On the day the Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to introduce their new head coach, a member of the old guard added a fresh dash of drama.
Former team president Earvin `Magic’ Johnson, whose jersey hangs from the Staples Centers rafters, said Monday it was general manager Rob Pelinka’s backstabbing ways that led to his resignation in April. “Things got going in the right direction. Then I started hearing, ‘Magic, you’re not working hard enough. Magic’s not in the office,’” Johnson told ESPN in an interview on “‘First Take” on Monday. “So people around the Lakers’ office was telling me Rob — Rob Pelinka — was saying things and I didn’t like this being said behind my back. That I wasn’t in the office enough and on and on.
“So I started getting calls from my friends outside of basketball, saying those things now were said to them. … Not just in the Lakers’ office any more. Outside of basketball, in the media and so on. People have to remember something. Being in this business 40 years, I have allies, I’ve got friends everywhere.
