Magic Johnson thinks the more the Lakers lose, the better.Magic Johnson thinks that the more the Lakers lose, the better. Johnson said Tuesday that hes hoping the Lakers are bad enough this season to have one of the top picks in next summers NBA Draft. MORE: Kobe retiring in 2016? | Bryant not focused on Jordan record | Phil: Knicks have losers mentality | Magic praises LeBron I hope the Lakers lose every game, because if youre going to lose, lose, Johnson said in New York during a promotional event for a memorabilia company, per Newsday. Im serious. If youre going to lose, you have to lose, because you cant be in the middle of the pack. You either have to be great or you have to be bad, to get a good (draft) pick. The Lakers are 5-16 this season after finishing 27-55 last year. Johnson believes the Lakers can turn around their fortunes with the right moves and another high draft pick next year. They snagged Kentucky forward Julius Randle with the seventh pick last June. Randle, though, broke his leg in his professional debut. The Lakers are in a good space, too, next summer if they can sign or trade for a talented guy, Johnson said, per Newsday. Id rather be all the way bad than be in the middle. UPDATE: Naturally, Lakers coach (and former Johnson teammate) Byron Scott objects to that strategy. Thats easy (for Johnson) to say, but when youre behind the scenes and youre in the trenches and youre coaching, thats not something that you want to do, Scott said, according to The Associated Press, before Tuesdays game. Weve got to go out here and win every game possible. I mean, if you lose games, thats one thing. But to go out and try to lose, thats a different story. I think that sends a message to those guys in there that its going back to that losing mentality. We dont we want to create that here. If you go out here and play hard, youll hopefully get rewarded in the right way, Scott added. You can get the type of player that you want, that can come in here and help you the next year in the draft, and free agent-wise. But the last thing on my mind is losing games right now. At least on purpose. UPDATE 2: Kobe Bryant (shocker!) isnt down with the tanking, either. Hes used to being an owner, Bryant said, with a laugh, of Johnson, per the AP. Hes the (part-)owner of the Dodgers. He was an owner of the Lakers. Thats speaking from an owners perspective. ... I think the fans ? hopefully some of them ? are smart enough to understand his perspective as an owner. I certainly am. Magic is one of the most competitive players of all time. He doesnt want to lose. From where Im sitting, I just look at his point of view. Contributing: Tom Gatto
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:30:03 +0000
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