Looks like Magic was right when he said the truth would come to light.
When Magic Johnson abruptly stepped down from his position as the President of Basketball Operations with the Lakers, speculation ramped up immediately.
Some ripped him as a non-caring executive who spent more time out of the Lakers’ office than in it, while others blamed him for failing to secure the deal with for Anthony Davis. A few felt he simply lost a power struggle with Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss over Luke Walton.
But it looks like there might have been a hidden truth that is now rising to the surface, and it has to do with one of the problems many have faced since the birth of the internet- when emailing goes wrong.
Earlier this week, NBA journalist Ric Bucher disclosed to Fox Sports’ Colin Herd that an email discussion between Buss and Pelinka turned into a disparaging one about Magic. Only problem was that Magic was actually on the thread.
“Somehow, someway, Jeanie, from what I understand, was CC’ing or blind CC’ing Magic on everything. That was sort of protocol. Standard issue,” said Bucher in the interview. “Somehow, the exchange between Rob and Jeanie ended up on that string of the blind CC’s that were going to Magic. So, Magic now is seeing emails from Rob to Jeanie that were critical of what he was doing…so when he talked about the backstabbing, to me, my understanding that’s what started it.”
Reflecting on how Magic’s impromptu press conference announcing his departure went down, Bucher’s explanation appears to hold a lot of truth. While some of the other critiques and theories might hold some weight as well, leaving that abruptly lends credence to the idea that something bigger than job performance went down between Magic, Pelinka and Buss, especially when you remember how close Magic said he and the latter were.
Here's Magic Johnson announcing that he's stepping down as Lakers' President of Basketball Operations.
📽 @NBAonTNTpic.twitter.com/Ew7DXaLhpl— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeague) April 10, 2019
While the emails in question haven’t been seen yet, you can’t deny that Ric’s assertion of their existence has some merit.
And if you follow Magic, you know how he feels about it.
The truth will always come to light 😊
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 25, 2019
