Lakers’ Magic Johnson Announces If He Will Fire Luke Walton

The Los Angeles Lakers did not have the brightest start of the season, and the whole thing led to a meeting between Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and head coach Luke Walton.

We got to read the reports of how Magic Johnson admonished the head coach for the Lakers’ terrible start and the playing style on the offensive end. The Lakers got off to a 4-5 start, and Johnson confirmed that Walton will finish out the season as the team’s head coach.

Tania Ganguli and Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times reported that Magic Johnson will never make “rash” decisions.

In a conversation with me, @BA_Turner and @BillPlaschke, Magic Johnson said his contentious meeting with Luke Walton had no bearing on Walton’s job security. “I said it, Luke took it and we’re all good,” Johnson said. Johnson assured us Walton will finish the year.

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) November 5, 2018

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin reported that Johnson has a rather aggressive tone in meetings, and many members of the front office are aware of it. Magic Johnson has been labeled as “volatile,” and you do not mess with such a person, right?

After Friday’s practice, reporters asked Walton about his status with the Lakers, and he was really confident about it. The head coach said that he “has a great relationship with management,” adding that he does not feel like he is going anywhere.

The Lakers lost the first three games of the regular season, and then lost another two. They had a narrow 114-110 win over the Portland Trail Blazers after being beaten by Portland last month.

The team was also struck by two suspensions after Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram got into a brawl with Chris Paul. They did not have Rondo and Ingram in three games, and that is not the best scenario for a team that is still working on its chemistry.

Los Angeles challenged the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets. The front office is not happy about the slow start, but Johnson will not kick out Walton.