Lakers Rumors: Jim Buss was kept in the dark about Magic Johnson hiring

For most, the news of Magic Johnson’s re-hiring by the Los Angeles Lakers probably came across as a public relations move by a franchise that desperately needs to clean up its image. Recent reports, however, paint a very different picture, according to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding.

Per Ding, Jim wasn’t even contacted about the move until right before it happened, and far too late for him to say anything about it.

Johnson went on Spectrum SportsNet Wednesday night and did not sound like someone ready to play a figurehead in ways he has with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The press release itself paints him as a go-between a pair of owner siblings who apparently cannot speak to each other productively.

Many have connected the dots, which continue to align increasingly by the hour, it seems. Jim Buss has captained a ship has struck, then backed into the Titanic’s famous glacier. Well, that’s what his detractors would say, anyway. Hell, one of the loudest detractors is making his prodigal return.

Jim Buss and Johnson’s (Jeanie Buss’, too, for that matter) relationship is incredibly well-documented at this point, and Ding’s report makes it seem as if it might be too much to overcome. Whether Mitch Kupchak might also fall victim due to his connection to Jim is impossible to know right now, but that certainly sounds within the realm of possibility.

So, here stand the Lakers. The famous cliché of “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” seems to apply, except for the part where the flames of change seem are visible enough to need to look away from. What this actually means won’t be clear for at least until this season ends, so we wait.