Magic Johnson Shares Details About The Meeting That Brought LeBron James In LA

Magic Johnson visited LeBron James on the big night of June 30. The NBA’s free agency period started at the very same moment the legend prayed for a miracle.

The Lakers star did his best to understand LeBron’s game, and paid special attention to the evolution of his talent. Magic Johnson talked with the the 33-year-old NBA star, and James’ agent Rich Paul was here to turn the meeting into success.

Johnson knew pretty much everything about the previous regime, the Lakers’ future and the failed free agency pitches. Things changed after he gained control over the team. Johnson came to LeBron’s home all alone.

“When (Lakers general manager) Rob (Pelinka) talked to his agent, Rich Paul, he wanted to talk to me one-on-one; that’s what he wanted. So I was happy to go and represent the Lakers, and talk basketball, talk strategy, talk winning, talk team, and talk players. All of it rolled into one,” Johnson said of the meeting.

“This guy is a basketball genius in terms of his mindset. And it was so funny, I think we both thought we were talking to ourselves when we’re looking at each other. We’re mirrors of each other when it comes to basketball mindset, championship DNA, and just playing the game the right way and also being a great teammate. That’s what it was. It was a lot of just basketball conversation. And as I told him, we want to get to the championship one day and he could be a big part of leading us back to that. That’s it,” he added during the conference call with curious reporters.

As Magic Johnson confirmed, James LeBron tried to highlight the idea for “accountability from the top…in terms of (Lakers owner) Jeanie Buss and all the way down to the coaching staff, from myself and (general manager) Rob (Pelinka) holding everybody accountable and to Luke holding the players accountable. He was big on accountability, and discipline and playing the game the right way.”

The rest is history.

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