By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
At the end of a tough season for the Lakers that didn’t make the playoffs despite the addition of LeBron James, Magic Johnson announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as the team’s president of basketball operations.
Johnson broke the news at a press conference before the Lakers’ regular-season finale, against the Portland Trail Blazers, and he said he had not yet informed Jeanie Buss, the team’s controlling owner. In fact, he had told nearly no one before he addressed the reporters, as noted by the New York Times.
“I want to go back to having fun,” Johnson mentioned. “I want to go back to being who I was before taking on this job, and we’re halfway there with LeBron coming. I think this summer, with that other star coming in — whoever’s going to come in — I think this team is going to be in a position to really contend for a championship with the growth of the other young players.”