Also, "A look behind the scenes as the Lakers prepared to draft Lonzo Ball."
And, from Bill Plaschke, "Don't bet against Magic Johnson turning the Lakers around":
Four months ago he walked into a conference room at Lakers headquarters, plopped down at the front of a table occupied by several media members, and emptied his emotional pockets.
“I’m putting it all on the line. . . . I’m a risk taker. . . . If I didn’t think we could turn this around, you think I’d be sitting in this room?” Magic Johnson said on that February day after being named the team’s president of basketball operations.
He sounded like an excitable rookie. He had no proof beyond his charisma. He raised as many eyebrows as expectations. Surely this aging former star didn’t think he could rebuild a basketball team in the same daring, audacious way he once led it on the court, did he?
Well, turns out, he did. And the only thing crazier is, he’s doing it.
Four months later, at the end of a wild week that felt like a franchise rebirth, Magic Johnson met again with a few reporters, and again he was filled with the same bravado, only this time it was backed with new point guard Lonzo Ball, enough salary cap space to add two superstars next summer, and a renewed energy that has the town buzzing about the Lakers again.
“Look at my face, do you see that smile, do you see it?” he said Friday afternoon, lighting up his questioners with his giant trademark grin. “OK then! I’ve always bet on myself, right?”
He shook his head and added solemnly, “The tide has turned.”
So far, it has. And despite early skepticism, he’s turned it...
This reminds me of a few high school dances. pic.twitter.com/ASkbJFITUD— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) June 24, 2017
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