The Resignation: Magic Johnson
The Resignation: Magic Johnson
Just recently, the President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson abruptly left his position. This was done without notice to his boss, nor anyone else within the organization and came to a surprise to the sports world. Many may know Earvin “Magic” Johnson as a point guard of the Lakers, cementing himself as one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Others may recognize him as the player famous for becoming HIV positive and having to retire from the NBA. Even through the years, Magic has maintained a connection within sports, becoming a partial owner of the LA Dodgers and most recently, President of the LA Lakers. Any person able to accomplish such feats and achieve their goals must possess extreme will and determination. This was no different for Magic and to many, the way in which he stepped down from his position is a complete shock.
Magic became the President of Basketball Operations in 2017. Having been a larger than life NBA superstar and the LA Lakers needing a big name to hopefully attract free agents, it seemed to be the perfect fit. However, the transition from the court to the front office is not always the easiest. Not everyone is equipped with business acumen or the ability to scout talent, even if they themselves were of great talent. This was also the case with Michael Jordan, whom had the same position for the Washington Wizards after retiring. However, the difference here is that Jordan was more interested in becoming an owner of a team, which he accomplished with the now Charlotte Hornets. It was this similar drive that was expected of Magic to return the LA Lakers to previous glories.
Their was thought to be no more prestigious front office position than that of the LA Lakers president. Living in one of the most glamorous cities in the US and having the ability to return one of the winningest organizations in NBA history to dominance sounds like an amazing opportunity. However, after two years of odd signings and trades, tampering accusations, and lackluster team performance; Magic Johnson decided to forgo many people’s dream job and return to being “himself.” There is no dispute as to why Magic resigned as he stated, “I’m going back to my beautiful life.” Of course there are rumblings in amongst media and insiders of the “real reason” for his resignation. Of those media takes, I was tasked to compare two different outlets. I initially considered the obvious ESPN article, due to being a huge sports story. I instead looked at a few different media sources and decided on an article from Time Sports, Why You Can't Blame the Lakers' Magic Johnson for Calling it Quits by Sean Gregory and For His Final Act, Magic Made The Lakers Disappear by Albert Burneko on Deadspin.
One of the articles I enjoyed reading on the events that unfolded was, Why You Can't Blame the Lakers' Magic Johnson for Calling it Quits, found in the Time Sports, part of Time Magazine. This staple in weekly news has been going since the 1920s and has evolved to becoming an online publication. This particular article took a different approach to covering the Magic resignation. Instead of the normal breakdown of everything that went wrong with during his time as President of Operations, Sean Gregory explored a lighter side of the ordeal. Boasting that giving up on a dream job for many people is easy when you are, in fact, Magic Johnson. Living life as Magic can be far more interesting and rewarding than just being known as the President of one of the most historic NBA franchises.
It is this take on the situation that initially interested me. Being a sports fan, I already knew of all the issues that plagued Magic’s recent tenure. In short, he did little to nothing to return the team to the greatness that once was. So reading about his futility did little to entertain me. However, Gregory’s take that he is far better off just becoming the beloved Magic and not the President of a failing historic franchise was a breath of fresh air. His comparisons to previous failed attempts by other well known NBA players in their attempts to coach or play in the front office was actually something I thought of myself. Gregory portrayed Magic as a man that began to understand his limits, avoiding to tarnish his legacy and instead enjoy his life. Why stress out over a job if you do not have to? This was what Gregory tries to get the reader to understand. Even though few, if any, can actually appreciate his view on the situation, it is surely an interesting take.
Gregory avoids a smear campaign of Magic and his failures. Instead, he has a light hearted outlook of a man just wanting to enjoy life. Even I can see how great it could be to just walk around, being admired and loved. Being able to give back to their community and fully enjoy themselves while doing so. That does seem like a great life to live and even though Magic approached his resignation in an odd fashion, he did it his way.
The other article, For His Final Act, Magic Made The Lakers Disappear by Albert Burneko was found on Deadspin. Deadspin is a sports blog website founded in 2005. Obviously not as much of an American mainstay as Time, however appeals to many as stories have a different approach. In this particular article, Burneko unlike Gregory, focused on Magic’s failure and how it not only lead to his unexpected resignation but also, “disappearance” of one of the NBA’s greatest franchises.
The article focuses on the many different decisions Magic had a hand in during his tenure. Earlier I mentioned knowing a good amount of the decisions that were made, however, Burneko does a good job in telling the facts and creating something that is interesting to read. Where Gregory lauds Magic for his reason to quit; Burneko sees it as a “cold” reason to leave a franchise. Burneko does not go on to speak about all the other failed stars who have tried to coach or work in the front office. Instead, he breaks down the many possible “real reasons” for Magic’s surprise departure. These reasons including not wanting to fire the coach and look like “the bad guy”, bungling the trade for Anthony Davis, and trading away a young asset that has become a star just a few years later. Burneko points out this has culminated with a regressed season (even though the team had a better record), and a lost season for NBA’s greatest star, Lebron James.
Burneko's article, even though mostly a criticism of Magic's tenure as president was written somewhat sarcastically. It never approaches harsh tones, but gets the point across of his failures and interesting reason for quitting. To me, this is the perfect tone to use for an article. The use of slight jabs towards Magic (and the organization as a whole) makes for a better read than blandly discussing his failures. Burneko’s final line embraces his tone of the article, jokingly stating Magic will be able to loudly give his opinion of his former team via Twitter.
Each author had their own take on the situation. I enjoyed reading both, although I did favor For His Final Act, Magic Made The Lakers Disappear due to Burneko’s sarcastic take. I feel that one reason for the difference between the articles is due to the publications. Burneko posting to a blog website, Deadspin, is able to actually give his full opinion on the resignation. Gregory, posting on Time Sports probably has more strict rules and regulations with what is posted. In the end, each article gave an interesting position on Magic’s resignation.
