NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was asked on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay” YouTube podcast what advice he would give Lakers guard Russell Westbrook to win the fight.
“Take accountability first,” Johnson replied. “It’s number one. If I don’t play well, say ‘I don’t play well’. You know, I admitted that when I didn’t do well with the Celtics in ’84.”
According to some NBA betting sites, the Lakers have the 15th-best odds to win the championship in 2023. Following the team’s 0-3 start to the 2022-23 season, few sportsbooks have LA out of the top 10.
“I took responsibility,” Magic Johnson continued. And I said, ‘Hey, I didn’t do well. I was the one that lost the series to the Lakers.’
“And I had to say to myself, ‘I’ve gotten better.’ So what did I do? I went out that whole winter, trained hard and got better.”
“Then we played them again the next season in ’85. Man, I was on fire. We have won; I didn’t hear you anymore. Same thing with Coach West [Jerry West] After being fired. They insulted me for a month…”
Magic Johnson believes Russell Westbrook has admitted his poor play and needs to work on improving his game.
Sharp makes a good point when he says, ‘Laker fans know good basketball.’ it’s true. The 80s saw the Lakers win five championships with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson.
The fan also saw the team win five more titles with Kobe Bryant. LeBron James When he first traded a four-year, $154 million contract with the Lakers in 2018, die-hard fans were skeptical.
As Sharp pointed out, they are more concerned about LeBron’s results with the team than his results with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.
LeBron has gained a lot of fan support in Los Angeles over the years. The four-time MVP helped the Lakers win their 17th championship in the 2020 NBA bubble.
Also, through three games, Westbrook is shooting 11-of-38 (28.9%) from the floor. The nine-time All-Star scored just 31 points. Magic Johnson is right. Instead of criticizing the fans or the media, the keeper just wants to let his game speak for itself.
During the offseason, Westbrook exercised his $47,063,478 player option for the 2022-23 season. However, the 14-year veteran has yet to live with the hyena.
On Monday, reports emerged that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka is interested in trading for Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier and/or San Antonio Spurs guard Josh Richardson.
