Ever since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka pulled off their front office coup and took over the Los Angeles Lakers, their focus has been very plainly on replacing players rather than developing them. Their treatment of Luke Walton has been the most brash example of this trend, and the organization’s culture has taken major hit because of it.
Stephen A. Smith of ESPN (who remains very close to Magic, by the way) was asked about the latest on the Lakers’ coaching search and pushed back some on Jason Kidd as a reported candidate:
“I have been told that’s not gonna happen.