented Johnson for getting in front of such reports.