Where The Lakers Went Wrong, And Where They Stand Now

When Dwyane Wade and Dirk dropped 30 points in their final home games of their storied careers, 39-year-old Jamal Crawford poured in 51 points and Paul George delivered a 3-point dagger in an exhilarating clash against the Rockets, you'd think those would be the most talked about storylines of the second to last night of the regular season.

Wrong.

Magic Johnson dropped the hammer last night that he was stepping down as Lakers' President of Basketball Operations. He held an impromptu press conference. He claimed he didn't have the cojones to tell Jeanie Buss to her face. He alluded that he couldn't bear himself to fire Luke Walton the next day. He dropped hints that he wasn't a big Rob Pelinka fan. He vaguely spoke of "backstabbing" that he wanted no part of.

In other words, he took a Lakers organization that was already teetering on the brink collapse, and decided to light the place on fire. When I see what Magic did last night, essentially quitting his job because he stopped enjoying himself and wanted to tweet more, I think of this scene from the Dark Knight.

Magic's decision to step down may be a blessing in disguise for a franchise that has elected to hire WHO they know, regardless of WHAT those people do know. I'm not here to blast Jim Buss, Mitch Kupchak, Magic or Pelinka. They all tried to improve the Lakers organization, but they all had fatal flaws. Jim was a product of nepotism, Kupchak signed Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov to a combined $140 million in contracts, Magic is a billionaire businessman who was never going to have the time that this job requires, and Pelinka was Kobe's agent.

Yes, Magic's public decision to step down in front of a hoard of reporters was an organizational embarrassment, but Jeanie and the Lakers will need to lick their wounds, assess the situation, and move forward in a more proactive way.

Magic was the perfect face of the organization: he has that wide smile, the clout as a Lakers champion and a legendary status as an LA sports icon. The problem is, he was miscast in his role as President of Basketball Operations. That isn't a job that allows you to breeze into the facility a few times a week. It's a job that requires someone's full attention. It requires red-eye flight to Croatia to scout a player who's playing only a few minutes per game to see if there's potential. It requires hours in a film room, grinding away watching film. It requires constant communication with agents, scouts and college coaches. 

There's a reason that there are no more coaches who moonlight as their team's GM; it's simply too much work. Magic's ideal role with the Lakers is an ambassador, not a day-to-day manager. And you know what? Good for him for realizing that, and stepping down. He did the Lakers a favor, because it's highly unlikely Jeanie would have fired Magic herself. The silver lining is the Lakers have a truly good situation on their hands when you blur out all the chaos emanating around the franchise.

They have LeBron James, arguably the greatest basketball player in the game, under contract for the foreseeable future.

They have Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, four young players under cheap contracts who have all showed promise and have plenty of room to grow.

They have oodles of cap space, enough to bring in a big time free agent to join forces with the Lakers current core.

They have Los Angeles, the greatest city in the US, with pristine weather, nightlife, marketing opportunities and lifestyle.

Not the worst basketball situation. In fact, most teams in the league would be happy to trade places with the Lakers' situation this summer. But the issue is the Lakers have fed into their own mystique, forgetting that you still have to work hard to succeed even considering your inherent advantages. 

The constant leaks. The six straight losing seasons. The shaky decision making. The Anthony Davis fiasco. Letting go of D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Brook Lopez. Signing the clown squad of Lance, Javale, Beasley and Rondo. Whatever the hell that Zubac trade was. The lack of regard for a need to surround LeBron with shooting.

Ultimately, Jeanie and the Lakers need to take a good, long look in the mirror. They need to understand that a good, healthy basketball culture doesn't just materialize, it needs to be cultivated, coaxed into creation. Right now, the Lakers don't have a leader. None of Jeanie, Rob or Luke Walton are scheduled to speak with the media at exit interviews. Virtually the whole world knows Luke Walton was about to be fired, and now...who the heck knows?

Sources told Ramona Shelburne, who is the most plugged in Lakers reporter on the planet, that Pelinka's decision making power will grow. It's difficult to pinpoint how much Pelinka is to blame for all the Lakers' struggles, but he's far from blameless. He was the general manager during this whole mess, so he certainly has some culpability.

These two points can be true at the same time: The Lakers are currently an embarrassment of a franchise that is also set up to add a superstar to their burgeoning young core. The sad part is, all this mayhem was so avoidable. All Jeanie has to do is hire an experienced, low-key executive such as RC Buford, Sam Presti or Masai Ujiri, and let them fix everything. 

Unfortunately, that's easier said than done, and Lakers higher ups will need to huddle around the fire of their crumbling public image, and get to work trying to fix this mess.