It is undeniable that Magic Johnson is not only one of the greatest Los Angeles Lakers players ever, but also the greatest point guard of all-time. Johnson on social media, however, has become something of a meme within the basketball world.
There have been times when Magic has tweeted things, either about the Lakers or basketball in general, in which what he says flies directly against the general consensus, and that he hasn’t really been watching. His tweet after the Lakers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets fell into that category.
Johnson took to social media to say that the Lakers found themselves in the seventh seed because they lost too many games earlier in the season thanks to load management:
The Lakers have nobody but themselves to blame. They wouldn’t have been in the play-in game or finished as a 7th seed this season if they hadn’t lost too many games because of load management.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 30, 2024
However, many rightfully pointed out that the Lakers’ top four players of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves all suited up for at least 71 games, while many role players dealt with injuries. This ultimately led to Magic apologizing for his original tweet and blaming injuries for the Lakers’ struggles:
Laker Nation, I have to apologize to the Lakers organization. It was injuries that plagued the Lakers this season, not load management.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 2, 2024
Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent played in just 29 and 11 games, respectively, and the Lakers were reliant on those two being a huge part of the team’s defensive identity. Cam Reddish briefly looked like he would help out on that end and provide some support as well, but he would also go down and played a total of 48 games.
There were certainly still things that could’ve been done by the Lakers and their coaches to better keep themselves afloat as these injuries were coming down, but that is all in the past now. The Lakers could have been a better seed if they had done some things differently, Magic is right on that front, but this was not a load management team in any way this season.
Darvin Ham frustrated at criticism over changing Lakers’ lineups and rotations
And to that point, one of the main criticisms levied towards the Lakers and head coach Darvin Ham was his inability to decide on one starting lineup and more consistent rotations. But Ham believes some of that is unwarranted.
Ham recently revealed his frustration with that criticism, noting that you need to have players consistently in the lineup in order to have consistent rotations. The Lakers coach also noted that when a player in the starting lineup is playing terrible for an extended stretch, he has to make a change as the coach.
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