Rob Pelinka describes what it’s like running the Lakers with Magic Johnson

The Los Angeles Lakers completely overhauled their front office, placing their trust in the hands of Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka. The two have been an interesting duo to follow as they inch closer to their first full year together, a stark contrast to an infamously-mum Mitch Kupchak regime.

The working relationship between Magic and Pelinka — Maginka, as Lakers Twitter has deemed them — is also starkly different than what little we saw of the Busschak dynamic. It’s as if Magic throws Pelinka no-look passes, Rob is ready for every lob, and the cameras are always on.

Hence it comes as no surprise that Pelinka is on the phone with Magic just about every day at five in the morning. The Lakers’ general manager joined Spectrum SportsNet for the latest edition of Connected With... and had plenty to say about... well, everything.

“Usually it starts at five in the morning when my phone rings and it’s always Magic,” Pelinka said of what his daily routine is like as a general manager.

“Magic’s an early workout person and he gets inspired. He tells legendary stories about going jogging sometimes when it’s still dark and the stars are out, and that’s when he gets his inspiration on the future of the Lakers and what we should do as a front office.

“Literally my day with him often starts at five in the morning, which I don’t mind. It’s interesting, a lot of people say how many times you and Magic talk throughout a day. It’s kind of non-stop. Obviously if he’s in the office we’re meeting with one another, going over things. If one of us is traveling we probably talk on the phone at least five times a day,” Pelinka said.

It’s always good to have clear lines of communication between two people with such an expansive goal, and there’s no doubt that these two look like they’re ready to film a buddy cop film together in whatever off time they might squeeze between running the Lakers.

All jokes aside — for a moment — a united front office is a productive front office. Whether they’re taking things in the right direction or not, they’ve clearly been working toward getting the Lakers back on track, and being in-tune as leaders is a big part of finding success together. That success is something they hope to watch unfold from afar, 48 minutes at a time.

“Obviously if we’re at the game we’re usually watching it, sometimes at the tunnel,” he added.

So we’ve heard, Rob:

To watch the full, captivating 20-minute interview with Pelinka, head over to Spectrum SportsNet.