As a franchise with a storied history of winning, the Los Angeles Lakers don't know much about tanking. However, it's time for the team to embrace losing as a means of improving the future, says former Lakers great Magic Johnson, who made the comments Tuesday as a promotional event in New York City.
Magic Johnson hopes ‘Lakers lose every game’ this season
If the Lakers can’t win enough to matter, Magic Johnson says they should tank their way to a high draft pick in 2015.
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
“I hope the Lakers lose every game,” Johnson told reporters. “Because if you’re going to lose, lose. And I’m serious.”
Even after beating the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night, Los Angeles currently sits tied for the second worst record in the Western Conference (6-16) with the Utah Jazz. The team has been abysmal, getting outscored by nearly eight points per game, and seems to over-matched both on the court and on the coaching bench.
All of that has Johnson, one of the Lakers' top public supporters and a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, suggesting the team might be better off not even trying to win. After drafting Julius Randle in the first round earlier this year only to lose him to injury, the Lakers need to continue stockpiling young talent in order to rebuild.
That effort could be significantly bolstered by a high draft pick in the 2015 draft, which includes talented prospects like Jahlil Okafor and Emmanuel Mudiay. If the Lakers finish with one of the league’s worst records and secure a top pick, they could quickly find themselves working back to contention soon.
“If you’re going to lose, you have to lose because you can’t be in the middle of the pack,” Johnson told reporters. “You either have to be great or you have to be bad to get a good pick.”
However, tanking may not be a particularly realistic option as long as Kobe Bryant is on the roster. The notoriously competitive shooting guard responded to Magic's comments after the win over Sacramento, saying he understands -- but doesn't necessarily agree with -- the Hall of Famer's perspective as a sports franchise owner.
“Magic is one of the most competitive players of all time. He doesn’t want to lose. From an owner’s perspective, his opinion is to get top picks and to be able to use those as leverage to trade and get a competitive team and so on. From where I’m sitting, I just look at his point of view.”
Other Lakers also responded, including head coach Byron Scott. He unsurprisingly disagrees with Magic, presumably because countless losses wouldn’t make it any easier to keep his job.
“That really is easy to say, but when you’re behind the scenes and you’re in the trenches and you’re coaching, that’s not something that you want to do,” Scott said prior to the game. “And I don’t think our players look at it that way. We’ve got to go out here and try to win every game possible. If you lose games, it’s one thing, but to go out and try to lose, that’s a different story. I think that sends a message to those guys in there.”
Guys like Bryant and Scott are the ones actually in the Lakers’ locker room, so their quotes seem like a stronger indication of the team’s plans than anything Magic says. Then again, when one of the sport’s most influential figures starts taking a position like this, it’s probably something of a wakeup call for the organization. We’ll just to have to see who ends up changing their tune eventually.
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